Top 10 Reasons Why Web Startups Fail

Source: GetHelp

#10 Marginal Niche
Web Startups fail by choosing a small, obscure niche in the hope of avoiding competition. If you make anything good, you’re going to have competitors, so you may as well face that. You can only avoid competition by avoiding good ideas.

#9 Copying Success
Web Startups fail by trying to duplicate a great idea. If it’s been done once then chances are others have tried, and failed. There can only be one amazon.com or ebay.com. Come up with your own unique and fresh concept.

#8 Inflexibility
Your business plan should be an organic document that can adapt to change. Web Startups fail because they refuse to deviate from the plan. Listen to others, get advice and keep your eyes open; adaptation is the mark of a successful business.

#7 Getting the Wrong Help
Good people demand good wages. Hiring the cheapest person is a recipe for Web Startup failure. Old sayings become old because they are true, the best example being “you get what you pay for”.

#6 Listening to an Un-Expert
Web Startups fail by acting on advice given by an unqualified person. Anyone can claim to be an expert at something and often we lack the knowledge necessary to determine their qualifications. To protect yourself from the Un-Expert get a second, third or fourth opinion. It never fails to ask around.

#5 Forgetting the User
Web startups fail because the websites are designed from the perspective of the business owner, not the user. In an entrepreneur’s excitement and passion for their idea, they can often lose sight of their customer’s accessibility needs. Focus groups and user trials can be a great way to improve customer interaction with your website.

#4 Running out of Runway
Web Startups fail by forgetting or downplaying funding. Every startup that isn’t profitable has a certain amount of time left before the money runs out and they have to stop. This is sometimes referred to as runway, as in “How much runway do you have left?” It’s a good metaphor because it reminds you that when the money runs out you’re going to be airborne or dead.

#3 Spending Too Much
Often caused by listening to the Un-Expert, Web Startups fail because they over spend needlessly. Unless your doing volume of business equal to chapters.ca you do not need a dedicated co-located IBM Xeon server when a $20.00 hosting account will suffice.

#2 Believing the Hype
The web is all about Hype; from get rich quick schemes to seemingly endless unsolicited emails claiming to have insider information. The reality is that the people who get rich quick from the internet put a lot of thought and energy into their projects, just like anything else. The internet is a great medium for scammers

#1 A Half-Hearted Effort
The failed startups you hear most about are the spectacular flameouts. Those are actually the elite of failures. The most common type is not the one that makes spectacular mistakes, but the one that doesn’t do much of anything—the one we never even hear about, because it was some project a couple guys started on the side while working on their day jobs, but which never got anywhere and was gradually abandoned. In other words, starting startups is just like everything else. The biggest mistake you can make is not to try hard enough.

StumbleUpon the Best Pages on the Web

Source : Lifehacker
Collaborative web search tool StumbleUpon makes finding good content online fast, easy and fun. Using StumbleUpon, you can cut down on your Googling and get straight to what you're looking for - whatever the subject - using the StumbleUpon community hive mind. Let's take a closer look.

What is StumbleUpon?

StumbleUpon is browser add-on that you can use to search, or "stumble", the web. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer versions are available here. Use it to find new sites merely by hitting the "stumble!" button; once you find a site you like/dislike, you can give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. Multiply your thumbs up and down with the thousands of other StumbleUpon users, and you've got a whole lot of actual people - not cold heartless machines - sending the best content on the web your way.

However, there's more here than immediately meets the eye.

Make the most of your StumbleUpon settings

Now, you don't have to grok your Stumble toolbar; you can happily click away on the "Stumble!" button and basically fall into random rabbit holes (I do this quite often, actually). However, the benefits of tweaking your Stumble settings are almost immediate.

You can get into your Stumble settings a coupla different ways; I just logged into my profile and clicked on "Stumbling" to start. One of the very first things you're going to want to do is decide what kind of filtering options, if any, you want. For instance, I'd rather not stumble on any PDF files because it makes my very old (temporary, new one comes soon thank Jebus) laptop go kablooey.

Once you've got that straightened out, you'll want to visit the Tags page. Click on any of these tags, for instance, humor, and that particular tag is added to the list of topics you'd like to explore.

Of course, you can do this from your toolbar as well (it's easier). Click on the All dropdown menu and go to Update Topics. You'll get a ton of suggested categories for you to stumble; check or uncheck the ones you want to see the most. StumbleUpon also suggests topics you might like; this is more perfectly matched to your unique interests the more you rate sites - remember those thumbs up and thumbs down buttons? Yep - the more you use those, the more you train StumbleUpon to do your evil bidding. These simple tweaks are pretty elementary, I know - but the ROI is incredible.

How I use StumbleUpon

The simplicity of StumbleUpon is its most appealing characteristic - you click, you find great sites, you click again. However, StumbleUpon is a pretty powerful tool if used creatively. Here's just some of the uses that I've found for StumbleUpon so far:

• Generate ideas. You can use StumbleUpon as an instant idea mill - just type in a keyword and go. I've been able to take small kernels of ideas and build upon them using this method.
• Research. For anyone doing any kind of research, StumbleUpon is a dream come true, because the websites included in SU are hand-picked and filtered through many sets of eyes before they get to you. I've been able to find many, MANY incredibly rich research-oriented sites through StumbleUpon, faster and easier than using Google.
• Exploration. I really love the fact that StumbleUpon enables me to find information that I would never have had the inclination to look for before. It's that delish feeling of not knowing what's coming next - and knowing that if you don't like it, another super possibility is just a click away.

Why StumbleUpon is important

I've already gushed about StumbleUpon enough to make you hunt for the insulin; however, it's just that cool. Not only can it connect you to the quality content you're looking for - often it'll hand you stuff you didn't know you were looking for.

230+ Shortcuts for Top Web Services

by Stan Schroeder
Source : Link

Prepare your fingers, and throw your mouse away: you’re not going to need it. For your weekend reading, we’ve prepared a list of the most useful keyboard shortcuts for our favorite web services. So, if you need a quick reference as to which key does what on what site, this is where you find it. Enjoy!

Gmail

c - compose a new mail
/ - puts your cursor in the search box
k - move to newer conversation
j - Move to older conversation
n - next message
p - previous message
o or Enter - open a conversation
u - return to conversation list
y - archive a conversation
m - mute (archive and make all future messages from this conversation skip the inbox)
x - select conversation
s - star a message or conversation
! - report spam
r - reply to a mail
a - reply to all recepients
f - forward message
Esc - escape from input field
ctrl+s - save draft

key combos

tab then Enter - send message
y then o - archive your conversation and move to the next one.
g then a - go to all mail
g then s - go to starred conversations
g then c - go to contacts list.
g then d - go to drafts
g then i - go to inbox

Official list of Gmail shortcuts

Google Reader

j/k - selects the next/previous item in the list
space/shift-space - moves the page down/up
n/p - in list view, selects the next item without opening it
o - in list view, expands or collapses the selected item
enter - in list view, expands or collapses the selected item
s - stars the selected item
shift-s - shares the selected item
m - switches the read state of the selected item
t - opens the tagging field for the selected item
v - opens the original source for this article in a new window
shift-a - marks all items in the current view as read
1 - displays the subscription as expanded items
2 - displays the subscription as a list of headlines
r - refreshes the unread counts in the navigation
shift-n/p - selects the next/previous subscription or folder in the navigation
shift-x - expand or collapse a folder selected in the navigation
shift-o - opens the item currently selected in the navigation
gh - goes to the Google Reader homepage
ga - goes to the “All items” view
gs - goes to the “Starred items” view
gt - allows you to navigate to a tag by entering the tag name
gu - allows you to navigate to a subscription by entering the subscription name
u - hides and shows the list of subscriptions
? - displays a quick guide to all of Reader’s shortcuts

Official list of Google Reader shortcuts

Google Calendar

calendar view

c - Allows you to create a new event. + c allows you to create an event in a new window.
/ - Places your cursor in the search box
p - Moves your calendar view to the previous date range
n - Moves your calendar view to the next date range
t - Moves you to the current day
d - Displays your calendar in the “Day” view
x - Displays your calendar in a customized view
w - Displays your calendar in the “Week” view
m - Displays your calendar in the “Month” view
a - Displays your calendar in the “Agenda” view
q - Opens “Quick Add”
Esc - Brings you back to the default calendar view

event view

Enter - Expands a collapsed region
Tab - Moves your cursor to the next field
Alt then s - Saves the event
Esc - Brings you back to the default calendar view

Official list of Google Calendar shortcuts

Google Maps

arrow keys - pan the map in various directions
page up, page down, home and end - pan out even wider
+/- - zoom in/out

Official list of Google Maps shortcuts

Google Video

space bar - play/pause
right/left arrow skip -jump back 5%
up/down arrow - increase/decrease the volume 5%
m - mute
f - toggle full screen
Esc - return from full screen to normal mode

Official list of Google Video shortcuts

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Ctrl+B - bold
Ctrl+C - copy
Ctrl+I - italicize
Ctrl+P - print
Ctrl+S - save
Ctrl+U - underline
Ctrl+V - paste
Ctrl+X - cut
Ctrl+Y - redo
Ctrl+Z - undo
Shift+Tab - move to previous cell/row
Tab - move to next cell/row

The above are only the shortcuts which work in both docs and spreadsheets. For a full list of all keyboard shortcuts in these two apps, see below.

Official list of Google Docs & Spreadsheets shortcuts

Netvibes

main panel

h - show help
arrow keys - navigate through modules
e - edit module
d - delete module
p - publish module
Enter - perform action on module (depending on the module, it can be open feed, start typing, etc)
Esc - removes focus from current module
a - add content to your Netvibes page
j and k - navigate through tabs

tabs shortcuts

t then o - opens tab options
t then 1,2,3,4 - sets the number of columns to 1,2,3 or 4 in the current tab
t then r - rename tab
t then d - delete tab

content panel

h - show help
a - add new feed
b - go to Netvibes ecosystem
t - close the content panel

feed reader

h - show help
n - next item
p - previous items
a - mark all as read
u - mark all as unread
Esc - close feed reader

Official list of Netvibes shortcuts

Wikipedia

+ - add a new section (talk pages only)
. - opens your user page if logged in
= - protect/unprotect the current page (sysops only)
c - shows the content page associated with the current article
d - delete/undelete the current page (sysops only)
e - edit this page/show source of current page
f - search Wikipedia
h - current page’s history
j - shows all of the pages that link to the current one
k - shows recent changes in pages linked to the current one
l - opens your watchlist (logged - in users only)
m - move the current page and its talk page (non - move - protected pages only)
n - opens your user’s or IP’s talk page
p - shows a preview of your changes (on edit pages)
q - shows a list of all special pages
r - shows a list of recent changes to the Wikipedia
s - saves the changes that you have made (on edit pages)
t - opens the current article’s talk page
u - allows you to upload images or media files
v - shows what changes you made to the text (on edit pages)
w - adds the current page to your watchlist (logged - in users only)
x - loads a random article
y - opens a list of your user’s or IP’s contributions
z - goes to the Main Page

Official list of Wikipedia shortcuts

Blogger

(these shortcuts work when editing posts)

control + b - Bold
control + i - Italic
control + l - Blockquote (when in HTML - mode only)
control + z - Undo
control + y - Redo
control + shift + a - Link
control + shift + p - Preview
control + d - Save as Draft
control + p - Publish Post
control + s - Autosave and keep editing
control + g - Hindi transliteration

Official list of Blogger shortcuts

Remember the Milk

t - Add a new item to the current list
c - Complete the selected task/s
p - Postpone the selected task/s by one day if they have a due date
d - Change the due date of the selected task
f - Change the repeat of the selected task
g - Change the time estimate of the selected task
s - Change the tags for the selected task
u - Change the URL for the selected task
l - Change the location for the selected task
y - Add a note to the selected task
r - Rename the selected item
z - Undo the last action
1 - Set the priority of the selected task/s to 1
2 - Set the priority of the selected task/s to 2
3 - Set the priority of the selected task/s to 3
4 - Set the selected task/s to have no priority
Del - Delete the currently selected task(s)
a - Select all items in the current list
n - Select none of the items in the current list
k - When on a list, move the cursor up
j - When on a list, move the cursor down
i - When on a list, select an item
h - Switch between tabs (e.g. Task and Notes)
m - Toggle multi - edit mode on or off (default is off)
Tab - Save input and move to the next input field
Esc - Remove the cursor from the current input field

Key Combos

Ctrl + Shift + / - Moves the cursor to the search box
Ctrl + Shift + 6 - Switch to the Overview screen
Ctrl + Shift + 7 - Switch to the Tasks screen
Ctrl + Shift + 8 - Switch to the Locations screen
Ctrl + Shift + 9 - Switch to the Contacts screen
Ctrl + Shift + 0 - Switch to the Settings screen
Ctrl + Shift + Right - Switch between tabs (e.g. move to the next list)
Ctrl + Shift + Left - Switch between tabs (e.g. move to the previous list)
Ctrl + Shift + l - Skip to Login screen (from homepage)

Locations Shortcuts

Arrow Keys - pan/move around the map
Page Up, Page Dn, Home, End - Pan - Move around the map, wider pan than arrow keys
+/- - Zoom In/Out
Ctrl + Shift + l - Moves the cursor to the location ‘go’ box

Official list of Remember the Milk shortcuts

Pandora

Space - play/pause
right arrow - skip song
+ - mark as “thumbs up”
- - mark as “thumbs down”
up arrow - increase volume
down arrow - decrease volume
Shift+up arrow - max volume
Shift+down arrow - mute

Official list of Pandora shortcuts

Yahoo! Mail

m - check mail
Shift+m - check all mail
Ctrl+\ - close current tab
n - new message
Shift+n - new message in its own window
r - reply
Shift+r - reply in a new window
a - reply all
Shift+a - reply all in a new window
f - forward message
Shift+f - forward in a new window
k - mark as read
Shift+k - mark as unread
l - flag
Shift+l - clear flag
del - delete item
p/Ctrl+p - print
Ctrl+s - save draft
Ctrl+Enter - send message
v - turn reading pane on/off
Ctrl+[ - navigate through tabs
Ctrl+] - navigate through tabs
Enter - open message in its own tab (when message is selected)
Enter - edit contact info (when contact is selected)
Ctrl+f - find a word or phrase in message
F11 - expand window to max height
Ctrl+. - next message (in message tab)
Ctrl+, - previous message (in message tab)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+up arrow/down arrow - next/previous message
Ctrl+Shift+End - skip to oldest unread message
d - move message to folder
Esc - close read - message tab
Ctrl+Shift+End - start a new chat

Official list of Yahoo! Mail shortcuts

Wordpress

All letters uppercase - effectively, it means you have to press Alt+Shift+key

Alt+P - publish
Alt+B - bold
Alt+I - italic
Alt+Q - Blockquote
Alt+T - more (Read More tag)
Alt+U - ul (Unordered list)
Alt+O - ol (Ordered list)
Alt+L - li (list item)
Alt+A - link
Alt+C - code
Alt+S - ins
Alt+D - del