Tag: personal contacts

Who Really Invented the Lightbulb? Really?

Did you know that Thomas Edison did NOT invent the light bulb? Really, he was just the first to successfully bring it to market and raise awareness of it.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t focus on the fear of someone stealing their idea (especially if you have a patent). They focus on executing on the opportunity by bringing their idea to market.

This is what the 22 inventors of the incandescent light bulb before Thomas Edison FAILED to do.

That’s right. Twenty-two inventors had the idea before Edison, and Edison didn’t necessarily steal their idea. He just did a better job of taking it to market, and this is where the value is.

If you have an idea, protect it, and then you can just focus on executing and bringing your product or service to market successfully.

Did you know that 40Billion provides an informative business startup guide for protecting your ideas and intellectual property through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and NDA’s?

Download the short MP3’s and listen to them on your computer or in your iPod, while at home, in the office, or on-the-go. Then, download the easy-to-use templates that come with each startup guide.

Go to http://www.40billion.com/startupguides/ today.

Is the “American dream” dead?

Is the idea of achieving the “American dream” a dying fantasy that is becoming impossible for more and more people? Yes, unfortunately, it is true. There is no doubt that the economy is suffering, and suffering with it is the American dream.

Entrepreneurs can’t afford to start businesses, families can’t afford to buy homes, and students can’t afford to go to college. Banks don’t seem to care, and the government seems to be paralyzed from the waist down.

But the fact is you don’t need a bank loan in order to build and grow a successful business, just like you don’t need an Ivy League college degree in order to be a successful entrepreneur and businessperson (though, it can help). We have to help ourselves and save our own economy, our own businesses, our American dream.

Raise money. Build dreams. 40Billion.com … Let’s start here!

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Want to know which of your friends are most likely to invest in your business (or someone else’s business)?

Ever wondered which of your friends is most likely to invest in your business? Want to know which potential funders you should pursue and invite to participate in your Raise?

Use our amazing new Funding Probability BETA feature to find out the likelihood that each of your contacts will fund your Raise (or even someone else’s Raise).  Just click the “Invite Your Friends” button at the top of any Raise to find out more and make your social network start working for you!

 Add contacts to your network and find out which ones are most likely to fund your business.

Introducing the Social Business Rating System, a.k.a. SBRS score, for small businesses and startups!

You may have noticed that there is now a unique score given to each Raise (business fundraising profile) on 40billion.com. This is the SBRS score, where SBRS stands for Social Business Rating System™. It is a proprietary system developed exclusively by 40billion.com to rate businesses based on criteria that really matter for success, not traditional credit scores.

SBRS generates a score for each Raise based on 17 or more criteria, including business-related success measures, entrepreneur profile, peer ratings, and reviews. It is a novel approach to rating businesses that does not exist anywhere else.

The SBRS score helps funders and entrepreneurs to compare business ventures and assess their potential likelihood of success. 850 is the highest possible SBRS score, and scores are updated weekly (not monthly like traditional credit scores).

What can entrepreneurs, small businesses, and startups do to increase their SBRS scores? Start by editing and updating your Raise, editing and updating your personal profile, and increasing your fundraising and social networking activity on the site.

Here are just a few things that may influence your business’ SBRS score and which you can control:

  • % of Raise profile completed — when starting a Raise, be sure to fill in the profile completely and honestly.
  • % of personal profile completed — be sure to fill in your personal profile completely and honestly.
  • # of recommendations received
  • Amount of funding raised
  • # of connections in your social network
  • # of invitations sent to people you know
  • # of followers — i.e., people following your Raise
  • # of Raises you’ve started or participated in
  • # of company updates added to your Raise

So, what is your SBRS score? If it’s currently below 550, then we believe you’ve got some work to do in order to increase your likelihood of success! Start with the tips above, and your SBRS score will grow along with your business over time.

Recommend your favorite entrepreneurs and funders

We recently launched a new feature for giving and receiving recommendations in your social network on 40billion.com. Just click the  “Recommend” button near the top of anyone’s personal profile page in order to give them a recommendation. You must be connected to that person first.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

  • User can recommend a contact on 40billion.com with one click;
  • # of recommendations received is displayed on the contact’s personal profile page;
  • Any user can view the list of recommenders.

Get people you know to recommend you today! Your friends, family, customers, clients, classmates and others may recommend you if you ask them to, especially if it’s as easy as clicking one button.

Recommendations can add credibility and make you stand out from all the rest.

Grow your social network to over 100 people fast

40billion.com is the social funding network for entrepreneurs and people who support entrepreneurs. Whether you’re starting a business, running a business, funding a business, supporting someone you know who has started a business, or providing services to business owners, this is where you want to be!

It all starts with your social network of friends, relatives, co-workers, classmates, and other people you know. Use your social network to help you raise funding for a business, support businesses seeking funding and resources, and even acquire customers. Your personal profile page is where you can connect with people in your social network and grow your network.

We recommend building a network of at least 100 people. To add people to your network, find people already on 40billion, invite people to join, import your contacts from your email (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, or Outlook), and post to your Facebook page.

The more connections you have in your network, the more you’ll be able to accomplish… and the more fun it will be!