Month: May 2014

Three Secrets and a Big Passion – Triathlon!

Published by Anna Kazakova

Today is a big day for our blog! With the help of our web developer, we are launching a new outlay and design—and premiering alongside a new look will be an exciting new topic as well… I’m sure all of you have noticed that I am notably passionate about investment opportunities, leadership, and entrepreneurship. However, I do have another passion that I’d like to share with all of you—a passion that will most certainly reveal another side of me that is absent in any of my past posts. Nevertheless, the time has come to let you all know that “big finance” is not the only ambition that drives me. My other big passion is…SPORTS. First Secret: The Ironman Triathlon is my goal Yes, my passion is sports—particularly triathlon, which is the one sport that most people have little understanding of and are somewhat unaware of how tough it is, both mentally and physically. Swimming, biking, and running completes a triathlon. Just to inform you, triathlon is like a drug. It involves lots of goal setting (years actually) in …

5 main steps for the perfect elevator pitch

Published by Anna Kazakova

If you an entrepreneur with an amazing idea and want to pitch it to your friends or even an investor, get ready to experience sweaty palms and rosy, red cheeks. Why? Because you never have a second chance to make a first impression! Here are some tips to avoid screwing it up:     I.         Make a plan and write it down.  Here is a plan: The American Express advice US makes it simple and useful.  FIRST BLOCK 1)    Name of your business 2)    Your product/services 3)    Market segment 4)    Problem solving  SECOND BLOCK  1)    Why your product is needed 2)    Which problems can it solve (this makes life easier, saves time and is more productive) 3)    Why are you better than the competition—USP  THIRD BLOCK 1)    Sales & Profitability Statement 2)    End with a statement about what you are looking to accomplish   II.         Repeat your pitch format again, and again.  In front of mirror or video camera, run through your offer at least a few times. Also, pitch your idea in front of friends and ask them to be critical by asking several questions. Overall, if …

If you would have only 2 years left

If you would have only 2 years left….

Published by Anna Kazakova

Lately I’ve been asking my friends if they are happy with how they live their lives. Actually, it didn’t take long for them to become completely sick of me and   I can absolutely understand why. I kept drilling the same set of questions into their heads every time we met. Eventually I began to wonder: “If you found out that you only had two years left to live, what would you do?”  “Would you continue working at your current job or quit and pursue your dreams?” Well, it generally took me about two years to achieve what I wanted to achieve, so two years is not a long time if you consider the learning curve, which is the bulk of the two years. Then, to see results is also time consuming. So, most of them said they would quit their jobs immediately and pursue “their dream job,” but were intimidated and probably would hold off because of the amount of competition facing them—for example, the fashion industry and journalism/novelist/ communications. Some folks decided they …

Start-Up Day 2014 from Stockholm School of Enterpreneurship

Published by Anna Kazakova

Previously known as “Good Morning” but now renamed “Start-up Day,” the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship organizes this one-day event where it gathers entrepreneurs with and without experience as well as attracting various investors, students, and motivational speakers—all on three different scenes. Being curious and looking for new opportunities, contacts, and of course inspiration, I decided to visit the event once again. I attended it four years ago and still remember the summing-up speech by Magnus Lindkvist. “Start-ups I believe in” This year  the event took place 26 th of April 2014 at Munchenbryggeriet. I was a bit disappointed with the Start-Up Day event. In fact the only speech “Start-ups I believe in”that I feel worth mentioning came from Hampus Jakobsson—a truly inspirational and successful entrepreneur as well as a happy father of three. Hampus is theco-founder and CEO at Brisk.io—a project that is currently operating under the Creandum family*. Earlier in his career when he was co-founder of a software licensing company known as The Astonishing Tribe, he was responsible for shipping over 500 million …