The "real" story on Facebook's founding. On Friday, Silicon Alley Insider published the results of its two-year investigation into the controversial founding of Facebook. Among the new details to emerge is this purported IM from Mark Zuckerberg to a friend right before Facebook's launch, in which Zuckerberg suggests that he is intentionally delaying the launch of a similar site, HarvardConnections, which he had previously agreed to work on. "I feel like the right thing to do is finish the facebook and wait until the last day before I'm supposed to have their thing ready and then be like 'look yours isn't as good as this so if you want to join mine you can…otherwise I can help you with yours later.'" How to start a company when you still have a job. Over at a Smart Bear, Jason Cohen tackles the subject of bootstrapping a start-up using your salary. He recommends picking a slow growth business--you can afford this because you already have a salary--that doesn't require you to answer emails or phone calls during normal business hours. "Remember, your immediate goal isn't to make millions of dollars, it's to build a business just solid enough to quit your day job," he writes. You also have to make sure you don't get sued by your employer. To avoid this, Cohen suggests being upfront about what you're doing and getting a signed letter from a company representative that gives you the go-ahead to work on your business on your own time. "When it comes to company property, be paranoid," he writes. "Assume everything you do on the Internet is recorded, cataloged, tagged, and monitored continuously by a methamphetamine-powered slave-army." (Via Hacker News.) How to get a better night's sleep. Having trouble keeping your eyes open? Couldn't wind down after all that Oscar excitement last night? You're not alone. Seventy-five percent of Americans report having problems sleeping a few nights a week, which can lead to missed workdays, errors on the job, and even diminished job satisfaction. Web Worker Daily has some tips for better sleep in honor of National Sleep Awareness Week and we . 1. Go to sleep at the same time every night. 2. Keep your room in total darkness. 3. Don't drink tea, coffee, or soda late in the day. 4. Avoid sugary foods later in the evening, and opt for snacks with tryptophan in them instead, like bananas, sunflower seeds, or low-fat yogurt. Lastly, experiment with a little white noise. A plea to abandon ad blocking. As more businesses grow increasingly dependent on a solid Web presence for survival, tech-related news site Ars Technica writes that there's one menace threatening to snatch away the crutch: ad blocking. After observing over a period of time that a substantial amount of users were using software to block the site's advertisements, founder Ken Fisher decided to explain to readers exactly how and why ad blocking can hurt your favorite websites. "If you have an ad blocker running, and you load 10 pages on the site, you consume resources from us -- bandwidth being only one of them -- but provide us with no revenue," the post says. Fisher, who goes on to compare ad blocking to "running a restaurant where 40 percent of the people who came and ate didn't pay," also detailed a 12-hour experiment to make content disappear for visitors using a specific ad blocking program, which was met with mixed results. While it was a technical success, Fisher says he found out that most ad blockers were not doing so with ill intent, which raises an important question for business owners and developers alike: Is it ethical to block content for users who block your ads? Apple nixes "cookie cutter" apps. In its latest crackdown on the appsphere, Apple is reaching out to companies that build apps from a single template, writes TechCrunch. Apple isn't opposed to these app generators categorically, but just wants to weed out apps that are little more than RSS feeds. Still reaching out to companies individually and suggesting that they add more features seems like unproductive micromanagement to us. See these 15 CEOs on their ways to be more productive and check out the best iPhone apps for business. Pandora's potential IPO. In the past we've written about Pandora's near-death experience, and how it was saved by it's loyal user base. Now the Internet radio start-up that got 347 no's before it landed it's second round of funding is being wooed by a slew of investors, writes The New York Times. The company's success in the mobile sphere has piqued VC interest and though it says it is focusing on growth rather than going public, it hired a new CFO Steve Cakebread who held the same position at Salesforce.com when it went public. Wi-Fi phones for China. China Unicom, one of three Chinese state-owned telecommunications carriers, is working with Apple to introduce iPhones with Wi-Fi capability to China, the Wall Street Journal reports. Up to now, government regulations have forced the companies to disable Wi-Fi capability in the iPhone, which makes the phone less attractive than fully functional iPhones that are resold in China from other markets. More from Inc. Magazine: Get this delivered to your inbox. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Tumblr. Friend us on Facebook. Apply now for the 2010 Inc. 500|5000.

Small business owners, who often borrow against homes and offices, are suffering from the vicious cycle that's keeping credit tight and pushing real estate down

The education of Mark Zuckerberg. The Wall Street Journal has a must-read profile of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has kept a firm hold on his company, even as he's raised hundreds of millions of dollars and plotted an eventual initial public offering. The Journal reveals that Zuckerberg has grown up a lot over the last few years, for instance giving up the practice of ending meetings by leading his employees in a chant of "domination." Meanwhile, the article reports that he still owns 25% of the company's stock, controlling most of the voting shares, and three of the five board seats. He's also fond of quoting from--of all things--the movie "Troy." The business lesson of a bad haircut. Think back to the last time you got a really bad haircut. Did you complain to the hairstylist directly? Probably not. If you're like most people, you simply paid your money, sulked away, and then proceeded to complain to anyone who would listen. On her blog, Kicking Niche, marketing guru Mary Dean points out the business lesson to be learned from a bad haircut experience. Namely, that "lack of complaints does not indicate a job well done." As Dean explains, just because your customers aren't actively voicing their displeasure to you, that doesn't mean they aren't doing so to their family and friends. Austin-area residents can catch Dean speak today at the RISE Austin conference about the business opportunities of marketing towards the female demographic. Why you should give yourself a "Do Over." Do you keep yourself awake at night torturing yourself about an unsuccessful email? Do you ever replay a bad interaction with someone while you're still in the middle of a meeting with them? Former venture capitalist and professional coach Jerry Colonna figured out a way to help entrepreneurs break through the "obsessive rumination, self-recrimination, re-writing of the script." And he figured it out by coming to terms with his relationship with Oreos. In short: give yourself a Do Over and try again. (Hat tip, peHUB) More venture capitalists expected to back start-ups in 2010. According to a recent survey conducted by tax and advisory firm KPMG, venture capitalists are optimistic that a rebound will occur this year, after flagging opportunities in 2009, the Boston Globe reports. The survey polled 200 venture capitalists, including investors, bankers and entrepreneurs, and found that 67 percent of respondents expected investments in start-up and growth companies to increase in 2010--compared to a mere 23 percent predicting growth in investments in 2009. Companies that supply green technologies were singled out to receive more attention from venture capitalists, with 38 percent of respondents expecting the energy storage and efficiency sector to see the most investment. Get ready for the electronic medical-records boom. According to CNNMoney, the next goldmine tech start-up industry will be medical records,. There are currently about 300 to 400 companies in the United States fighting for the relatively new market, but small start-ups are poised to hold their own against branches of large corporations. One reason is that of the doctors' offices that have yet to adopt electronic records, the majority are small businesses themselves. Until recently, the bigger players ignored them, focusing on larger hospitals and clinics. Small start-ups were able to fill the niche by offering lower cost products and creative solutions to smaller clinics. Expect long lines at Apple stores on April 3. It's coming. Apple announced this morning that the first iPads will be available in the U.S. on April 3, TechCrunch reports. Those will be Wi-Fi models. The versions that have both Wi-Fi and 3G will be coming later in the month. Pre-ordering for U.S. customers starts on March 12, both online and at Apple retail locations. For more on the much-hyped tablet, take a look at Inc.com's iPad coverage. Winery prices hit the bottom of the barrel. If you're interested in buying a business to flip it, wine is probably not the place to look right now. But as a long term investment, current prices may be too good to pass up, writes WalletPop (via Huffington Post). John Bergman, of Bergman Euro-National, a firm that sells estates in the Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino regions, says that while prices for wineries have bottomed out, better times are on the way. Foreign investors are already looking to take advantage of the situation. For comparison, see this Arizona winery we profiled a few months back as our business for sale, and check out this gadget guide for wine lovers. A jeans start-up designed with your iPhone in mind. Ever wish you had a pair of jeans with a pocket that was meant for your iPhone or iPod touch? Thanks to WTFJeans, a denim startup based in France, your wardrobe wishes are about to come true, Mashable reports. With a pocket designed specifically for your iPhone with micro-fiber interior protection, not to mention a secret USB stick pocket, these jeans aim to fit both your style and gadget-protecting needs. Look for them in early May, and expect them to set you about 59 euro (about $80). More from Inc. Magazine: Get this delivered to your inbox. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Tumblr. Friend us on Facebook. Apply now for the 2010 Inc. 500|5000.

As Congress continues to shape a jobs bill, data from payroll companies suggest that small businesses have started to hire

Ever since the Oakland-based East Bay Express published an explosive story called Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0 a year ago, Yelp Inc. CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has been dealing with charges that the company has a bad habit of shaking down small businesses. The scheme, say critics, is that Yelp ...

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service will extend a moratorium on penalties until June 1 for failing to report transactions considered tax shelters.

Take a look at 10 companies reinventing America's energy infrastructure. Changing the way we use energy is going to require more than just new ways of generating electricity. At an innovation summit organized by ARPA-E (a research branch of the DOE modeled after DARPA that looks at high-risk, high-reward ideas), most of the finalists for funding had the lofty ambition of reinventing the entire energy system, reports Wired. Check out Wired's list of ten companies leading us to more a sustainable future. Phonic Devices makes thermoelectric materials that converts "waste heat," the byproduct of industrial processes directly into electricity. Graphene Energy figured out a way to get more energy density out of graphene, a one-atom thick configuration of carbon. And Makani Windpower, the brainchild of mad scientist Saul Griffith, uses large kites at high altitudes to get the most out of wind power. Check out our recent feature on the incorrigible inventor, Saul Griffith's House of Cool Ideas. For first product, the fewer features the better. You know all those product managers obsessed with feature-rich first products? Steve Blank would like to have a word with them. In his most recent post, he explains how the goal should be the exact opposite: "the minimum feature set." "The reality," he writes, "is that the minimum feature set is 1) a tactic to reduce wasted engineering hours (code left on the floor) and 2) to get the product in the hands of early visionary customers as soon as possible." Google, for one, is a believer. Small business plea for direct lending. AIG, GM, and scores of banks have received bailout money from the federal government. But recovery efforts directed at small businesses have stalled out at the lender level, where large corporations continue to get preferential treatment. Back in October, legislation that would require the SBA to help companies willing to find lenders and, as a last resort, lend the money directly was passed in the House. But it's currently facing a tougher time in the Senate in part due to ongoing skepticism from the current administration, reports the Wall Street Journal. On the campaign trail, Obama proposed expanding the SBA's ability to give direct funds to companies hit by the recession. But then recanted, saying direct lending would create a "massive bureaucracy." On Friday, entrepreneurs testified at a congressional hearing that the $30 billion TARP initiative to help community banks lend to local companies would be better spent by giving it to the SBA to lend out. Raising money, with a little help from your friends. Interesting video on the RISE Austin site from Maggie Miller, a social entrepreneur and founder of the micro-finance organization, DiscoverHope Fund. When raising start-up capital, Miller says she would talk to everyone she saw and "literally make 100 friends a day." Those friends helped her raise an initial $60,000 for the project, often $100 at a time. Her advice to other entrepreneurs is to, "Surround yourself with people who will cultivate that hope in you. You never really know who is set up to support you in that particular inspirational goal that you have." In other news from the RISE Austin conference, Inc. editor Jane Berentson took some time away from her magazine duties to serve on a panel of judges for a quick-pitch competition. The winner was Steve Barcik, CEO of FireFly LED Lighting, a maker of energy-efficient light bulbs. The 2-minute opportunity checklist for entrepreneurs. If you have a business concept on the back burner but you want to test it for holes before trying to sell friends, family, and VCs on the idea, the Harvard Business Review has an 18 question checklist that can help. It starts out with the basic and essential question "Does your idea soothe someone's pain, discomfort, frustration, or dissatisfaction?" and grills you on other key particulars such as whether you can sneak by big competitors unnoticed for a while. The post also offers some counterintuitive advice: if everyone loves your idea, you're in trouble. "Unless you have at least one major detractor, then you are probably not onto something big. In fact, if everyone thinks it's a wonderful thing to do, then probably a legion of competitors is on the launch pad." Apple bans a popular iPhone app ... again. The review process for the App Store has become rather notorious for its strict and seemingly arbitrary guidelines, with Apple quashing thousands of apps within the past few months, citing reasons that puzzle developers. According to TechCrunch, the latest on the chopping block was Tokyo-based Tonchidot, whose augmented reality app Sekai Camera is Japan's most downloaded iPhone app to date. The app, which allows users to tag their surroundings with virtual content like text and video, employs a GPS function that collects nearby Wi-Fi signals, which Apple apparently no likey. Click here for more info on the augmented reality craze, and one investor who was particularly wowed by Tonchidot's TechCrunch conference debut. Protect your business from corrupt employees It's easy to think of employees as family. But that can be a risky mindset, reports the WSJ. Employee frauds at businesses with fewer than 100 employees--which tend to use fewer internal controls, security cameras, and other defensive tactics--cause a median loss $57,000 higher than the median losses of larger organizations. Business owners can help protect themselves from these losses by installing an anonymous employee hotline, requiring all employees and managers to participate in inspection procedures, and requiring employees who are handling money or inventory work in teams of two or more. How cities and states develop programs to help small businesses. Rather than wait for the federal government to figure out how to get funding to Main Street, several states and municipalities have initiated programs to help local businesses and save jobs, The New York Times reports. A small business council in the Cleveland area created a program to encourage consumers to buy products from locally-owned stores. Likewise, North Carolina began a pilot program called BizBoost last year, in which the state gave $600,000 to help the Charlotte area rebound from big bank layoffs. Since last fall, the program has been able to provide financial guidance to 158 small businesses. More from Inc. Magazine: Get this delivered to your inbox. Or get it on the Kindle Follow us on Twitter or Tumblr. Friend us on Facebook. Apply now for the 2010 Inc. 500|5000.

The site faces a lawsuit—and a barrage of criticism—for mingling ads and reviews

The top Web apps for business growth. It takes a lot to run a small business -- but what do you do when there's too many tasks and not enough help? Tech entrepreneur and blogger Neil Patel has put together a list of the top 25 online tools that can help you get projects done, manage your finances, leverage social media, and even have a little fun. There are a few high-profile choices in the bunch, such as Mint and HootSuite, but also some fan-favorites that are still under the radar, such as Recurly, which helps set up and maintain recurring billing for customers, and RescueTime, an automated time tracking and management program. Putting your business on the (Google) map. If you've done a Google search for just about anything lately, you've probably noticed the handy map that pops up on the results page complete with a handful of pushpins pointing out the relevant local businesses. Marketing guru Jane Dueease has some tips for anyone who has ever wondered how their business can land a spot on the Google map. And as she explains, that map is prime real estate. Companies that appear on the map "not only show up above the 'organic' or 'natural' search results, but [the map] has a higher click rate than the Google Adwords." Austin-area residents interested in learning more can catch Dueease today at the RISE Austin conference discussing ways to improve your company's Web site. Young social entrepreneurs, here's a way to win $50,000. The Hitachi Foundation is scouring the country to find young entrepreneurs making an impact in their communities, particularly start-ups that "help move people out of poverty and into the mainstream of American society," says the Foundation's chair. Six applicants will be selected and each will receive $50,000 and technical resources to strengthen their business. Apply here by March 22. Making pay-per-click pay. Paid search engine marketing can be more profitable than search engine optimization, but it can be costly and futile if misapplied. The Wall Street Journal suggests following these tips to optimize your efforts: In addition to buying your company name and your competitors' names, consider asking customers what terms they use when they search for your products; Use keyword tools like Google Trends and Google's keyword suggestion tool; Monitor your results; Make sure your landing page aligns with your ad; and be specific in order to filter out undesirable clicks that you will still need to pay for. Tesla production on schedule despite engineers' deaths. Two weeks after three of its top engineers died in a California plane crash, electric car maker Tesla said on Wednesday that it is sticking to its plan to produce and sell its first sedan within three years, The Associated Press reports. The young automaker, led by CEO Elon Musk, is hoping that the $49,000 sedan will "cement the Tesla brand in the market place," chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said. The company's only current car on the market is the $109,000 roadster. Omniture customers get new analytics perks on Facebook. Though the analytics powerhouse and the social media giant first joined forces in May 2009 to build upon Facebook analytics capabilities, TechCrunch now reports that the two companies will be expanding their social media marketing partnership even further. The partnership will now allow businesses using Facebook to utilize Omniture's SearchCenter Plus product, which will enhance its search engine marketing management application with better efficiency for purchasing Facebook Ads. As a result, Omniture customers will now be able to compare Facebook ad campaign metrics with other media channels (learn more about how to advertise on Facebook here), and they will also be able to generate reports specifically designed to understand ad effectiveness for Facebook Pages and applications. For more on how Omniture grew from a college start-up to its $1.8 billion acquisition, check out our How I Did It on co-founder Josh James from Inc.'s March issue. The changing landscape of e-commerce. It's becoming increasingly difficult to recall a time when pundits scoffed at the possibility of e-commerce outlets as viable businesses, but Half.com founder turned VC Josh Kopelman remembers it. He also notes on his blog, Redeye VC, that up until recently the e-commerce field has been pretty stagnant innovation- wise (via peHUB). "The online shopping paradigm is finally changing," he writes. "We've seen more innovation in the last 10 months than in the last 10 years." Kopelman lists game-changing e-commerce opportunities in the post and proudly touts the fact that his firm, First Round Capital has invested in over a dozen ventures in these fields. For strategy tips for your online store, check out our guide to selling online. More from Inc. Magazine: Get this delivered to your inbox. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Tumblr. Friend us on Facebook. Apply now for the 2010 Inc. 500|5000.

Start by basing price on the value of the product or service, instead of its cost. Then brainstorm a plan to satisfy an underserved segment

Call it "the rule of three:" Refining business presentations to a few key messages will make audiences more likely to remember what you say

Define metrics, meet the potential partner in person, and then hire a lawyer to draft a formal agreement, experts suggest

Why you need an FAQ page. Let's face it -- good customer service or not, answering daily queries about the same topics can become tedious and time-consuming. That's why you should consider creating an FAQ page for your company's website, according to a recent post over at Web Worker Daily. A good FAQ page not only educates clients and customers about your services, but it can also provide useful info about your work processes and pre-empt absences and missed deadlines. "An FAQ page can help you reduce the frequency in which you provide the same information to different people," the post says, "It can also help you to remain productive and focused on tasks that actually require your expertise." What Krishna can teach you about business. As we mentioned yesterday, Austin-area entrepreneurs might want to check out this week's RISE Austin conference, a free conference designed to encourage the sharing of ideas and encouragement between entrepreneurs. On the RISE site, Bijoy Goswami, founder of the Bootstrap Network, discusses the business lessons he has learned from an even higher power--the Hindu god Krishna. Taking lessons from the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture, Goswami tells of how Krishna explains to a young warrior that, "Your job is not to be good at everything...your job is to know what you're good at, discover what it is, and then deepen that capability. From that excellence, you will then find out what you're here to do. And then you will find people to come along with you on that journey." Consider it a lesson in delegating from a higher power. Quiet time: not just for kindergarten anymore. All of the dings, buzzes, and alerts coming from your computer and cellphone might be small distractions, but they can add up to big losses for your business. Reuters reports today that interruptions and distractions cost the average desk worker 2.1 hours of productivity every day and the companies they work for as much as $1 billion annually. In addition, constant e-mail lowered workers attention spans, increased stress, and decreased job satisfaction and creativity. Intel dealt with this problem by imposing a four-hour "quiet time" on its engineers. The 14 people worked alone and all messaging and contact was banned. Although you might not be ready to enforce an all-out ban on communication, Inc.'s guide can help you develop a cell phone policy that fit's your company. Google secures a patent for location-based advertising. While most of the blogosphere was distracted with Facebook locking down the patent for its news feed format, Google stealthily nabbed a patent for location-based advertising, reports VentureBeat. The patent itself, which was fairly broad, was filed 6 years ago. It governs location for targeting, setting a minimum price bid for an ad, offering analytics, and changing the content of an ad. VentureBeat says that it's still unclear whether start-ups should be alarmed, calling it "a defensive practice, rather than as a tool for pressuring other companies to desist or pay license fees." But it certainly gives Google, which has made location-enabled search and advertising a priority in the past year, an edge in its war with Apple over mobile advertising. Indeed, competition has heated up recently with Google acquiring Admob in November and Apple buying Quattro Wireless in January. Another start-up bites the dust (thanks to Google). Google's recent buying spree continues with the announcement that the search giant has acquired Picnik, a start-up that offers an online photo editing service, The New York Times reports. The service allows users to edit photos through a browser without having to download any software. "The sale puts Google in yet another competing business with Adobe, going up against Photoshop.com, and with Apple and the basic photo editing tools within iPhoto," the Times writes. Picnik CEO Jonathan Sposato previously sold another company to Google--Phatbits, in 2006. Why Joel Spolsky is Giving Up His Blog. He wants to focus on other ways to market his business. Spolsky is the creator of Joel on Software, a long-running and very popular blog about programming, the founder of Fog Creek Software, and an Inc. columnist. He writes in his latest column that he has decided to hang up his pen for awhile and will no longer post Tweets, record podcasts, or speak at conferences. "The truth is, as much as I've enjoyed it, blogging has become increasingly impossible to do the way I want to as Fog Creek has become a larger company," he writes. "We now have 32 employees and at least six substantial product lines. We have so many customers that I can't always write freely without inadvertently insulting one of them." Meanwhile, Spolsky says that although blogging has been an effective way to reach people who read blogs, he has been ignoring customers who might be reached through more traditional marketing channels. So, bad news: Joel is giving up his Inc. column. But, good news: We're adding a new columnist, 37 Signals founder Jason Fried. Starbucks unruffled by gun-toting customers. In the past we've covered the debate over workplace gun policies but now chains including Starbucks are being drawn into the fray. Even in states that allow people to carry firearms openly, businesses can choose to ban them. Fans of the 2nd amendment in those states have been parading through establishments forcing them to take a stand on the issue. While California Pizza Kitchen and Peet's Coffee & Tea have given the NRA crowd a chilly reception, Starbucks is letting it's customers flaunt their firepower, writes the Huffington Post. John Bruce, a University of Mississippi professor and gun policy expert says, "Starbucks is a special target because it's from the hippie West Coast, and a lot of dedicated consumers who pay $4 for coffee have expectations that Starbucks would ban guns. And here they aren't." Make way for a new chocolate entrepreneur. From your everyday extras, like caramel, toffee, and almonds, to more daring additives, like chili peppers or bleu cheese, there are plenty of ingredients you can add to chocolate to make it taste better - even air bubbles. While aerated treats have become all the rage in Europe and other countries worldwide, air-infused confectionary goodies have yet to make a real mark in the U.S., until now. The Boston Globe reports that a year-old, Salem, Massachusetts-based company called Bubble Chocolate is attempting to become the first successful aerated chocolate bar business in the U.S. market. The company has begun nation-wide distribution through Whole Foods and Duane Reade, with additional talks in the works with other retail giants, such as Wal-Mart and Target. According to owner Paul Pruett, "The U.S. is the last frontier for this type of chocolate. The premium chocolate category is looking for something new." More from Inc. Magazine: Get this delivered to your inbox. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Tumblr. Friend us on Facebook. Apply now for the 2010 Inc. 500|5000.