Putting every dollar you make back into your company, and not your pocket, can be brutal. These cost-saving tips can help.

You're building your business with your own money, which means you get to keep control of it, not hand it over to some investor. But bootstrapping is tough, especially if it means putting every dollar you make back into the company instead of into your pocket. So other than taking out a second mortgage on your house, maxing out credit cards, and eating ramen every night, what can you do to get your idea to the next level all on your own?

Jerry Jao, co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Retention Science, has some ideas. His current start-up, which uses big data to help e-commerce retailers retain customers, raised $1.3 million last year in a VC- and angel-backed seed round. But his two former companies--one that flopped and another that was cash-flow positive before he morphed it into Retention Science--existed solely on Jao's and his co-founder's own dimes. The duo also managed to avoid drawing a salary from Retention Science for more than two years. They consider themselves "extreme bootstrappers."

Self-described as a "goofy Asian guy with glasses" who is "not a natural salesperson" Jao says he taught himself to negotiate deals by reading books and getting advice from others. In addition to incorporating Retention Science using BizFilings and managing all the company's books and tax filings himself, he drives a 1998 Toyota Corolla that has a door that doesn't work and sometimes won't start. Even so, he doesn't complain about his clunker--previously he lived for two years with his co-founder's parents in LA, and for five months he didn't have a car at all.

Here's Jao's top 10 list of ways to save money and keep your budding company alive.

1. Defer legal fees.

Negotiate with your lawyers so that you don't have to pay them until you raise seed or Series A funding. Jao says the law firm that counsels Retention Science provided it with discounted advice that the company didn't have to pay for during the first two years of getting off the ground.

2. Use QuickBooks.

Yes, you're busy, but managing your books isn't terribly onerous once you get your accounts set up and data input. Plus, Jao says looking at your monthly burn helps foster a cost-saving attitude because you can see how fast money runs out. "Do not use a bookkeeper or hire an accountant," he says. "It is absolutely a waste of money." (And make sure to check out 5 Apps That Make QuickBooks Better.)

3. Ask for a discount on your server costs.

Jao says Microsoft, SoftLayer, Rackspace, and Amazon Web Services all offer start-up promotions. In fact, the latter offers more than a dozen products that include a free tier.

4. Tap your well-connected friends for their company discounts or hand-me-downs.

Know anybody who works for Apple? Jao says Apple employees can get up to $500 off the sticker price of a Macbook and 20-30 percent off iPads.

"Post a message on Facebook and you might be shocked at the responses you get. Or look on Craigslist and buy from other start-ups," he says. "You don't need brand new machines. You just need something that works and when you have a real business later, you can upgrade."

5. Look for shared office space.

Working at home is isolating and if you camp out at a coffee shop you can end up spending too much money on food and drinks. Instead, find another start-up that has extra space and make a deal to use it. Either that, or rent a spot in a coworking space. In addition to being a lot cheaper than paying for your own office, they're great places to meet other founders and creative types who can end up being new partners, allies, and even clients. Check out these 16 cool coworking spaces, many of which you can find at ShareDesk.net, an online marketplace for sharing offices, meeting rooms, and other workspaces.

6. Drive instead of fly.

Obviously this won't work if your meeting is across the country, but if you need to do an in-person and you can drive there and back in a long day, go for it.

"To save money on plane tickets, if I have an investor meeting at 9 a.m. in Silicon Valley, I'd leave at 3 a.m. from Los Angeles, then drive to the Starbucks on Sand Hill Road, change into my business clothes, and go to the meeting," Jao says.

7. Ask for event discounts.

Jao says that many event organizers understand that entrepreneurs don't have a pile of money to spend on networking events or conferences and will provide special discounts that are often not advertised publically. "It never hurts to ask," he says.

8. Don't use a PR firm.

Publicity is extremely important--but incredibly expensive if you're paying someone else to drum it up. "Since the founding of Retention Science, we've spent zero dollars on PR and marketing to date," Jao says. "It doesn't matter what they tell you, as an early stage company, you cannot justify a retainer of $8,000 to $10,000. Do your homework and reach out to reporters yourself."

Not sure where to start? Check out these 13 tips for DIY publicity.

9. At first, use WordPress for your website.

While you do need a professional-looking website or digital store front, hiring an agency or design shop to create one can be expensive. Jao says he and his co-founder created the websites for all three of their companies themselves and suggests using inexpensive talent you can find on platforms such as Freelancer.com once you're ready to scale. At first, though, WordPress will suffice--it offers thousands of free themes and plugins. Alternately, try one of these 4 easy-to-use tools for building websites.

10. Forget about job boards and recruiters.

Instead, Jao hangs flyers at universities known for harboring bright minds. "We found our first hire out of Caltech this way," he says.

Not sure you're up for such measures? Check out the three reasons bootstrapping has been crucial to Elle Kaplan, CEO and founding partner of Lexion Capital Management, the only 100 percent woman-owned asset management firm in the U.S.

While building a killer app for the hospitality industry, Monscierge hit more than a few classic start-up hurdles. Here's how it survived.

I love lessons learned. Unfortunately learning a lesson means making a mistake or doing something wrong, so that's why I also love people who are willing to share the mistakes that result in wisdom.

So here's a guest post from Marcus Robinson, Chief Experience Officer of Monscierge, an interactive software company specializing in hospitality solutions for hotel, convention, travel, and healthcare industries.

Here are four things Robinson says Monscierge got wrong--and one that continues to pay off:

1. We made it about us.

We built something for hospitality that really works. It isn't just a marketing mock-up, it actually performs on the back-end while also rivaling any major design firm's application on the front-end. But, guess what? No matter how well we perform compared to other companies, no hotel will ever say, "Valued guests: Download our mobile app. It's called Monscierge

After burning up inspiring YouTube scenes of Ben Affleck in The Boiler Room, we realized we just want to play in the game, to sit at the grown-up's table, and are happy to be a (paid) cog in the machine.

Branding our products for each hotel played a crucial role in achieving momentum.

2. We hired "star" industry leaders.

Three out of four start-ups will fail. Those that stay in the game realize that it's about more than a good product. Inserting an industry veteran in a team that has carefully crafted an idea from conception could potentially block your yellow brick road of progress.

Don't ignore the inner voice inside saying, "That doesn't sound right, but this industry cowboy must know what he's talking about."

Look around and assess. If there are three washed-up start-ups to your left and you're still going strong then you don't need a shining knight to ride in and save the day. Besides, regardless of their number of years in the industry, the average corporate nine-to-fiver may not realize the energy it takes to weather the start-up storm.

3. We decided just because we could, that meant we should.

We lost our focus and we paid for it. We set out to create hospitality and travel apps that were both well designed and had a badass framework.

After releasing some of our products, clients and vertical markets both began offering to pay us to develop various one-off pieces. Those may have been no-brainers to create, but they also took away from our (small) team's original goal of fleshing out the rest of our core products and left us playing catch-up to the rest of the market.

Stay laser-focused--don't let compliments and a little up-front cash veer you off course from the bigger payday.

4. We assumed we knew our customer's problems.

Engineering a B2B product based on thorough research alone can halt your start-up before it, well, before it starts up. How many times have you come across a product and thought, "Now, if it could just do this it would be perfect. I'd totally spend the money to buy it!"

We spent countless hours going back to the beginning, starting with our team working behind the scenes at a few test hotels.

Feel your customers' pain, or risk being just another app.

One Thing That Keeps Paying Off

Partof the start-up hype seen over the past few years might not be all marketing-speak. Let's be straight: You can't work at a start-up and not be entrenched in some sort of a weird yet dynamic group. One of the absolute best moves as a start-up was filming a two-minute video about our culture, not our software.

Humanizing your product and showing the dedication and passion that got you in the elite 25 percent of companies still in the game will push you over the line.

Sell yourself and you also sell your products.

They're smart, savvy, and super connected. Do you have what it takes to engage them?

Millennials comprise a huge chunk of consumers, but not everyone understands them.

At the World Innovation Forum, William Pearson, co-founder and president of Mental Floss trivia magazine, explained why they're important.

"Millennials are an incredibly resilient generation," he said. "They are actually one that has risen to the challenge of the current economic struggles in a way that other generations haven't. And they are adapting faster than any generation before them."

Here's what else you should know:

Millennials are smart. This generation of goal setters is investing in its future earlier than previous generations. Think of who they look up to--Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs. You can opt to present information in a rapid way, but never dumb it down, advised Pearson.

Millennials are distracted. They switch devices 27 times in an hour, so it's hard to get their attention. To succeed, put your content on every platform, in every medium. You want to grab their attention as they scan Twitter and wait to cross the street, Pearson said.

Millennials are cautious. They're also nice and not rebellious, said Pearson. As a result, they think the media's biased and perceive a lot of content to be propaganda. Join the conversation in a meaningful, sincere way.

Millennials back brands they believe in. Doing so gives them a sense of ownership. It makes them feel as if they are part of your business, and therefore, they might come back. Said Pearson (emphasis ours):

"They are much more likely to engage with a brand on social media. And so I think the mistake that a lot of companies make when they try to engage with their consumers on social media is they think it's all about driving traffic back to their other properties -- back to their website, back to purchase something. And although that is a huge part of the goal, where the large companies fail is in recognizing that if they don't make each experience meaningful, they'll lose. They'll not build that audience, they'll not build that following."

Focus on the user experience to build the trust with customers.

Millennials like to rent, but go shopping too. Make sure your product is worth its asking price, said Pearson.

Professional relationships are a two-way street, says noted venture capitalist Mark Suster.

I have a motto in business and life, "give before you get."

It’s a philosophy, really.

And it applies to business relationships and networking as much as it does to remuneration in the workplace.

It seems we live in an era of "ask."

I see it on Twitter. Lots of asking.

I see it on email even more. And in person in spades.

Everybody is in such a rush that they go for the "ask" too early.

Sometimes there is no other option -- I get that. And sometimes, I feel happy to help somebody even when we're just getting to know each other. That happened yesterday with a nice lady who moved to LA last year.

But less as a complaint and more as advice to younger networkers, the more you invest in relationships the more you will get when you need.

The more you accomplish through hard work the more you will feel comfortable asking for more compensation at your job.

Give. Then Get.

I know Brad Feld wrote a similar post. When he wrote it, I smiled because I have always used the same saying. Brad is the ultimate giver. It's why whenever he does ask my answer is "yes" before even knowing what he's asking.

I was thinking about this yesterday because my assistant Tasha posted a link on Facebook to Paul C. Brunson's short and to-the-point blog post, "It's Called Networking, Not Using."

In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice was:

"The most successful relationships I have built are with people I do more for than they do for me. I give, give, give, give, give, then ask."

So true.

It's not only more effective, but more rewarding. It feels much better to be a giver than a receiver. It feels much better to be helpful than to be indebted.

One of the most common questions I hear from first-time entrepreneurs is, "How do I meet angels?"

There is such an obvious solution. Think about it -- who knows angels the best? People who have raised money from them. Duh.

So why not get out and meet them? It's why I wrote the blog post on 50 Coffee Meetings. You need to be out there building relationships long before you have an "ask." Be authentic. Be helpful. Earn the right to ask if they wouldn't mind an intro to an angel. And don't ask for 10.

It's why I talk about building VC relationships early -- Lines, Not Dots. Fill your VC good will, build relationships, be helpful to them not just asking for things. It becomes easier to ask when you need help or money.

It's why long before you ever want press coverage you need to spend time actually helping journalists, respecting their profession, taking their calls (not having your PR department screen them) and knowing what interests them. I wrote about them here. When you want press, it will come. Give. Then get.

Some practical examples.

Jason Nazar is a master networker. As good as they come. Early in his days when he was raising capital for DocStoc he came to see me a lot. Of course, he wanted to talk a lot about his product and company -- he was looking for money after all. But every time he came he was looking for ways to help me. He would send deals. He was eager to introduce me to his angels -- a great group that I didn't know at the time. Later on, he would offer to share his advice on SEO with other portfolio companies. He would offer his time to launchpad LA companies.

Jason could ask me just about anything now. He's been such a consistent giver over the years.

Todd Gitlin is one of the best executive recruiters the technology and start-up market in LA. On many occasions over the years, I've called him with a request, "I'm not looking for an X right now but if I were, who is good in the market." Within an hour, I always have four CVs with notes on their accomplishments. He motto is, "If you want to talk with any of them, I'll introduce you. No fee required." Todd does this naturally but in his psyche is wired with the concept of reciprocity. He knows that good people return favors which means that when we do have a commercial need at a company, we call him.

I have other business relationships where it feels like the clock is always running. "What's in it for me?" OK, I could be an advisor to your company but if I intro them to X, I'd like to get an additional percentage option grant at your company.

And then I think about me. When I joined GRP Partners in 2007, I was offered a role as a General Partner. The compensation at the time was much less than what others told me a general partner at a VC firm would get. My philosophy was simple

"I've never been a VC before. So they're taking a bit of a risk on me.

Who cares what my equity is. If I do well, I'll ask for more later. If I don't do well, at least I got a shot at being a VC. If I don't do well, I didn't deserve the comp."

I did well. I asked for the comp later. I got it with no argument. And I always remember who put me in business. Life is about karma.

I always try to give before I get.

Brad Feld, VC and co-founder of TechStars, sounds off on why immigration policy must change--before the start-up community starts to suffer.

Editor's note: This is the first post in a series on immigration policy from Engine, a Silicon Valley based advocacy organization for tech start-ups.

We’re playing a global game for talent and, as Washington, D.C. continues at its own pace on immigration policy, the rest of the world is moving faster and faster around us. When I think about the United States in comparison to other countries, it’s clear that we need to seriously rethink our positioning and catch up.

Canada, for example, unveiled a new Start-up Visa this year touting short processing times, a pathway to citizenship, and lower taxes. The UK is also well on its way to attracting young, bright talent: as of April this year, anyone approved for the TechStars London accelerator is automatically approved for an UK Entrepreneur Visa. With our dysfunctional immigration system and stalling reform efforts, it’s clear why some entrepreneurs are actively choosing to leave the United States for other countries.

In true startup fashion, these newer startup communities are growing at a rapid pace and have already produced some exceptional companies. Prezi, founded in Hungary, is changing the way many of us give presentations and London-based Wonga, a real-time risk-profiling startup, is bringing small loans to the 21st century. Since we no longer have a monopoly on innovation, we cannot afford to turn away the entrepreneurs knocking on our door. In fact, our economy depends on us throwing the door to the United States wide open to any entrepreneur who wants to start a company here.

The current status quo around the United States immigration policy is bad for innovation and bad for our economy. In this context, we cannot afford to turn our backs on the efforts of some Senators on reform. One of the most exciting prospects in the Senate bill is the INVEST visa for foreign entrepreneurs that will create a new class of non-immigrant visas for founders who already have American investment in their business. In addition, this visa rewards successful entrepreneurs with a pathway to citizenship. This is real innovation--not just iteration--and it’s essential for startups, broader startup communities, and our country as a whole.

I know some people in Washington get it, but political morass is already seeping into the mechanism for change. House leadership has vowed to create its own immigration bill, in effect rejecting any Senate bill even if it passes with a supermajority. Representative Goodlatte has already introduced four new immigration bills, favoring a piecemeal approach rather than a comprehensive solution. What they are failing to see is that most Americans support a comprehensive immigration bill, and they’re ready for change now.

In keeping with the American public, I’m supporting Engine Advocacy’s Keep Us Here campaign. Startups in Boulder cannot wait for this immigration fix. Nor can the startup communities in Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Seattle, Austin, Portland, Kansas City, or anywhere else in the United States. Let’s give Washington the nudge they need to be safe in the knowledge that this is what America wants, as well as what we need.

On June 10, 2013, EPA published two proposed rules on formaldehyde in composite wood products: Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products and Third-Party Certification Framework for the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products.  In the Emissions Standards rule, EPA is proposing new requirements under the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act, of Title VI of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  The proposed requirements will implement the statutory formaldehyde emission standards for hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard sold, supplied, offered for sale, or manufactured (including imported) in the United States.  Amongst other provisions, EPA is also including provisions related to laminated products, products made with no added formaldehyde or ultralow-emitting formaldehyde resins, testing, requirements, labeling, and recordkeeping.  

On June 10, 2013, EPA published two proposed rules on formaldehyde in composite wood products: Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products and Third-Party Certification Framework f

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Credibility is everything in the business world. It's hard to build but easy to destroy. And your success depends on it.

In the business world, your credibility is everything. It tells people whether they can count on you. It tells your customers, employees, bosses, and coworkers what they can expect from you. Whether they can trust you or not.

Over time, that becomes your reputation. It becomes one of the most important factors in determining how far you go in your career. How successful you'll become.

It's not rocket science, so let's not complicate things. Your credibility is largely a function of the perceived gap between what you say and what you do. If your actions match your words, you might go places. If they don't, look out below.

Credibility is a powerful thing, not just because it has so much impact on your future, but also because you have so much control over it. With rare exception, it's more or less in your hands. And here are the biggest pitfalls you need to avoid.

Having all the answers. Some people act like they know everything. They can never, ever be wrong. They just have to show how smart they are. Funny thing is, really smart, experienced people know how much they don't know. And those people will see right through you when you act like a know-it-all.

Overpromising and under-delivering. Remember Facebook's initial public offering, the most overhyped IPO in history? Look how that turned out. It was a complete disaster. Now Zuckerberg and company have to work that much harder to win back their credibility. It's okay for goals to be reasonably aggressive. But when you're making a commitment, make sure you do what you say you're going to do. Simple as that.

Flat out lying. We all occasionally have to spin, pivot, deflect, or redirect. That's fine. But for God's sake, never ever flat out lie. It's not about morals or ethics. It's purely pragmatic advice. When you get caught, and you will, it'll ruin your credibility. That's why none of us trust our politicians anymore.

Filling the air with feel good fluff. It's good to inspire people. And it's okay to be optimistic about the future. But if you're going to be Mr. Feel Good, then you'd better deliver. I can think of a whole string of CEOs who destroyed their reputations by spewing feel good fluff and failing to deliver. They're no longer CEOs. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, on the other hand, said he could turn the company around, even in a recession. And he did. That's credibility.

Trying to be something you're not. I see it all the time, all over Silicon Valley: people dressing, speaking, or acting like they're Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. If you're so uncomfortable in your own skin that you have to put on somebody else's, then folks will think you don't have much going on under the hood. It shows that you lack self-confidence. Be the genuine you, flaws and all. You can work on becoming the best version of you without trying to be something you're not.

Being too politically correct. Ever hear someone trying too hard to be politically correct? It's painful to listen to, like they have to parse and process every word to make sure they're not offending someone. It takes them forever to make a point. It comes out sounding choppy and disingenuous. It's far better to be genuine and straightforward than to sound like you're pandering and afraid to speak your mind.

Telling people what they want to hear. Some people are yes-men. They sugarcoat the truth and tell people what they think they want to hear. They're also slippery. They change their story based on whoever's in the room. Holding them accountable is like throwing darts at Jell-o. Those people have zero credibility. It may work in government bureaucracies, but not in well-run businesses.

Being condescending. If you talk down to people and treat them like children it doesn't reflect well on you for all sorts of reasons. First, people will think you're a jerk. And nobody trusts or wants to work with a jerk. Second, the only people that will respect you are the ones who don't get it, and those people rarely play decision-making roles. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Being defensive. Funny thing is, when you tell people they're being defensive, 9 times out of 10 they say they're not. Then they go right on being defensive, overly sensitive, or thin-skinned. If you can't take criticism or conflict, if you have trouble openly debating issues without taking it personally, nobody will trust your abilities to make solid decisions, manage, or lead.

Having no sense of humor or humility. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is being full of themselves or self-important. It's generally a sign of immaturity and that hurts their credibility. With experience comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes the knowledge that the world doesn't revolve around you and you're not nearly as smart or important as you thought you were when you were younger. That's why humor and humility are such important leadership traits.

Look, credibility is serious stuff. It's your reputation. It follows you wherever you go. It's hard to build but easy to destroy. Don't take it for granted. If you've got some chronic issues, get to work on them now, before you do some things you can't undo.

Innovation is not about process, it's about people, says Mauro Porcini.

When it comes to innovation, playing it safe is too easy.

But nurturing growth and true innovation means taking risks, said Mauro Porcini, chief design officer at PepsiCo, during the World Innovation Forum on Wednesday.

One way companies limit risk-taking is by relying on focus groups.

Imagine if the wheel had to be approved by a focus group when it was first invented, said Porcini. What if the group didn't like its round shape and suggested one that was square?

By relying on focus group feedback, sometimes "we kill the idea, but we think we are making it more approachable to people or more understandable to people," he said.

And when the modified product fails, it's easy to blame the original idea. But it's the process that's to blame.

"Innovation is not about the process. The process is important, it is a tool -- like brush is a tool for painting. But give a brush to Andy Warhol or Leonardo DaVinci and you'd see the outcome will be completely different," he said.

"Listen to your consumers, but do not believe them," he stressed. To be a successful innovator, you have to interpret what they are telling you.

Don't let them stop you from inventing the next wheel.

Staying local means being flexible and accessible, advises Mark Suster.

I travel the country a lot. And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. They often ask whether they have to move to SF, NY or LA to get financed.

I have the same response always, "Where do you want to live? Where do you want to build your community, your relationships, your family?" I'm trying to get a feel for their commitment to local community versus being in a place where financing is easiest.

If their commitment to staying local is weak I normally say, "Well, it certainly would be easier on you to be in a larger community. It would be easier in terms of getting access to angels, VCs, the media, whatever. So if you’re really indifferent you might consider it." On the other hand, if they have a strong preference to staying local I usually tell them that I believe you can build a business anywhere these days.

You can build a meaningful company just about wherever these days. Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital.

Ask SuperCell. Or Rovio. Or UrbanAirship. NewToy, Dwolla, Pollenware or Wonga.

If you don't live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital.

Before I explain, let me give you some backgrounds why it's harder to raise money if you live outside "the zone."

Let's start with "oversight." Most VCs view it as their responsibility to mentor, debate, cajole and generally assist with investments they make. They also view it as a responsibility of the money they manage on behalf of others to provide oversight of these companies. And it is significantly easier to help when you are local.

Take me for example. This afternoon (Saturday) I have a coffee meeting with a portfolio company founder. Tomorrow I’m meeting with a senior exec who is considering joining a company in which we’ve invested. He would be a very senior hire for us and filling an urgent gap. I know local talent. I know who is perceived as good and who has a fancy resume but others think didn't perform. That’s what local allows. I know the whole ecosystem: VCs, CEOs, tech teams, founders, angels -- and I know people who have worked together for 15-plus years.

Local knowledge runs deep. Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage. Otherwise I'm just money.

But I do invest outside of LA. Examples include DataSift (San Fran and London), MyTime (SF) and awe.sm (SF).

Every year I'm in the SF Bay Area 12 to 14 times. I'm in NY six to eight times. And then there are smatterings (Dallas two times, D.C. three times, Philly three times, Austin, Boulder, Seattle not to mention San Diego eight times, Santa Barbara eitht times -- where I invested in RingRevenue).

This isn't a complaint. It's a goal to help you understand the life of a VC. And I no longer control my calendar. When DataSift sets up a board meeting (next one in London, last was in NYC) we have investors from NYC (IA Ventures), SF (Scale Ventures) and the founding team plus chairman in London. So when dates and locations are set -- they're set.

So …

Am I looking to add eight trips a year to [name your location not already on my annual itinerary]? Not easily. Of course, if it's a company on fire, I would travel to any two-hop city from LA.

So how do you overcome that given that all VCs must have a similar pattern to me other than super-human VCs like Brad Feld or Dave McClure who have insane travel schedules but an unbelievable ability to put in the air miles and be whenever, whenever?

Here's what I would do if I were you (I'll pick a mythical company in Kansas City):

• For starters, I'd try to raise my initial capital locally.
• Next, I'd research every VC in the country and find people who grew up in or near KC. Why? Because you know they must already come back one to two times a year anyways. Plus, they know the local market better and therefore don't have the uninformed biases of those that don't. If these people work for reputable firms and have the right industry knowledge they ought to be on your pitch list.
• Importantly … I would pitch investors in SF, NY, Boston, LA, etc. and say the following:

"I live and work in Kansas City. I have the tremendous advantage of access to a hard-working, loyal and technical talent pool. So I want to stay here and build my business.

That said, I want the best VCs in the industry and for that I know I need to be in a major VC hub.

So here's the deal. I will commit to traveling to NYC seven times per year for board meetings. I'll make your life easier because I know you travel all the time anyways and KC isn't exactly on your normal path.

Heck. I need to be in NYC a lot anyways. All I would ask is that you hold one to two board meetings a year in KC.

You're going to want to do that anyways to always kick the tires of the local team. Plus, we have some rocking bbq to make it worth your time."

I know some people will cringe at this idea, "if the VC really wanted me they would come to ME."

Maybe. But until you've achieved the kind of success you know you're capable of, it's a harder ask. And with my strategy, you take their biggest objection off the table. By the way, no VC will ever tell you, "I don't want to come to KC eight times a year," because it would sound bad.

But as I always tell entrepreneurs, "Better That You Deal with The Elephant in the Room."

This post originally appeared on Both Sides of the Table.

What do smart people want? Sue Khim answered that question by launching a problem-solving site for STEM learners.

In many places, a student's "intellect" is measured by a standardized test, where the only real skill is memorization.

"Instead of waiting for the national exams to change, or colleges to adapt, I started Brilliant to go and find these people and create a more meaningful way for them to get noticed," Sue Khim told the crowd at TedXUChicago.

She began with a simple question: What do smart people like?

Slowly, she realized the answers: Smart people like a challenge. Smart people like socializing with brainy peers. And smart people like to be noticed--and commended--for their hard work.

In launching Brilliant, an online community that boasts 80,000 users from 135 countries, Khim created a challenging intellectual environment that checks off all three.

"We built a site where students can solve hard problems in math, science, and engineering--going deeper--and are much more advanced than what is usually covered in school," she said.

Start-ups have a huge demand for talented people, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. But those job requirements are rapidly changing, so students must "adapt to jobs that may not exist yet, using skills we don't yet have words for, using technologies we're still inventing," she said.

Brilliant can help them prepare, which in turn may improve the economy.

"Countries that focus on developing their people are much more prosperous in the long run," she concluded.

Will you give Brilliant a try? Let us know in the comments.

Google has asked the government to let it disclose the number of FISA requests it receives. Even if the government says no, it's a step in the right direction for Silicon Valley.

In an attempt to clarify Google's role in the NSA surveillance scandal, the company's head lawyer, David Drummond, took the podium to clear the air.

Since the scandal broke late last week, Google has maintained that it does not let the NSA have open access to its users' data. Google will, however, work with the government when Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requests are delivered to the company. And the company seems willing to be transparent about when it receives these requests--just as it is transparent about other government requests for user data.

The only problem is that right now, its hands are tied. According to FBI law, Google can't release those FISA requests due to nondisclosure obligations. In other words, what Drummond is saying is that Google isn't complicit in spying--it only looks like it is, because it is not allowed to talk about it.

As Drummond wrote yesterday:

Google has worked tremendously hard over the past fifteen years to earn our users' trust. For example, we offer encryption across our services; we have hired some of the best security engineers in the world; and we have consistently pushed back on overly broad government requests for our users' data.

...

We therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures--in terms of both the number we receive and their scope. Google's numbers would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made. Google has nothing to hide.

Whether you choose to believe Google...well, that's another discussion. And frankly, the more pessimistic PRISM-ites would probably allege that Drummond's post is just a distraction--and that this request is just a sideshow meant to confuse the situation and throw PRISM investigators off the trail.

So far, no one really knows. Google continues to deny that the NSA had direct access to its severs, and Snowden's supposed proof hasn't yet fully been investigated. Mike Arrington, the TechCrunch founder, weighs in with his own smart theory:

My guess is that Google and the others have agreed to receive FISA requests in an automated way, process them in an automated way, and fire off the data in an automated way. That whole process could take a very small amount of time. Milliseconds for small sets of data, easy. Anything beyond that is from any human intervention at Google to read the order and decide whether to accept it. From what I've seen, it's extremely rare for companies to push back on orders, since the secret FISA court always, without exception, tells them to settle down and get that data over to the NSA, pronto.

So Google complies, and the whole thing has been handled "in accordance with the law."

Regardless, it does bring up an important question that companies will be grappling with from now into the future. As more sensitive data inevitably moves to the cloud, and that data is managed by private entities (think: Dropbox, Box, etc.), tech companies must begin thinking about how to approach transparency in an era of FISA and other government-related surveillance requests.

It's not just tech companies that should be concerned, either. As Robert McMillan of WIRED pointed out yesterday, one company has already put a project to move e-mails into the cloud on hold.

"They are simply concerned about their data being accessed by a third party without their knowledge or consent," the company's lawyer told McMillan. "They have all kinds of things that they're working on, and they don't want that information used unless they understand who's using it."

The FBI and Department of Justice will likely not respond to Google's request. If they do, they'll probably just say no, and the argument will be that releasing FISA requests to the public could compromise national security. And that may, in some sense, be true. But for tech companies to retain any semblance of trust with their customers, they'll need to figure out new ways in which they can be both transparent and compliant with the law.

"We want to be able to be more transparent about what we do do, which is occasionally comply with national security orders, as we're required to do," David Drummond told PBS last night. "What we would like the government to do is to allow us to say more."

At Edison Nation, you'll find high-tech design studios, 3-D printing labs, and ultra-modern offices bursting with products that have made millionaires out of amateur tinkerers.

Exoskeletal body armor designed for protecting guards in prison riots. Infinitely gyroscoping bowls designed for spill-prone toddlers. High-powered pneumatic pogo sticks designed for… people who are really into falling from extreme heights.

They’re the kind of instruments of miscellany you would expect to find in an MIT engineering lab or a Silicon Valley incubator. Turns out, they’re housed in a renovated grist mill on the outskirts of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hop the ragged chain-link fence behind Panthers stadium, scale a gravel embankment, scramble across the old train tracks, and you’ll come upon a nondescript warehouse with an unmarked door. This is Edison Nation, and inside, you’ll find a winding labyrinth of high-tech design studios, 3-D printing labs, and ultra-modern offices bursting with products that have made millionaires out of amateur tinkerers who came to the company with little more than an idea. Hope you brought a good one.

“Ideas on their own have no value,” says Louis Foreman, chief executive officer of Edison Nation. “You may have come up with something extremely innovative, but without a complex team of engineers, marketers, and lawyers, it won’t go anywhere.”

That’s where Edison Nation steps in. For a 50 percent cut of the royalties, the 55-person company will take your idea from a table napkin to a store shelf, handling product design, patent filings and pitches to corporate executives who are increasingly looking beyond their firms’ R&D departments for innovations. General Electric, for instance, said in April that it had inked a deal with Quirky, an online community of inventors, to give its users access to GE’s huge portfolio of patents.

Edison Nation, however, runs more targeted searches for large companies looking to launch particular types of products. One such company, Bed Bath & Beyond, partnered with Edison Nation in 2009 to conduct a search for new dorm room gadgets.

As with all product searches on Edison, anyone could submit an idea confidentially via the firm’s site for a $25 fee.

Bed Bath & Beyond chose Jonathan Smith’s idea for a bed riser that features a built-in AC outlet and USB charger. The retailer plans to carry the item in all U.S. stores during this year’s back to school season, enriching Smith and Edison Nation as the royalty checks come in.

According to Edison Nation, the company runs between 50 and 60 searches per year, charging retailers $5,000 each time.

To be sure, Smith, an industrial designer by trade, could have earned twice as much had he taken it upon himself to develop the product, instead of handing over those duties--and the intellectual property--to Edison. But he would have had a tough time getting a prototype in the hands of Bed Bath & Beyond execs without Edison’s support.

“It’s not easy to access the attention of the companies we work with,” says Mary Dickson, an Edison spokeswoman. “Big corporations are wary of working directly with inventors given the proprietary nature of inventions.” Rubbermaid, for example, accepts online submission forms from inventors but will typically only consider patent-pending product ideas, Dickson notes.

For its part, Edison has been involved in more than 700 patents during its 12-year existence, serving in most cases as a middleman between large corporations and inventors who don’t have the time, money, or expertise to deal with the patent process.

Foreman, the CEO, is quick to point out--showing off a wall of framed patents in the company’s front foyer--that inventors get to keep their name on each filing. After all, each plaque has a personal story behind it. The IBM employee in Charlotte who came up with a new kind of trash can is now collecting checks from its sales at Williams-Sonoma. The parents in Wilmington whose idea for a spill-resistant bowl for kids became a breakout hit, having generated close to $60 million in sales since 2011.

“They came to us hoping to earn enough money to remodel their kitchen,” Foreman recalls of the Gyro Bowl creators. “Now they’ve bought a few homes.”

Edison Nation’s newest initiative is Edison Medical, a partnership with Carolinas HealthCare System that seeks to bring the ideas of medical professionals, from doctors to physicians’ assistants, to the market.

“We’re looking for innovations that improve patient care, lower the cost of producing care, or improve the patient outcome,” says Foreman in Edison’s brand new medical wing, flanked by massive water jet cutters and buzzing 3-D printers.

Already, Edison has helped produce everything from a prosthetic hand that employs pulleys instead of robotics to a simple latex glove with measuring marks on the index finger. Why? “Nurses were actually sticking Q-tips into people’s wounds to eyeball their depth before,” Louis explains, adding that the gloves allow for a quicker and more accurate measurement in situations when seconds count.

Statistics on the average depth of wounds from extreme pogo-stick crashes were unavailable at the time of publish.

Tour Guides Nate Hindman and Joe Epstein are "On the Road With Free Free Enterprise," visiting small businesses and entrepreneurs checking out local events, and telling the story of free enterprise in more than 20 American communities this summer. Follow their travels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The founder of Stonyfield Farm explains why he stepped down as CEO--and the lessons he learned along the way

Woody Allen put his finger on the problem, said Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and chairman of Stonyfield Farm, addressing the 400 attendees of Inc.’s third annual Leadership Forum. “He said, ‘I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.’ I think that’s why it’s hard to think about leaving your business, but the day is going to come.”

He was referring to the end of his own journey, which had begun with the founding of Stonyfield in 1983 and concluded with his decision to step down in date January. The key turning point had come in 2001, when he’d engineered a unique merger with his largest competitor, Groupe Danone. Danone agreed to purchase 85 percent of Stonyfield stock over a two year period, while keeping Hirshberg as CEO and letting him retain three of the five seats on Stonyfield’s board, thus giving him operating control.

Over the next decade, Stonyfield continued to grow under Hirshberg’s leadership, eventually reaching more than $370 million in annual sales. Along the way, Stonyfield introduced one innovation after another that revolutionized the industry and set new-;and very high-;standards for businesses seeking to promote environmental stewardship.

And yet it was not his considerable accomplishments that Hirshberg had come to talk about. He mainly wanted to share with the audience the mistakes he’d made and the lessons he’d learned. There were six of them:

1. Keep clear on what you do and don’t do well and stick with the former.

2. Have your own personal advisory board that can warn you when you lose focus-;because you yourself won’t see it until it’s too late.

3. When everything is going great but you suspect you might be missing something, take a two- or three-month sabbatical.

4. In hiring a successor, it’s best to date before you get married. Remember that you can’t know whether the fit is right without working together, and that you’ll be handing over to the person something extremely dear and precious.

5. Don’t underestimate the insecurity that results when you leave. Make sure that you give people enough warning, so that they have time to prepare themselves emotionally.

6. It’s not what you’ve done that counts. It’s what you’re doing. The past is over. You can’t go back and change it. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

When customers took to social media, calling a start-up's product ugly, the company went with it--inadvertently fueling a meteoric ascent.

Twitter and LinkedIn "are the two greatest management tools that have come along since the invention of e-mail," declared Gregory Shove, the founder and CEO of SocialChorus, speaking to a packed session entitled "Leadership in a Digital Age" at this year’s Inc. Leadership Forum.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. To do it right, social media cultivation requires nearly-constant monitoring, transparency, and an unsctructured, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants ideology that can be tough on some company founders and CEOs.

"You and everyone who works for you need to walk around with your phone and constantly monitor what people are saying. It returns marketing to what it used to be: hard, manual labor. But you have to do it. If your competitors do it and you don’t, you’ll pay."

Shove was joined in the session by Alejandro Velez, the 25-year-old co-founder of Back to the Roots, perhaps best known for the mushroom growing kits that it sells through major retailers like Whole Foods Market and Home Depot. The company has grown from zero to $4.1 million in sales in just four years, a meteoric rise that owes much to social media, which was not what Velez and his partner, Nikhil Arora, were expecting.

"For us, it just happened," said Velez. "It wasn’t planned. People bought our mushroom kits, and the mushrooms they grew were really funky and ugly. They began posting the photos online. We decided to embrace it. We said, 'Yes, they look ugly, but they’re good for you.' And we started a mushroom naming contest, which people really got into."

Shove said he uses Twitter to keep track of what’s going on with customers, competitors, and prospects. "If one of our prospects tweets about being at a great conference, we get on a plane and go there immediately." He looks at LinkedIn for changes in people’s titles and to see who’s been promoted and who’s moved on to something else.

Shove and Velez agreed that the key to success in social media is being totally transparent. "That’s a tremendous advantage for entrepreneurs over their big, well-funded competitors, who hate transparency," said Shove. "They think the less the customer knows about them, the better--because they’re set up to have their sales reps control the customer relationship. But that doesn’t work in the world of social media."

"It’s about authenticity," said Velez. "Social media is an authentic way of marketing. Customers watch you fail, and then watch you pick yourself up." That type of interaction helps to cement the relationship, he suggested.

"That’s right," said Shove, agreeing. "As soon as I find myself censoring what I tweet, I know that I’m becoming less effective."

Ellie Cachette, CEO of ConsumerBell, reflects on the middle ground of running a business.

There were so many times our start-up almost failed, we joked it was a cockroach, a life form in its own right that, simply put, would never die.

There were times when we barely could pay our Rackspace bill, and one time I distinctly remember our blog being down because we forgot to pay that bill. There was also the time one of our investors cut our credit line in half, unexpectedly, right as we made a huge payment. And then the time our lead customer, two days before integration, committed suicide. Then the time a few weeks after that when our CTOs wife committed suicide.

There are so many things privately and publicly known about ConsumerBell that its nearly a miracle that we’ve made it where we are today. Any person close to us will say we have had no shortage of miracles and most startups that really make it far have similar stories; years where founders did contract work, or full teams were let go. We even moved my full apartment into the office hallway for a day while I was 24 hours between a lease, and experienced two hurricane blackouts in NYC and an earthquake that rocked our Park Ave office one summer.

Many of these things happened in our first year as a startup when our sole focus should be product. I remember after a trip to D.C, a water pipe exploded above our printers. We just went around the corner to a cafe. There’s always a wifi spot, a cup of coffee or an employees apartment to stakeout. ConsumerBell just would not die.

Similarly to a recently engaged couple and the way grandparents always ask, “When are you having kids?” there reaches a point where for a startup people are wondering, when you are going to IPO or raise the next round? Or have rocket ship growth? And sometimes it just never happens or even worse, sometimes like with Pandora or Tumblr it takes a while. There is this correlation between staying alive and rocketship growth. To get there the first part is staying alive and many other variables added to rocketship growth. Simply put just breath.

Yet at some point something changes: the founder gets bored, the company starts making money in a pivot that wasn’t part of the original vision or even funds run low but not low enough to justify shutting the doors - especially when there's revenue involved. Sometimes a startup is well funded but just can’t seem to see a path of success like it thought and returns its money to investors, sometimes the market changes or the industry changes and now what was a “big” idea is only a feature but something need and so is true for the opposite when what was once a feature in time becomes a company. Not every startup becomes a huge success like Facebook but not every startup fails either. There are plenty of startups in the middle, in purgatory of success waiting for the right VC or new CEO or market environment to change.

In the meantime, what is a team or founder to do?

1. Sabbatical

From what I have heard, founders who take sabbaticals or vacations actually come back refreshed and with a new sense of balance. There's a couple reasons for this: after massive sleep deprivation and zero separation between work and personal life, taking a step back often reminds a founder of the things that they want in their personal life and gives motivation to the work life and while in a lull this can upset investors or look like avoidance, its in almost every case helped the company and lets be honest, if a company is going to die it isn't going to die in one week but be surprised at how much sleep a founder might need and you probably wouldn’t want many friends around. Stories of founders sleeping for days straight are not uncommon.

2. Reflect and Document

Having a lull or time for reflection can also be inspiring, its a good time to document all HR files, product road maps, organize digital assets, clean up email boxes and media content accounts like YouTube, upload missing content, re-share content on twitter. In many cases potential acquirers will be want to know many of these things like how many digital assets (files and images) to taxes and press lists. It never fails that when the acquisition opportunity arises founders are usually too busy with other things so doing it when possible is not only therapeutic but efficient. Also in the process you might find a gem or two of inspiration.

3. Help Other Startups

Dedicate a portion of time to help other startups in different phases. This will be refreshing to transfer knowledge and also help spread the word of what you are working on in a way that could spark new ideas or allies. When all seems lost helping others often reminds a founder of the world outside its own startup and can give perspective.

4. Do Something Different

One thing founders certainly give up is their personal lives and can albeit even forget what a personal life is making decision one sided. Take a class, do something random, spend a week with family somewhere far. Do something totally different and step out of the founders role.

5. Don’t shut down

airBnb had to sell cereal at one point to keep their company alive, in the early days of FedEx their CEO gambled his money at blackjack to win and make payroll. Evernote the night before closing its doors received a $500k investment from a user in Sweden and Blogger (which sold for rumors between $20MM and $50MM) to Google had to lay off every single employee before finally getting acquired. That founder, Evan Williams went off to start what is now Twitter today, so the greatest thing a founder can do when their startup isn’t failing is to make sure it doesn’t die. Timing is everything.

This post originally appeared on Business Insider.

Want a sustainable business? Start telling employees what you value, says Rebecca Henderson.

Becoming a sustainable business isn't easy, but you have to take the risk, said Rebecca Henderson, co-director of the business and environment initiative at Harvard Business School, during the World Innovation Forum on Wednesday.

"I am familiar with why innovation is hard. But I am also familiar with the fact that [innovating with a focus on sustainability] is an enormous source of new growth and opportunity," she told the New York audience.

The shortcut to sustainability -- whether it means cutting costs or creating a new business from scratch--is by committing to change and acting on it.

"Lead with values, manage from the heart," she said. "You need a business model. You've got to have the numbers that add up. But that alone is not enough."

Here's why focusing on values--and speaking up about them--works:

Values are inspiring. Values make people motivated because they offer a reason to work, and work hard. When that happens, "people know what they are doing ... and they are excited about it," said Henderson.

Values create trust. You can't manage a team without trust. As industries look to become more sustainable, firms will need to trust their employees--and each other. Industry self-regulation is a much more powerful driver of change than government mandates, said Henderson. So explaining what you value in public will help to create a community. Be aware this takes time, so start small, she advised.

Values drive change. Becoming a sustainable organization is hard, but once a whole company is on board, it gets easier. When employees know why something is happening and believe it's important, the transition will be within reach.

Government deserves credit for entrepreneurship in the U.S. But it needs to register a return.

In recent months, a head-to-head contest has come to be seen as government vs. business. And according to one narrative, government is the problem. But that narrative, according to economist Mariana Mazzucato, is wrong.

Speaking at TEDGlobal this week, Mazzucato laid out an impressive argument that the biggest investor in the United States is none other than: the United States government.

Case in Point: the iPhone

Taking the homely iPhone as an example, Mazzucato pointed out that most of its key capabilities came from government-financed research projects:

• Internet access (which makes it a smart, not stupid phone) grew out of DARPA
• GPS grew out of the defense department's NAVSTAR
• Touch screen technology was funded by the CIA and National Science Foundation
• Voice recognition software SIRI derived from defense or military research spending

And Apple got its start (along with Compaq and Intel) with investment from the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative.

As for the other lauded behemoth, Google, well that was started when the National Science Foundation invested in its original search algorithm.

Government Funding Is a Good Thing

Mazzucatto isn't dismayed by this information; she's delighted by it. When Europeans ask (as they always do) what makes the U.S. so much more entrepreneurial than Europe, her answer is: government investment.

There is a problem, however. Having invested millions in basic hard core research, the government gets nothing back. Venture capitalists, on the other hand, come in late and reap all the reward. The taxpayer who made the original investment and has taken the biggest risk receives nothing.

When the federal government made the original investments in what became the Internet, the risk of failure was huge--very much higher than it was by the time Sandhill Road pitched in. And only the government was prepared to take the original risk.

Where There's Risk, There Should Be Reward

What the U.S. needs now is a payback mechanism so that the government coffers that make innovation possible can grow, invest more, and create jobs--and further innovation. Imagine, Mazzucatto asked her audience, if just .5 percent of the revenue derived from the original investment in Internet technologies went back to reinvest in green technologies, nanotechnologies (a word coined by a federal program), or more biotechnology. That rate of return--a very great deal more modest than any VC demands--could change the economic landscape.

It isn't just high tech, of course, where this problem resides. The National Institutes of Health, in funding billions of dollars of core medical research, makes possible the army of scientists and vast resources of learning and data that eventually turn into drugs and health care. But U.S. citizens pay for it twice: first in the core research and then again when they buy their pills. Shouldn't the system which fuels this industry be repaid and thus renewed?

It's arrogant and simply wrong to imagine that in a world as complex as our own, wisdom, truth, and ingenuity are the monopoly of any one sector. Great partnerships aren't about dominance; they recognize the value each party brings to the table.

Big government isn't the problem; the failure of business to understand the ecosystem in which it thrives is.

Since the beginning of the year, Twitter has rolled out at least 16 significant changes businesses should know about. Do you?

In the race for users and revenue, Twitter has unleashed a collection of changes--many designed to attract marketers. Here's a recap of the major changes this year to date so you don't have to hunt around.

Vine launched. (January) Vine is a simple to use micro-video (six seconds, to be exact) filming app disseminated through Apple's App Store. "Vines" loop and can be produced and tweeted instantly. Vine content has become digital users' newest obsession.

Improved photo, video and related-conversation viewing. (January) Click-to-enlarge photos shown on Twitter.com profile pages or search results. Video content is now also included in a user's media gallery and expanded tweets. Tweets related to an original tweet are pulled in to directly show conversation and context.

Twitter Ads API. (February) Twitter opened up its Ads API and partnered with companies to help marketers more easily manage their Twitter ad campaigns.

Older tweets in Twitter search results. (February) Instead of just showing tweets a week old or less, through an algorithm that evaluates "a variety of types of engagement, like favorites, retweets and clicks," Twitter began to incorporate relevant older tweets into its search results.

Improvements to self-service ad tools. (March) Improvements included targeting by users with the same interests as followers of @usernames or a list of 350-plus interest categories and access to Twitter's advanced interface which enables "deeper campaign controls, detailed reporting and analytics, and multi-campaign optimization."

Updates to Twitter Ads center. (March) Improvements to campaign analytics reporting and insights.

Keyword targeting in Timelines. (April) Advertisers can now target users based on the keywords in their recent tweets and the tweets with which users recently engaged.

Revamped Twitter for Business launched. (April) More help for businesses looking for ways to market and advertise their business through Twitter.

Twitter #Music. (April) Making a play at audience expansion, Twitter rolled out its new music service that uses "tweets & engagement to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists."

TV ad targeting. (May) Beta test for national TV advertisers to synchronize, extend and enhance TV ad campaigns.

Lead Generation Cards. (May) A direct response tool built into an expanded tweet that makes it easy for users to immediately express interest in a brand offers.

More and Longer Twitter Lists. (May) You can now make up to 1,000 Lists (up from 20) and each list can include up to 5,000 accounts (up from 500). Think about this for prospects, clients, favorite sources of news and information, and other segments worth tracking.

Login Verification. (May) After multiple account hacking scandals, Twitter enhanced its login security with improved authentication.

Twitter sunsets popular TweetDeck phone apps. (May) Perhaps it was inevitable. One year after purchasing the popular TweetDeck application, users of its phone app version had to migrate to a different Twitter phone app.

Twitter for Google Glass. (May) Maintaining its edgy cool, Twitter enables users of Google Glass to share photos and receive notifications.

Vine for Android phones now available. (June) And we've come full circle! Vine can be downloaded from Google Play if you have an Android phone. Once you have the Vine app, look me up by my Twitter handle (@hollisthomases) and view the special Vine I made just for this article!

Well-trained employees are happy and productive employees. Plus, they will eat, sleep, and breathe your company if you ask them to.

I know. Employee training isn't cheap. But I also know that the positive impacts are worth every penny.

Well-trained employees are happy, engaged, productive--and they will eat, sleep, and breathe your company if you ask them to.

Of course, not all training methods work properly for every position, company, or industry. To gain some insight on some interesting (and successful) training methods I talked to Millard Cull, president of Avidity, a scientific research and product manufacturing company.

Cull's business employs scientists. This means his employees require high-quality--and highly specific--training to be successful within the company and the field. His scientists are often asked to perform tasks outside of their "comfort zone."

Here are some tips I gained from Cull's impressive pressure-free training methods:

1. Train for the specific types of people you hire.

Cull's perspective on training his employees is highly influenced by the fact that scientists often showcase a trait of distrust and contempt for authority. He adapted his company's training methods to sell the importance of the processes used within the company.

Improving your training will involve trial and error. Does training in a group setting have better end results than training independently? Find out, and adapt accordingly.

2. Cross-train.

At Avidity, Cull's employees frequently perform jobs that vary from the routine--some are even highly creative. Depending on the size of your company, you may need your employees to step into multiple roles. Cross-training is the way to make sure your employees are more likely to take initiative in times of need by performing tasks they may not otherwise have been trained for.

3. Train on the company concept, vision, and message.

Don't limit your training methods to specific knowledge a position requires. Train your employees on what your company stands for: company culture, mission, values, goals, and everything in between. Through this knowledge, your employees won't just be acting as worker bees. They will have a deep understanding of their importance to the overall company and be a better representative for the brand.

Cull notes that his career has taught him the power of conveying a clear, strong vision. Employees function better, practically without guidance, if they understand the company vision. He uses brief, daily morning meetings as an important tool for keeping his staff on the same page, identifying problems early, and sharing the vision of the company.

4. Remove the fear of failure.

Cull teaches his staff that failure within their experiments isn't a personal failure. To minimize pressure during onboarding training, Cull gives new hires a "practice round" where they are free to fail after giving their best attempt. His training method also utilizes a structured approach for better understanding--the employees write down and plan out the steps they will take before they begin their attempt.

What kind of training methods have worked at your company?

American bigwigs expect an uptick in sales and hiring in the next six months.

CEOs feel slightly stronger about the American economy than they did last year, though they're aware of the long road ahead, finds the Business Round Roundtable’s second quarter 2013 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.

The survey, a composite index of CEOs' expectations for the next six months, covers issues such as sales, capital spending, and employment. BRT took responses from 141 CEOs of leading U.S. companies with more than $7.3 trillion in annual revenues and nearly 16 million employees.

BRT found the index increased to 84.3 percent from 81 percent in the first quarter of 2013, meaning CEOs expect more economic expansion. Their optimism is at its highest since the second quarter of 2012.

Here are some other highlights from the survey:

• 72 percent expect their companies' sales to grow in the next six months.
• 38 percent expect company spending to increase in the U.S., a slight dip from previous forecasts.
• 29 percent expect hiring to ramp up in the next six months.

“Overall, CEOs see the U.S. economy still on a slow road to recovery," said Jim McNerney, chairman of BRT, and chairman, president, and CEO of The Boeing Company. "Relative to economic conditions, business performance remains strong, but the U.S. government’s unresolved long-term fiscal path and an uncertain political environment are key obstacles to more robust economic growth and hiring.”

How do you feel about the economy right now? Share your thoughts in the comments.