 Written By Shannon Marshburn
When you start your entrepreneurial journey, things can seem pretty scattered. Everyone's situation is so different. While your experiences are unique, we know how to help. Here you’ll find a curated list of fundamental resources and building blocks that can help you through long nights, brainstorming sessions, and times when staying motivated is tough. Create Your Perfect Music Playlists There are many scientific studies that praise the benefits of listening to music while working. Some of the benefits are improved brain function, boosted concentration and a happier mood. You can read more about it in a previous UARF blog. Take a minute to create your personalized playlist with your favorite songs to energize you and keep you working towards your goals. Click here to find some playlists that we created to share with entrepreneurs!
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Written By Nick Glavan  UARF is preparing for the first I-Corps cohort of the year. While the application is quite short, there are a few pivotal items that we look for in a stellar applicant. For this week’s blog, I wanted to highlight three ways applicants can stand out and show us that they are ready for the 7-week customer discovery program.
By Elyse Ball  This time of year, we’re all thinking about new year’s resolutions. In fact, I’ve already been asked about my new year’s resolutions – or lack thereof – three times in the last three days.
Rather than making up a few vague vanilla resolutions that we’ll forget by March, like “exercise more” or “drink less caffeine,” let’s make 2022 a year for great goals! These are goals that are specific, quantitative, and challenging, so they drive us to learn and accomplish more. What makes a goal great? By Faye Nicholson  Everybody at one point in their lives asks the question, why am I here? What is my purpose and what do I want to be known for? Organizations ask those same questions and answer them in the form of mission statements, vision statements and value statements. These statements help form the culture of the organization.
Your mission, vision and value statements are much more than a sign on your wall or a placeholder on your website. These statements communicate to your stakeholders your sincere beliefs that guide your organization. They share why you exist, where your organization is going and what your organization stands for. These statements also help your organization develop strategies and ideas that build your startup’s identity and foundation. Let’s talk briefly about each one:  By Darius Sharpless
So, you made an invention. Great! But, how do you protect it? What do you need to get a patent? What is “prior art”? This article should help answer these questions. First, let’s get a few patent basics out of the way. Patents protect new and inventive products and processes by giving the inventor or patent holder the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention for a period of about 20 years. In order to obtain a patent, the inventor must prove that the idea contained in the patent is: By Shannon Marshburn As a busy designer filling many roles and many design jobs, I often start my mornings with some tools and resources to get up to speed for the day. Whether it is for design inspiration, to spell check an event description I wrote the night before, or to learn something new, I use these tools everyday. So work smarter not harder and check out and add these websites and resources to your bookmarks:   By Nick Glavan
In my early days as an intern at UARF, one of the mentors who regularly checked in with me before or after he visited the office’s conference room for his startup’s meetings, once handed me a page containing the follow story [The Fisherman’s Parable]: A successful businessman on vacation was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tunas. The businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman proudly replied, “Every morning, I go out in my boat for 30 minutes to fish. I’m the best fisherman in the village.” The businessman, perplexed, then asks the fisherman “If you’re the best, why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish? What do you do the rest of the day?” By Elyse Ball  This past month has been a series of weird watershed moments for me. For the first time in 15 months, I went out to eat at a restaurant, attended a large group gathering, spent time indoors with people who aren’t immediate family members, and stayed overnight at a hotel.
Two years ago, it would have been inconceivable that we would spend so much of our lives maintaining physical distance from other human beings. Today, it has become commonplace. For me, I-Corps has been a fascinating case study in how we can build community and customer relationships even in remote settings. I-Corps is all about customer discovery: the practice of interacting directly with prospective customers to answer important questions about a business, product or technology idea. By: Shannon Marshburn When I was around eight years old I was building a crafty project with my dad. He said, “measure twice, cut once”, and ofcourse my 8 year old patience level said cut and don't measure! You can imagine how that project turned out in the end. Even though that phrase floated around in my somewhat empty head for years, it never really set in until my university days and when those mistakes turned into expensive mistakes. The importance of building a strong foundation as an entrepreneur is crucial in avoiding burnout, expensive and avoidable mistakes and saves you in every other aspect of a business. When you make your first purchase for your business, and you get your new lab space, it is all very exciting and you just want to jump right into it like my 8 year old self wanted to do with my crafts. It’s not much fun, but taking that time in the beginning to work out the kinks will help your business stay built. Are you ready to build a business that will stand through the storm? If so, read on!  By Anna Radachy  How much free time do you have this week? There are 168 hours in a week, but once you factor out work, school, eating, sleeping, errands, housework, commute, and maybe a hundred other things it seems like you have no time at all. Perhaps you, like me, are trying to find some extra time in the day, but there always seems to be something more important that has to be done.
It can be easy in today’s “hustle” culture to fall into the habit of always being busy, with many, many things. Today’s America moves fast, and you are expected to move faster in your job and life, so how do you find time to do what you want? |
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