Exploiting Idea Marketplaces


Recent Exploiting Idea Marketplaces Articles

7 Promotional Stunts That Work

Check out these simple and affordable ways to shine the spotlight on your business--no highflying gimmicks required.  Read more

9 Questions for Ashley Madison's Founder

Noel Biderman built a business everyone loves to hate: a dating website for cheating spouses. Here's what you can learn from it.  Read more

2 Kinds of Start-ups That Get More Valuable Post-IPO

A new analysis by a Silicon Valley venture capital firm identifies two tech business models that tend to stay strong.  Read more

New Crowdfunding Twist: Invest in a College Grad

Is it crazy or brilliant? An ex-Googler aims to help graduates follow their entrepreneurial dreams--in exchange for some of their future income.  Read more

Back-to-School Marketing: What's Your Strategy?

'Tis the season for back-to-school shopping. Here's a look at the spending forecast, plus tips for marketing to parents.  Read more

7 Tools to Get More Out of Pinterest

If you're going to use the photo-pinning platform, turn those "pins" into sales. Here are a few tools that can help.  Read more

One Word That Defines a Great Personal Brand

Julia Allison, one of the Web's biggest self-promoters, explains how to define your brand before others do it for you.  Read more

5 Tips to Build a Killer Consulting Business

You already have the expertise and the contacts. So what do you do next? Here's a good place to start.  Read more

ShareDesk Launches Airbnb of Office Space

Have an unoccupied cubicle or conference room? A new service can help you rent it out and bring in extra cash.  Read more

How to Build a Brilliant New Venture

Highly effective entrepreneurs like Zipcar founder Robin Chase tend to follow the same method. Here's a look at how it works.  Read more

5 Tips for Turning a Problem into a Business

No one understands your problems like you do. But can you make money off them?  Read more

Facebook's Biggest Problem

The social network is making money--but not enough for Wall Street. Here's why small business, in part, is to blame.  Read more

Best Way to Protect Your Brilliant Ideas

How do you know when to patent, trademark, or a license your idea? We grilled the CEO of General Patent Corp. to find out.  Read more

Start-up Task No. 1: Think Global

Planning a global strategy--even before you launch your first product--can help your company grow fast.  Read more

Where Zynga Went Wrong

It's official: The business is stalling, and Zynga's prospects don't look good. Here's what happened.  Read more

Groupon's CEO Gets Schooled in Small Business

To figure out what's next for his company, Andrew Mason has picked up a second job. Here's what he's been doing--and what he learned.  Read more

To Be or Not to Be Like Steve Jobs?

Nearly a year after Jobs' death, his legacy inspires fierce debate among entrepreneurs.  Read more

Reinventing the Billboard

This Chicago start-up aims to remake old-school, outdoor advertising. Here's why Groupon and Clear Channel have already signed up.  Read more

Best Way to Make Employees Better at Their Jobs

Forget trying to come up with motivational tools and "tricks." There's a better--and simpler--way to get more out of your staff.  Read more

What Marketing Will Look Like in 2025

If you think Google and other websites know a lot about consumers now, wait until a few years from now.  Read more

Stealing Design Ideas From Mother Nature

How do you build a printer so that the ink doesn't dry up? Researchers find inspiration for this and other design problems in unlikely places.  Read more

4 Secrets for Marketing on Pinterest

Can't spend as much as you'd like to on marketing? Here's how one clothing company uses Pinterest to close the gap.  Read more

Cool Aha Moment: The Cardboard Bicycle

Engineers told this Israeli entrepreneur that his idea would be impossible to pull off. He soon proved them wrong.  Read more

Everyone Agrees: Crowdsourcing Sucks

Are you sure there's wisdom in that crowd? Here's why you should reconsider putting crucial business decisions up for a vote.  Read more

To Design Better Products, Hit the Road

The next time you need inspiration, take a business trip. There's no better source of terrible (and brilliant) design than the travel industry.  Read more

Why Scarcity May Be Your Best Competitive Advantage

When customers have to struggle to get their hands on something, they value it more--and they'll pay more to get it.  Read more

The $10 Billion Idea This VC Wants to Fund

What's the next big thing? This VC has an idea--and he's willing to put big money behind it.  Read more

Tech Start-up Steals Killer Retail Strategy

You've heard of the try-before-you-buy-model. Now one company has applied it to gadgets--and it's working.  Read more

Who Wins: The Opportunist or the Opportunistic?

They sound like the same thing, but these are two very different kinds of entrepreneurs. Here's who wins in the end.  Read more

Grow Your Business by Buying Domain Names

Sometimes acquiring another domain is the cheapest way to increase leads and sales.  Read more

Make Your Team More Innovative, Instantly

All you need is 10 minutes--and some very thick skin.  Read more

5 Ways to Spot Trends Before They Happen

Want to recognize the next big thing before everyone else? Here's how it's done.  Read more

Best Place for a Start-Up? Think Inside the Box

It sounds counterintuitive, but launching your store inside a giant retail chain store could be a smart business move.  Read more

Is Your Customer a Mac or a PC?

You might want to find out: Orbitz shows higher-priced deals to Mac users because they tend to spend more. But be careful with the data you find.  Read more

How to Start a Business Without Really Trying

Threadless co-founder Jake Nickell didn't aim to build a wildly popular online T-shirt shop. But that's what he did--by thinking of the community first and t...  Read more