Category: Business News

Entrepreneurship often requires risk. You can do all the research under the sun and run the numbers countless times, but a lot of the time your big decisions come down to a gut decision. But how do you know if it’s right?

In a recent study, University of Kent researchers Stefan Leach and Mario Weick sought to understand how the degree of certainty and confidence you have in your intuition impacts the successful completion of the task at hand.

Related: A 3-Step Process to Making Better Decisions

To figure this out, Leach and Weck tasked a group of 400 people from the U.S. and U.K. to answer questions about how they approach decisions. They asked if they agreed or disagreed with statements such as, “With most decisions, it makes sense to completely rely on your feelings,” “I believe in trusting my hunches” and “I hardly ever go wrong when I listen to my deepest gut feelings to find an answer.”

Then they put the participants through a series of tasks, requiring them to learn associations between random strings of letters and social media profile images and had them try and figure out the patterns that emerged.

Related: 6 Ways to Make Hard Decisions Easier as a Leader

“We found that people’s enduring beliefs in their intuitions were a poor guide to actual performance,” Leach and Weick explained. “In particular, people who were dispositionally inclined to place greater trust in their intuitions did not perform any better in the test phase of the implicit learning task than people who did not place such great trust in their intuitions.”

Specifically, nine out of 10 times a study participant with high levels of confidence in his or her intuition didn’t perform any better on the task than someone with low levels of confidence. Which is to say, just because you’re confident, it doesn’t mean that you’re right.  

The end of startup economy is here. How many developing companies have to be absorbed by the giants to prove it?

Since 2001, Google has acquired 200 startup companies. That’s more than its 12-per-year acquisition goal. Likewise, Facebook, after a series of striking swallows, continues to terrify Snapchat by mimicking its features, stroke for stroke. As a whole, the implications are apocalyptic. And the problem is far beyond copycats.

Take a look at these five powerful ways to save your brand from the peril of M&A predators.

1. Create a unique brand from the get go.

All startups are equal in terms of nomenclature. But those with the vision of becoming authority brands know they have to be outstanding right from the start. They understand the need to engrave the right impression. They undertstand they don’t need to a “build and sell” startup.

To be a unique brand, you have to have a powerful value proposition. You need an unshakeable self-belief, clear vision, a culture of novelty and consistency to set yourself apart. These are traits of thriving businesses. Mark Zuckerberg used these traits to resist the crushing temptations from a giant M&A who applied to buy Facebook at the very early age of four months.

If your startup idea is bigger than what the big brands can easily overlook, consider starting with the above to build a shield.

Related: What Small Businesses Can Learn About Creating a Lasting Brand From Apple, Dunkin’ Donuts and CVS

2. Start with innovation; then keep innovating.

What now comes into play is the culture of timeless innovation. The personality of a brand — your company culture — and innovation cannot be separated, according to Google. However, innovation is never-ending. So you have to really advance continuously and forever. Google says you should do that 10x, not 10 percent. Continuous innovation is the one-and-only tool to improve growth and retain market loyalty.

While such progress will induce greater attention, you have the power — in innovation — to rise from small to big and wonderfully overcome the pressures around.

3. Limit your liability.

Being a serious founder, it’s instinctive that you’ve fulfilled all legal conditions that surround doing business. Great!

While it’s important to expand, either quickly or slowly, you must take precautions. You have to be dexterous at organizing your business such that you don’t lose the capacity to control risks, accrued expenses and other financial obligations. The best way to go about this — and, most importantly to curtail legal liabilities — is to incorporate.

4. Get a patent.

In addition to the point above, a greater task lies in protecting your intellectual property (IP). Why so? You exist in a bullying atmosphere where you have all eyes on you. In case you escape all acquisition efforts by the giants, it is less likely to get away without the alternative challenges of idea infringement and/or theft. In this regard, getting a patent becomes an unavoidable need. In fact, it’s a one-size-fits-all solution in a situation whereby “an invention is not your own until it is patented.” The U.S. Small Business Administration notes, “others can’t make, use, sell, or offer to sell your invention in the United States or import your invention into the United States” when you’ve secured a patent.

Related: 3 Approaches to Get Your Patent Application Moving Much Faster

A patent does not only preclude the theft of innovation. It equally opens up the access to finance, combined with the freedom to operate in a competitive industry, while increasing market share.

5. Fight off copycats.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You cannot innovate, resist acquisitions, and then expect to live freely. Meaning, you’re going to deal with unending frustrating imitations from competitors turned copycats. How do you keep them at bay?

Get used to imitation. The earlier you accept the situation, the better. One way to deal with it is to know your copycats, and offer them what to imitate by continuously getting better. That’s how to stay above the curve.

Treat the market the right way. The market is your best defender. It’s the most critical thing to your success. You have to keep an unbreakable relationship with that asset for you to stay relevant in all senses.

Keep your secrets. From brand ideas to prototypes, marketing plans and expansion strategies, everything about your brand is a confidential property. You must keep the secret watertight, most particularly the next line of your innovations, modifications and updates. “People can only copy the outside of your business because that’s all they can see. So while they’re copying what’s out there right now, you’re hard at work coming up with newer and more amazing things,” says Nathalie Lussier.

Related: When It Comes to Innovation, Go Big or Go Home

Conclusion.

No one said it would be easy for potential startups to bypass M&A hunters. Use these tips to save your head and, more importantly, place it ahead of the competition if your vision is for the long-term.

If you don’t have an answer when people ask about your five-year plan, Entrepreneur Network partner Brian Tracy wants to change that. In this video, he explains six questions you need to ask yourself that can help you move forward. Don’t just consider these questions, but actually take the time to come up with concrete answers you can write down somewhere to remind yourself of your goals going forward. 

By writing down your answers, you’ll have a target you can reach, not just some vague feeling of whether you’re headed in the right direction, which can make all the difference in the world.

Click play to learn more about crafting your five-year plan.

Related: 3 Essential Traits of a Confident Leader in Uncertain Situations

Entrepreneur Network is a premium video network providing entertainment, education and inspiration from successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders. We provide expertise and opportunities to accelerate brand growth and effectively monetize video and audio content distributed across all digital platforms for the business genre.

EN is partnered with hundreds of top YouTube channels in the business vertical. Watch video from our network partners on demand on Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV and the Entrepreneur App available on iOS and Android devices.

Click here to become a part of this growing video network.

The past two years were among the most turbulent in recent memory. We faced surprising shocks in the public markets, major terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, hate crimes in Orlando and Charleston, a spike in reported shootings of unarmed black men and police officers, Brexit and a bitter U.S. presidential election.

Is turbulence the new norm? It seems likely. What is certain, however, is that we have reached a turning point in how many workplaces respond to such events.

Related: Research Shows 3 Ways to Bring More Humanity to the Workplace

Traditionally, companies have not been expected to address the fear, anxiety and sadness that many of their employees experience in the face of external upheaval. Some companies believe those conversations simply have no place at work; others are concerned that someone might say the wrong thing, leading to workplace tension or even lawsuits. Many are more inclined to ignore the negative impact that a non-response exerts on employee productivity and engagement. There has been an unspoken divide between work life and personal life — and it’s rarely crossed.

This divide is driven partly by employees themselves. Fifty years ago, most Americans belonged to social and fraternal organizations — churches, synagogues and temples; unions or industry groups; neighborhood associations. They had ample space outside of the workplace to process external events. But as the sociologist Robert Putnam argued in his pioneering study, Bowling Alone, over the past generation, rates of group membership have plunged.

Today, Americans spend more time at work and less time in formal or organized activities outside of the office. Many employees and businesses are blurring, or even erasing completely, the separation that once existed between the professional and personal spheres. We believe they are better for it.

What’s driving this transformation?

First, social media has integrated our personal and professional lives. For many of us, our work colleagues have the same access to our daily opinions, passions and life experiences as our friends and family do. According to one recent study, 51 percent of people said social media is “useful in getting to know their coworkers on a personal basis.” Even the distinction between Facebook as a network of friends and LinkedIn as a network for colleagues has disappeared. With these changes, there is no longer the expectation that our online life is cleanly separated from our work life.

Second, many employees now identify the workplace as a main source of community. With fewer people participating in organized religion, a decline in volunteerism and a decline in social gatherings such as family dinners, having friends over or club meetings, “work friends” may be filling the gap.

Third, members of Generation Y want something different from work. As Deloitte reported in its 2016 Millennial Report, their primary driver isn’t a paycheck — it’s meaningful work aligned with their personal values. In response, many companies are becoming more purpose-driven, and employees are forming clubs and affinity groups dedicated to achieving that purpose.

In response to these trends, many businesses are intentionally softening the work-personal divide, as they drop the false assumption that creating space to talk about feelings and how employees experience the social turbulence around them is a productivity-killer. These businesses realize that employees are emotional beings, and difficult events outside of work tend to cloud thinking, drain energy and hurt productivity at work. Building the infrastructure for dialogue enables employees to process their feelings and connect with others, which in turn helps them re-energize and focus.

Related: The Pursuit of Happiness: What It (Really) Takes To Have Happy Employees At Your Entreprise

Fostering a culture where employees feel safe bringing their authentic self to work creates better business outcomes. Employees are more inclined to speak up when something is going wrong or when they have an innovative idea. They are also more likely to be collaborative, engaged and to stay with their employer. Willingness to create space for safe discussions about difficult social events is one lever to foster such a culture.

We have some experience with this. At AppNexus, where we serve as Chief People Office and General Counsel, respectively, we have evolved our internal response to external events. It started with the Orlando shootings. Many employees in our Latino and LGTBQ community were clearly hurting. Some asked if the company’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee would organize an event where employees of all backgrounds could talk about the shooting. It was with some trepidation that we agreed to do it. What if someone said something offensive? What if someone broke down emotionally? Was it really the company’s responsibility to address the situation? After all, none of our employees had been directly impacted.

The “what ifs” were scary, but we solicited the help of a grief counselor and held the event. The discussion and act of coming together was incredibly powerful. Employees discussed their anger, fear and heartbreak — and also their hope that something good could come from this tragic event. While the pain was long-lasting, for many, having the open discussion was a big step in beginning to move past it.

Related: 3 Aspects of Work-Life-Balance You Won’t Find in Company Presentations

The event became the first of what we now call “Open Forums.” They were equally helpful for Brexit in Europe, as well as the police shootings of people of color and the U.S. presidential election. We learned that creating space for healthy discussion necessitates a few guidelines:

• Set the tone from the top that the discussion is valued and safe. Having senior leaders share openly in the discussion can help set the tone.
• Start by agreeing on rules, reinforcing a safe space and have participants verbally agree to follow them (e.g. listen to others, keep an open mind and maintain confidentiality).
• Don’t feel like you need to control or manage the discussion. Let employees talk freely.
• Don’t feel like there needs to be a next step. The conversation itself may be the only needed step.

This year is likely to be just as tumultuous, if not more so, than 2016. Pretending like the turbulence isn’t happening is counterproductive, so lean into it. Cultivating a workplace culture where employees feel safe to talk about real-world issues in a respectful way will be a key driver in supporting employee productivity and well-being in 2017.

Brandon Atkinson, Chief People Officer of AppNexus, co-wrote this piece.

About 45 percent of adults in the United States have tried marijuana, a new high mark when it comes to cannabis use.

The new numbers come for a Gallup poll conducted and released in July. The poll found far fewer people currently use marijuana than have tried it. Also, those with incomes higher than $75,000 per year were slightly more likely to have tried marijuana.

The number of those saying they have tried marijuana is the highest since Gallup first asked the question in a 1969 survey. In that year, only 4 percent said they had tried cannabis. Gallup noted that the rise in use over the past five decades has paralleled the increasing support for legalization of marijuana.

Related: Marijuana Recommendations From Federal Crime Task Force Expected Soon

Increased use over the years.

The number of U.S. residents who say they have tried marijuana has steadily increased since the late 1960s, according to Gallup. The 4 percent number from 1969 jumped to 24 percent by the late 1970s. By the late 1990s, the number had reached 34 percent, and then 38 percent by earlier this decade.

Of course, marijuana was illegal across the country before California legalized medical marijuana in the mid-1990s. Now, 29 states have legalized medical marijuana and eight have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana.

Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, a fact noted by Gallup. The survey company said that the increase comes “amid a possible federal crackdown on legal marijuana.” A federal task force, created by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is exploring the path forward for marijuana law enforcement and is expected to release a report soon.

Related: NBA Champion John Salley Talks About the ‘Seed to Sale’ Process for Cannabis Business

Other findings.

The survey also reported that 12 percent of U.S. residents surveyed said they routinely use marijuana. That’s clearly much less than those who say they have tried it, but double the number who said they regularly use it in the 2013 Gallup survey.

Gallup also broke down the survey by various demographics. Those included the following:

• 48 percent of men say they have tried marijuana, 13 percent said they currently use marijuana.
• 35 percent of women say they have tried marijuana, 7 percent said they currently use marijuana.
• The age groups with the highest percentage who say they have tried marijuana were those 30 to 49 (51 percent) and those 50 to 64 (49 percent).
• Of those with an income of $75,000 or more per year, 44 percent said they had tried marijuana. That’s slightly higher than those with incomes between $30,000 and $74,999 and those with incomes below $30,000. In those two income categories, 42 percent said they had tried marijuana.

Despite the threat of a possible federal crackdown on legalized marijuana, Gallup concluded that the numbers show legal cannabis “is taking hold in American society.”

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana related news make sure to like dispensaries.com on Facebook

When we think of poor-performing employees, we typically picture those who are new and still learning, or those who just don’t have the best work ethic. However, most of us, as employers, run into situations from time to time where top employees are suddenly not performing at their best.

Related: 4 Ways Managers Can Commit to Improving Employee Engagement

There are countless reasons why this can happen — why employee performance can suddenly hit a downward slope. And, here, the first question isn’t so much why the problem has occurred as what we’re going to do about it.

Clearly, those leaders who already have solid relationships formed with their teams will have the best opportunity to quickly uncover what’s wrong and nurture those problem employees back to full productivity.

Communication, of course, is key, but, unfortunately, a July OfficeVibe report, The State of Employee Engagement, which looked at 1,000 organizations found that 31 percent of employees polled said they wished their manager communicated more frequently with them.

This means that for nearly one-third of the workforce, leaders may be unaware of the significant issues in employees’ lives causing them to suddenly stop performing well. So, when an employee’s performance comes to a screeching halt, here’s what that leadership can do to get him or her back on track:

1. Don’t jump to conclusions.

Jumping to conclusions is a natural reaction — and one that needs to be avoided.

When employee performance drops, jumping to conclusions just adds more stress for management, for the struggling employee and for his or her co-workers. Prematurely assuming that an employee has grown lazy, doesn’t care anymore or is even looking for another job could affect the way leadership responds.

Related: How to Build a High-Performance Team

Without knowing the exact reason for this person’s decline, it’s challenging to empathize and help create an effective path for the employee to get back to hitting goals. So, be sure to take time to first assess the situation.

When did this person’s work start declining? Was he or she working more hours at the time? Was the schedule particularly busy? Were there drastic changes in the employee’s work or home life?

Asking this person’s co-workers if they’ve noticed a shift in performance can be detrimental to the employee and company morale. So, it’s important to go straight to the source: the struggling employee.

Reassure the employee that he or she is not in trouble or at risk of a job loss. Instead, say that his or her performance isn’t as high as it once was and that your concern is to make sure things are okay.

2. Encourage an open dialogue.

Most employees are too embarrassed or nervous to speak with leaders about their dwindling performance. Mark Evans, the marketing director at Direct Line Group, an insurance group headquartered in Bromley, England, recently shared in a Marketing Week post his views on the importance of keeping an open dialogue with employees.

Performance management should include regular conversations to help keep employees from burning out, Evans wrote. “The world is crazy these days; people are always on the edge of burning out, and it’s about taking stock and looking after yourself,” Evans said. “There’s this notion of ‘humble bragging,’ about how busy we are and now people are being called out as that’s not a healthy thing.”

On the contrary, however, having regular conversations helps employees share their stresses with management more honestly, Evans wrote. And that, in turn, stops them from holding on to issues that eventually hurt both their well-being and performance.

So, encourage an open dialogue and focus on building a relationship with employees. The more frequently you meet with your team members, the more trust and openness will grow.

Most importantly, be genuine in your discussions. Let employees know that struggling at some point in a career is natural and that leaders are there to help — not judge.

3. Share your own struggles.

Employees who aren’t performing well — especially those who were once top performers — tend to feel alone. They’re frequently their worst critics and end up being harder on themselves than necessary. This only decreases their ability to move back into their top-performing spot.

Knowing that their superiors have been through similar situations will help them open up and trust that those leaders are there to help guide them back to success. So, share your own humbling and honest stories about personal issues.

Explain situations you’ve been in step by step so employees can see the commonalities with their struggles. Explain what went wrong, how that felt and what was needed to rise up from the situation.

To make a show of empathy and understanding about how mental health improves job performance, encourage “mental health” days. That’s what Ben Congleton, CEO of Olark Live Chat, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said he did when one of his web developers emailed the team about taking a mental health day.

Congleton responded with a personal thank you email to his employee. He thanked her for removing the stigma from taking mental health days and implied that it would be fine for more team members to take such days for themselves, as needed.

It’s this kind of personal encouragement that can help employees recuperate and begin the uphill climb to performing at their best once again.

4. Be transparent with performance management.

Some leaders believe that tracking employee performance just puts more stress and pressure on their employees. And, certainly, it does make them more aware of the goals they may be missing. However, knowing exactly where they stand with their goals and with management’s expectations will make performance conversations easier when these things go off track.

Being transparent with both goals and expectations will also help clear the air, give employees a defined path to hitting goals and show leadership is interested in seeing them succeed.

Related: Will Training Help Improve Employee Performance?

When leaders notice that an employee is struggling, it’s time to create a detailed plan to get this person back on track. Remember, a plan shouldn’t be based solely on what they’re struggling with, but why they’re struggling.

If their sales numbers are low because of a personal issue, offer time off so they can deal with the situation and refocus. On the other hand, if work tasks have become overwhelming, make a plan to deal with each project step by step to get any struggling employees back on their feet.

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Technology giant Apple, best known for its iPhones and computers, said newer lines of business such as Apple Pay had helped to drive growth in its third quarter.

Apple’s services unit had sales of nearly $7.3bn during the three months to the end of June, a rise of 22% higher on the same period last year.

The growth helped lift the firm’s total sales in the period by 7% to $45.4bn.

The firm’s shares spiked more than 5% in after-hours trade.

“Apple’s Services business continues to be the shining light,” said Geoff Blaber of CCS Insight.

“Not only is $7.3 billion in revenue hugely significant in its own right, it underlines the ecosystem advantage it has over its competitors outside of China.”

Pre-tax profits for the quarter were $11.308bn, up from $10.496bn last year.

Apple still makes the bulk of its revenue from iPhones, which had experienced an unexpected sales decline earlier this year.

This quarter, the number of units sold increased by a solid 2% year-on-year, lifting revenue 3% revenue to $24.8bn.

Other divisions also showed growth.

Apple, which introduced a new iPad, said the number of iPads sold climbed 28% year-on-year, while revenues from the product increased 2%.

Revenue from other products, such as the Apple Watch, Apple TV and Beats headphones, also jumped 23% year-on-year.

We’re all creatures of habit: We get up at the same time, go to work, have lunch at a certain time, go home at night and do it all over again the next day. No routine is the same, but routine does provide us with a sense of accomplishment and normalcy.

Related: 25 Habits of Successful and Extremely Happy People

In fact, the state of our daily lives reflects our daily habits. According to a Duke University psychology study, 45 percent of everything we do on a daily basis factors in those daily habits.

That’s why, for many, change is an inconvenience. It usually entails something unknown. My own view? It’s: “Change is the only thing that’s constant.” We’ve been conditioned to fear the unknown, but without someone having the gumption to “walk the plank,” there wouldn’t be inventions or innovations. Not to mention the fact that we entrepreneurs might still be clocking in and out of corporate America.

Pushing boundaries, embracing change and expanding our horizons is how we grow as professionals and individuals.

Is there something that we can do (or do better) in order to be more successful? Yes, there is.  Here are five habits you can cultivate to help you become more successful.

1. Have meetings at the same location.

As CEOs and business owners, we are involved in countless meetings any given day. One way to maximize our time is to schedule meetings back to back and in the same place. Not only will you get those meetings out of the way earlier in the day, but you won’t have to switch locations. You won’t lose time going from place to place and can spend some time focusing on what needs to happen during the meeting.

Tiffany Pham, founder and CEO of Mogul, takes this practice to heart. As she told Inc.: “If I must have multiple meetings throughout a day, I often aim to set them back to back in one location. This way, I maintain efficiency and focus throughout the meetings, setting the pace according to the agenda and maximum time allotted, [while] knowing we must get straight to the points at hand since the next meeting is impending.”

2. Get organized.

The supposed correlation between being organized and being productive is a belief that not everyone subscribes to. But it’s something that works for me. My desk is organized; everything has its place; therefore, I feel ready to tackle the day.

Related: The Unusual Habits of 8 Famous and Successful People (Infographic)

Some people argue that clutter — whether at home or at work — results in a lack of focus. In fact, scientific evidence says this is a real thing. Clutter prevents us from focusing on bigger goals. If organization is something that you strive for in order to feel that you’ve accomplished something, but you don’t know where to start, start small. Organize one drawer, instead of your entire desk. Organize the left side of your closet, instead of your entire closet.

Then again, there are people who might be a little messier but are just as focused and productive as someone like me who likes “neat and orderly.” Their motto is “my mess, my business.” At the end of the day, it’s the end result that counts the most.

3. Stay connected.

When we start our entrepreneurial journey, we’re in charge of everything — from answering phones and mailing packages, to billing and business development. As our venture grows into a robust company, we delegate some of those responsibilities to other employees; and if our business takes off, we delegate while focusing even more on how to expand the business. With expansion comes growing pains which can make us lose focus; we become disconnected, from the day-to-day details, and sometimes from our own employees.

Staying connected doesn’t mean being in people’s faces or micromanaging your staff. It means staying involved with what you love to do. For example, I enjoy getting involved in the creative side of things — whether from a marketing/PR or production standpoint.

I occasionally sit in, for example, during planning sessions that my teams have with clients. That helps me stay up to date with what’s going on with clients and what they want from the team, while enabling me to inject a different perspective and not get bogged down with the day-to-day activities.

Don’t be the kind of entrepreneur who’s disconnected, because more often than not, out of sight turns into out of mind — and that’s no way to run a business.

4. Learn something new every day.

When we’re young, we think that learning stops after we leave college. As we get older, and hopefully wiser, we realize this is not the case. Learning never stops; and, if you’re to become successful, you need to become a voracious reader or a big consumer of news.

Your activity here doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but whether you’re looking to upgrade your vocabulary or remain current with what’s going on the world, you have to make time.

Mark Cuban says he reads three hours every day. Bill Gates reads for an hour before bedtime. Reading isn’t just something you do to help clear your mind; it can also help you learn from the mistakes (and successes) of others. I occasionally peruse my social media feeds to learn a few things, too. Someone might share an article that is relevant to my industry and is something, normally, that I wouldn’t have noticed.

It might be about a new trend, a new technology or a new tool that might help streamline my workload (I’m always looking for neat tips and tricks to help me save time). Whatever it is that you choose to learn that day, whether it’s industry-related or not, make an effort to learn it. After all, knowledge never killed anyone.

5. Ask the right questions and push the envelope.

Most of our workload revolves around the “what” or the “how” — what are we working on today? How are we going to accomplish this task? But, what we don’t focus more on is the “why.” Successful people are constantly asking questions and pushing the envelope. Sure, that might sound like a toddler asking endless questions, but asking “why” helps you understand the process and, possibly, find alternative ways to fix a problem.

“Why” is always the hardest question to ask. For some, it may come across as questioning authority, but that’s not the case. If that’s how you think, you should get out of that mindset. Settling for the status quo never made anyone stand out.

But, questioning things is actually how you push the envelope. I understand this might be difficult to do, but here’s the catch: It’s not necessarily what you say, but how you say it. You can ask almost anything, push any envelope and even challenge authority if you do it calmly and respectfully.

Earlier, I mentioned how your daily habits help determine how you run your life. Ask yourself a couple of questions: a) what does success mean to me? and b) is there anything in my daily routine that I need to change that will help me become more successful?

Related: 10 Bad Habits You Must Eliminate From Your Daily Routine

Success means different things for different people. Some measure it in titles, money, social/financial status or simply personal satisfaction. Find out what success means to you and work toward that goal. Then examine your daily routine and do an honest self-assessment. That’s your plan.

Persuasive people rule this world. They rise in every company in a way that seems effortless, without putting pressure or strain on the people around them. They’re able to implement more of their ideas and get more help on projects.

Some people are born with the power of persuasion, and they can do all of this without even thinking about it. In this video, though, Entrepreneur Network partner Ben Angel gives some tips on how the rest of us can become more persuasive in our daily lives. For example, simply varying your speech rhythms can make a big difference — just ask Winston Churchill, who was a master with this technique.

For more on how this works and other tips, click play.

Related: How Too Much Coffee Ruined My Health and Nearly Destroyed My Business

Entrepreneur Network is a premium video network providing entertainment, education and inspiration from successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders. We provide expertise and opportunities to accelerate brand growth and effectively monetize video and audio content distributed across all digital platforms for the business genre.

EN is partnered with hundreds of top YouTube channels in the business vertical. Watch video from our network partners on demand on Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV and the Entrepreneur App available on iOS and Android devices.

Click here to become a part of this growing video network.

When most entrepreneurs raise venture capital funding, they’re focused on getting the best valuation and deal terms for their company. And that makes sense: Reducing the cost of capital is urgently important for growing a business efficiently and preserving as much founder equity as possible.

Related: Getting the Most From Your Startup’s Board of Directors

But you might also want to pay attention to the other side of the aisle: Because while you, as the business owner, need to understand any investment you accept, in terms of efficiency and equity, it’s equally important that you understand it from a lead investor’s perspective.

This need is particularly acute if the investment is tied to the creation of an outside board seat, which typically occurs in institutional funding rounds.

According to a variety of studies including one by MSCI/GMI Ratings, a well-constructed board, over time, leads to increased shareholder value. And this positive effect undoubtedly spills over into private companies, since these boards arguably have even more influence given their smaller average size.

So, in setting up your own board of directors, think what expectations you, the entrepreneur, should have. Below are five meaningful ways in which the “right” board directors can positively impact your business’s value.

Discipline

There are many operating goals that startups pursue at any given point: These may be related to product development, marketing and sales, operations or finance. The result is that management gets distracted with the day-to-day vagaries of running the business. This is where a productive board can help: It not only helps the executive team prioritize goals but also serves a role in ensuring that there is follow-through.

Also for a productive board: Agendas flagging the most important topics are established and tracked during, and in the time between, board meetings.

Related: 5 Best Practices When Bringing on and Working With Advisors

In this context, it would be reasonable to assume that the agenda for, say, Uber, focused on different priorities at different times of the company’s growth: These might have included geographic expansion, inside and outside the United States; regulatory strategies; and, more recently, company culture and how best to deal with change in its executive ranks.

Access to capital

Established investors, whether they’re funds or individuals, tend to have existing relationships with counterparts they have previously invested with. This network allows them to access relationships that represent additional funds and facilitate “syndicating” a deal.

For an entrepreneur, this can not only help accelerate the closing of a current round, but also make it easier to tap into dollars in future rounds. It is common for angels and seed funds to work with a short list of trusted co-investors. When I was a board director at SeatGeek, the company relied heavily on its network investors, including Founder Collective, to set itself up for subsequent round of financings, attracting such investors as Accel Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures.

Strategy

While startups have certain things under their control, external market forces can impact the initial assumptions being made about these startups’ industry or business. New technologies, changes in customer behavior, regulatory changes and competitive pressures are among the meteors that can strike at any time.

That’s why a healthy board contributes by providing a channel for entrepreneurs to brainstorm strategic issues, such as a discussion on business lines, business models, pricing and funding strategies. Of course, the expectation should be that the board provides a conversational framework rather than outright makes company decisions. An extreme example of this is the proverbial “pivot.”

Many folks do not know that YouTube started out as a video dating site or that Twitter early on was a podcasting network. In most cases, these 90-degree turns are done with investor input.

Business development

A company can never have enough relevant customers or commercial partners, especially in the early days as it’s getting its sea legs. Funds in particular can open doors to prospects that help drive revenue. Many times, these contacts are at the highest levels of an organization, which helps draw immediate attention and establishes credibility to begin a serious dialogue.

The more investments an investor has made, and the bigger his or her portfolio is around a particular industry, the wider this person’s commercial Rolodex is likely to be. A particular benefit here can be a corporate venture fund that supplements the investment with access, for the startup, to its customer base or internal organization.

It’s not unusual, in fact, for funds like Comcast Ventures or Time Warner Investments to become customers of, or partners to, startups in which they invest.

Access to talent

In the end, startup success is a direct function of the people inside a company who execute an ambitious vision. Not surprisingly, finding and retaining high-performing personnel across all functional departments is difficult and can be a limiting factor. Board members understand this and can be valuable sources of leads to help fill particular roles, especially at the executive level.

Being able to recruit a qualified candidate endorsed by an investor can reduce your interview cycles and snag talent that might otherwise be unattainable. In fact, VC funds like FirstRound Capital and FF Ventures have recruiters on staff to help their portfolio companies identify candidates, to fill their open slots across multiple departments, including sales, marketing, technology and operations.

Related: 3 Ways VCs Can Add Value to Your Startup Beyond the Cash

The message here? When scouting for lead investors, consider more than just the economics of that deal . Take into account the potential board impact to come after the transaction. That’s when the real fun begins.