There's a second personal announcement. Tags: Personal Venture Capital Everyone knows that I love startups. love working up logic models and key metrics on a whiteboard. love brainstorming on product. even love sitting on the floor with a stickered laptop at SXSW. All of which is precisely the work I've been enjoying at First Round Capital. So I have a surprise play to announce.I'm 'm changing jerseys to Intel Capital. Having told a handful of very surprised people this news in the past 24 hours, it's obvious that I need to tell more of the story. Of course. MORE >>

It’s about filtering through all the noise that a person encounters online. I originally started my career in public relations before moving into the marketing function. Throughout the years, there are several skills that  I’lve picked up that have been essential to my role. Here Here are the five key skills that I believe are a must for today’s marketing professional, in no particular order: 1. Search Engine Optimization: I believe it was Jeramiah Owyang who said that search is your new website. This requires understanding where the conversations are happening. MORE >>

This is an issue not related solely to politicians, but any person who presents publicly. When possibly, weave your key points into a relevant story to personalize it for your audience. The last two weeks has been a master class on how to present brilliantly or poorly as that may be. While I am admittedly a Democrat and mainly watched the Democrat National Conference, my points are not based on party affiliation. Rather it’s about the power of speaking simply to convey a message. powerful speaker is remembered long after the speech has concluded. Simplicity. Be direct. MORE >>

It’s funny how many times the person on the other line seems surprised to get me live that they fumble away the precious seconds trying to get the first sentence out of their mouths. 'via Flickr by Seattle Municipal Archives. Dear Telemarketers, I understand your job is difficult. You have to make dozens if not hundreds of calls every day. You have quotas to make. You’re judged not by the quality of your conversations but by the quantity that you make and how many result in the desired outcome. You You have it rough and I don’t envy you. receive a lot of these calls. MORE >>

personally am more apt to accept a LinkedIn invitation to connect than Facebook. When used well, LinkedIn is a powerful business networking community and tool. However, there are some pet peeves I have about LinkedIn. Here are my top 5 don’ts, in no particular order: Sending generic invitations to connect : I’ve received dozens of invitations to connect via LinkedIn. In the past, I would automatically accept invitations, even from complete strangers. However, as LinkedIn members have become more aggressive with emails and connections, I evaluate each request carefully. MORE >>