Three Reasons Why Your Tech Startup Will Fail

A tech startup is an excellent way to change the landscape of a particular industry or truly make a name for yourself in the digital sphere. There's never been more resources at our disposal nor people ready to adopt new digital products. However, this is not to say the market for startups is an easy sell. Here are three crucial elements, that if not taken into consideration, can cause any tech startup to fail.

1. It isn't cool.
From the user experience to the market materials, in the competitive world that comprises startup culture your business needs to be cutting edge (not a remake of Pinterest). The idea must connect with a simple need that an audience you can reach will quickly understand. The question of, Why? Should be answered within five seconds.

The branding should be as intuitive as the user experience. It should syndicate seamlessly with other platforms (sign-ins through primary social networks speed up the process of getting started and enable easier cross-network promotion). Special attention to mobile is a must. Responsive website design for both tablet and mobile is a must. Geotargeting should be strongly considered, but may not be applicable for all. You are selling to the top digital decision makers -- people that know what their time and information is worth. They also know what developments exist and every step you miss is another ping of doubt as to whether investing their time in your app will be a complete waste.

Is it worth their time? Is it worth their friends' time?

2. Your profit margins are too far out, and you're not prepared for them.
As any business goes, your startup is only as valuable as the people you have using it. It doesn't matter if you angel investor dropped five million into your project -- if no one uses it, no one gets paid.

With that in mind, who you hire needs to be aware it could be months before they get paid. This doesn't mean you can't recruit top talent, but it does mean you are going to need to pander a bit to land and keep them.

Your leadership must be a top notch relationship builder. They must identify which top talent has potential as brand evangelists. Once talent is hired on, that leadership must come through on every promise made. Running a quality company on a shoestring budget is not cheap, it is paid for by the blood and sweat of leadership meeting the expectations of their employees. These employees are not working for your company because it is a job, it is because they are passionate about what they do and who they work for.

And yes, a few interns aren't a bad idea either. Just please be sure to reimburse them better than the man delivering your company sandwiches.

3. It doesn't make enough money.
We've all seen "The Social Network" and listened to Justin Timberlake, as Sean Parker, spout to Jesse Eisenberg, as Mark Zuckerberg, that trying to make money off the early Facebook was a big mistake. That no one knew what it was yet, and to (I'm paraphrasing here) let it gestate to maturity.

Yes, this is great advice, but on the other side of the coin eventually your investors will come knocking, your staff will want to be fed, and all those promises you made will need to be delivered. Facebook was revolutionary, but we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Tech business models have been developed with real business marketing dollars that users are growing increasingly familiar with. Adopting, or at least considering, a few of these strategies is a great step toward giving your employees and investors a plan.

A plan gives order to chaos and even if it isn't how it probably will work out, it gives people a sense of control so they can get on with their best work and the idea that you all believe in can truly flourish.

Had any experience with a failed or successful startup? Would love to hear about your experience.

Google Now: The New Benchmark in Data Collection

Asking is such a hassle. What if Google could just read your mind instead of waiting for you to form questions? Welcome to Google Now.

How It Works
Google has compiled all things all people want to know all the time (weather, traffic, schedules, birthdays, etc.) and put them into one application. They've also included a few you probably didn't think of, but will undoubtedly make your life easier such as flights, hotel and restaurant reservations, status of package delivery and even measurements of your physical activity.

Consider it your personal dashboard for all things necessary. Through customization it's possible this app could end up making people more dependent on their smartphones than ever before.

What It Means
Faster, easier and with more integration – those are the trends of mobile marketing. Google Now marks the end of waiting for the consumer to come to marketers, and the beginning of the marketer being aligned with the consumer in a continual wavelength. Once intregrated with someone's life, Google will know everything from how fit they are to what they shipped their cousin last Christmas. This will result in a new level of niche advertising that all competitors in mobile will need to aspire to. Let the race for adoption begin.

Facebook Home: A Small Step Toward Big Profit

Facebook Home, the latest push from Facebook, incorporates goals of both penetrating the mobile market while delivering the same targeted advertising they have been so successful with on desktop.

In short, as of April 12th in the US, the Android HTC First will roll out with Facebook Home pre-installed. Other Android users will also be able to download Home via the Google Play Store and their other accompanying apps.

At the press event summarized by Tech Crunch, Mark Zuckerberg elaborates on emphasis of Home.

“Today we’re going to finally talk about that Facebook Phone, more accurately, we’re gonna talk about how you can turn your phone into a Facebook Phone. After noting we spend more than 20% of our mobile time on social apps, we asked ourselves — if we’re already spending this much time on our phones, how can we make it easier? What if they were designed around people first, and you could also just happen to interact with apps?”

A great example of this already existing concept is Facebook Messenger--an app that combines your texts with your Facebook messages into one application on current Androids. A great idea no doubt, but it's an app I've seen have its fair hare of double-message doozies. Hopefully, with Facebook Home we'll have more luck.

The takeaway? Facebook is making strides toward truly infiltrating mobile. And with the current spreading chasm between Google and Samsung it can only lead to a greater competition between the search and social network giants.

Target Looks for the Next Best Thing, By Asking

So we all know retailers have to evolve their selling experience—fast. The in-store experience has marred by m- and e-commerce, but where to begin? You could ask your in-house people for ideas, but these are people you hired on previous selling models. People whose natural agenda is to keep their own job and not suggest a project that gets them canned. If you want fresh, you need to look outside your comfort zone—the wild, worldwide web.

And Target is teaming up with Fast Company to do just that.

In their new challenge campaign, Co.Labs & Target Retail Accelerator, both companies are giving away $75,000 to the winner and $10,000 to seven other finalists who can come up with an awesome mobile shopping service that extends the Target customer experience in a useful, instructive or entertaining way. Emphasis is on the following: social, education, in-store, personalization, completeness, design, technical expertise, date and magic. Target will own the winning app and outstanding entries will be highlighted by Fast Company’s Co.Labs.

Salivating yet? You can find the contest rules here.

Submissions close April 30, 2013 and the Grand Prize Winner will be  announced July 1, 2013.

Getting in Bed with Gadgets [INFOGRAPHIC]