Building complex, flexible layouts has never been easy, but CSS3 has certainly taken away a lot of the headaches.

CSS3 features like Flexbox and Columns have made some complex layouts a real possibility and now they’re being joined by one of the newest additions to the web designer’s toolbox: CSS Regions.

CSS Regions allow you to flow content into a series of containers on a single page. It’s the equivalent of linking text boxes in an application like InDesign. It makes possible some layouts that were previously only possible by blurring the line between data and styles.

Browser support

As always, browser support is far from perfect.

CSS Regions is still a draft, which means it’s experimental. Initially the only browser to actually support it was Internet Explorer 10 (no, I’m not kidding); although IE10 does use an iframe as the content source.

Safari claims to offer support with a prefix.

In Chrome you can test the feature by opening your browser, typing ‘about:flags’ and activating ‘enable-experimental-webkit-features’, then restarting your browser.

Happily there is also a JavaScript polyfill created by Adobe that brings the functionality of CSS Regions to browsers that currently don’t support it, you can find this on github.

Using CSS Regions

Since the purpose of CSS Regions is to allow our text to flow across different containers, the first thing you need is some text:

<div class="text">
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc cursus imperdiet purus ac eleifend. Vivamus posuere pellentesque nibh vel laoreet. Donec et sem odio. Donec sit amet lorem hendrerit, faucibus libero et, mattis lacus. Suspendisse dapibus rutrum felis quis interdum. Integer tincidunt, orci at condimentum placerat, est nulla sollicitudin velit, vitae gravida nisi odio ac ligula. Sed hendrerit ac massa vel ultricies. Vestibulum commodo, orci et tincidunt laoreet, enim tellus aliquet orci, quis dapibus sapien tellus eu felis. Etiam non arcu at eros luctus consectetur vitae eget nunc. In felis ipsum, vehicula ac mauris vel, porttitor gravida neque.
Quisque orci turpis, aliquam vel tortor convallis, ullamcorper molestie nisl. Sed aliquet dignissim lorem non fringilla. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi congue erat ac hendrerit ullamcorper. Morbi facilisis urna nunc, eget pretium lectus congue vitae.
</div>

And then some containers:

<div class="containers"></div>
<div class="containers"></div>
<div class="containers"></div>

Now we have the basic content set up, we can link the containers using flow-into and flow-from, you’ll notice in the example I’ve added the -webkit- prefix.

.text { -webkit-flow-into: text-flow; padding: 0; margin: 0; color: #F2F2F2; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; } .containers{ -webkit-flow-from: text-flow; background: #333333; padding: 5px; margin-top: 100px; width: 200px; height: 300px; float: left; margin-right: 20px; } 

If you check this in a browser you’ll see that the text will just flow from one box to another. If you now position those containers, the text will continue to flow properly.

Understanding flow-into

-webkit-flow-into: text-flow;

This property accepts an identifier as the value. When you pass a value to this property it becomes part of a named flow and it will stop rendering as part of the page flow. You can cancel that by setting the property to none.

The name of the flow you use is arbitrary, just make sure you’re consistent. We can also have multiple elements with the same named flow as in our example above.

This isn’t limited to text, we can also flow images, lists, and many other kinds of HTML content.

Understanding flow-from

-webkit-flow-from: text-flow;

We use this property to specify which element(s) should receive the specified flow.

The value is the name of the flow that we specified for the flow-into property.

Bear in mind that any content styles that you apply to the original text will be maintained across the flow. So if you color the text blue, it will remain blue across all containers.

Final thoughts

To see an example of CSS Regions in action, take a look at this pen I created.

The browser support for CSS Regions is currently weak, and there’s a long way to go before we can rely on it on a daily basis. But, the flexibility that it offers is fantastic, and once full support is in place I think CSS Regions will be the go-to technique for years to come.

Are you excited by CSS Regions? How soon do you think we’ll be able to use them? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image/thumbnail, waterfall image via cuatrok77.

500+ Scary Halloween Vectors & Brushes – only $17!

Encryption startup KoolSpan raises $9.4 million

Bill Flook
Staff Reporter - Washington Business Journal

Mobile security startup KoolSpan Inc. has pulled in a total $9.4 million in two separate raises led by Security Growth Partners and TWJ Capital, CEO Gregg Smith confirmed on Tuesday.

In an email, Smith (currently overseas) said the funding will go toward enhancing sales and marketing and engineering, as well as providing general operating capital. The company first disclosed the raises this morning in two separate SEC filings.

Bethesda-based KoolSpan's flagship product is the TrustChip, a microSD card that enables voice, text and data encryption for mobile devices. The company in May landed a deal with Samsung's security arm to use TrustChip as the hardware backbone to a new smartphone security product.

The dual raises add to KoolSpan's roughly $20 million in prior venture funding, according to CrunchBase. The larger of the two, $7.4 million, is described in the filing as straight equity. The second $2 million raise is a mix of debt, options, warrants and/or other securities.

Both Security Growth Partners and TWJ Capital are previous KoolSpan investors.

In an internship at Discovery Communications you'll be exposed to all areas of the business through a solid foundation of learning through training and work experience. Discovery is proud to provide interns with an opportunity to gain an understanding of their mission, values, departments, employees, culture and commitment to quality programming, products and services.

For the spring 2014, Discovery's Campus Connect program will run for a 10 week session during the following dates: February 3, 2014 -  April 11, 2014

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Interviewing will take place from the end of October through December. A Campus Connect team member will contact you should your experiences and interests match an open internship position.

For more information, search job number 9260721 in UMBCworks.

We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. As designers, we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one: desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd.

This creativity mission has been going on for over five years now, and we’re very thankful to all the designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month. This post features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for August 2013. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free. It’s time to freshen up your desktop wallpaper, folks!

Please note that:

• All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper,
• You can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our Desktop Wallpaper Calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?

Autumn Colors

“I love the autumncolors and making pictures, this is a collage of bits and pieces of various autumn photos from previous seasons. Enjoy!” — Designed by Agnes Swart from the Netherlands.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440

Argyle October

“I really enjoy simple designs and thats the way I like to design. I tried to do as much as I could with as little as I can.” — Designed by Josh Smith from the United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Happy Halloween

Designed by Zanetine Web Design from India.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1080, 1366×768
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1080, 1366×768

Sports Day In Japan

“Sports day is held every October in Japan for kids in kindergarten to high school.” — Designed by Evangeline Neo from Japan.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Beautiful Autumn

Designed by Frank Miller from Prague, CZ.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1366×768, 1400×900
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1366×768, 1400×900

Retro October

“When I think of October I think of making homemade applesauce, pumpkin bread, etc. in a warm, inviting kitchen. I added the vintage theme to further push the homemaker feel.” — Designed by Kelly Sheaffer from the United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200

October Gifts

“I was inspired by autumn and those gifts that presented to us in the form of beautiful colors, unusual shapes and mysterious weather. So enjoy October! :)” — Designed by Juliagav from Ukraine.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1366×768
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1366×768

Let The Beauty

“A wonderful quote by Jalal ad-Din Rumi and an excellent image by Tan Chuan-Yean.” — Designed by Aydin Demircioglu from Germany.

• preview
• with calendar: 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 1366×768, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 1366×768, 2560×1600

Building Singapore: Old Supreme Court

“This wallpaper design is inspired by the Old Supreme Court of Singapore, the last structure in Singapore to be built in the style of classical architecture. It’s currently in the process of being converted into the National Art Gallery of Singapore, slated to be open in 2015!” — Designed by Teo Yu Siang from Singapore

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 2880×1800
• without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2880×1800

Trafalgar Day

“To commemorate the victory and death of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805.” — Designed by Adrian Sandu from Romania (currently living in Ireland).

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×720, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 1366×768
• without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 1600×900, 1366×768

Adventure

“Go into the imagination of a young boy…going out to be the hero of his own story.” — Designed by Anne O’Konski from the United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 800×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 800×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Misty Woods

“October reminds me of cold nights and Halloween. Halloween is a time when going up to creepy houses through misty haunted woods is acceptable, which also inspired me to design a moonlight misty composition.” — Designed by Samantha Magaard from the United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200

A Very Bright Halloween

“We want to remind everyone to stay safe this Halloween when trick-or-treating, maybe carry a portable lantern or flashlight. We also wanted to share some ideas we had for adding a special bright touch to your costumes this year – battery operated Halloween string lights!” — Designed by Carla Genovesio (from Lights.com from the United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Fall Colors

“I was inspired to create this wallpaper by the natural elements of fall. Comfortable clothes, crisp air, hot chocolate and the vibrant colors of autumn bring a joy to my soul unlike any other season. I took this picture on one of my walks near my house. Embrace the change and absorb the wonderful beauty of this season!” — Designed by Cody Courmier from Denver, CO.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Geometric Series: Lady Gaga

“The Geometric Series is a series of graphite-on-paper artworks that celebrates and commemorates some of the world’s most popular – and controversial – celebrities. Each artwork is completed using nothing but geometric shapes (mostly triangles), resulting in an interesting pseudo-3D portrait. This artwork is the second in the series, featuring the Queen of Monsters, Lady Gaga. Hope you guys like it!” — Designed by Teo Yu Sheng from Singapore.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1800
• without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

A Night To Sparkle!

“October brings Halloween! A fun time of year, where we get to dress up and go Trick or Treating! I have fond memories of me and my family lighting sparklers, attempting to write your name with them, and throwing them into the night sky when theyre almost done! :)” — Designed by Kelly from Ireland.

• preview
• with calendar: 800×480, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×960, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 800×480, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×960, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

October Fun

“My wallpaper was inspired by my love for the Autumn season. I wanted to capture some of my favorite aspects about this time of the year and put them into a design that anyone can enjoy on their computer screen. I love animals so I decided to put in a classic black cat and her family. I also wanted to emphasize the lovely colors of the season throughout the piece with the changing foliage and the landscape. I also wanted this design to have a family friendly, kid feel. The style is almost like a coloring book page, and has a “cutesy” aspect that kids will enjoy.” — Designed by Lauren McNallen from Pennsylvania, USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Sheepish Fall Knitters

“When I think of October I think of fall, cold, and sweaters. It just so happens that my mom knits and especially during the fall season she goes overload with all the socks, hats, and sweaters she knits for all us kids. So I decided to put that idea into a comic-like illustration. I felt like a little humor was needed to make the illustration a little more fun.” — Designed by Emily Allard from the United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Join In Next Month!

Please note that we respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience throughout their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

A big thank you to all the designers for their participation. We encourage you to participate and join in next month!

What’s Your Favorite?

What’s your favorite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comments section below.

© The Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2013.

Those are just two of the visions being that have been pursued over the past four years by small companies in the Maryland Clean Energy Technology Incubator (CETI)  at bwtech@UMBC Research & Technology Park.

As the youngest of three business incubators housed within the research park, CETI has had its share of growing pains.  When the incubator was founded in 2009, the clean-energy sector was awash in federal stimulus money. Today, companies must scrap for every bit of private investment and public research support they can muster.

Fledgling clean-energy companies in the CETI get inexpensive office space, ample laboratory facilities, and a host of less-tangible benefits – including proximity to UMBC faculty members and students and membership in a statewide network of energy companies – to help grow their businesses.

“You can meet people here who you’d never meet if you rented offices in a random building in Columbia,” says Bjorn Frogner, who serves as the incubator’s “entrepreneur-in-residence.” With more than three decades of experience in energy and software companies, Frogner gives CETI companies informal advice and troubleshoots problems related to grant proposals, patenting, and human resources.

“Having an entrepreneur-in-residence is a real value,” says George Oyler, the founder of Clean Green Chesapeake, a start-up company piloting systems for converting algae to cattle feed and liquid transportation fuels. “My background was as an M.D./Ph.D. Many academics dream about transitioning into some sort of start-up, but there’s not a lot of appreciation for what it means to be in business as opposed to research. It is really helpful to have people like Bjorn who have a history in this kind of work.”

Perhaps the best-known clean-energy company at BWTECH is Fiberight, which will soon break ground on a large-scale plant in Iowa that will convert municipal waste into ethanol fuels. (The company has begun the planning-and-permitting process for constructing similar plants in Maryland.) Fiberight was already two years old when the CETI was founded, company CEO Craig Stuart-Paul leapt at the chance to move the company’s headquarters there when he learned about its creation.

“There’s no question that you get better access to academic expertise if you’re located in a center like this,” Stuart-Paul says. His company has hired three UMBC graduates as full-time staff members and regularly brings UMBC students aboard as summer interns.

Bryan Kim ’13, chemical engineering, worked as an intern at Fiberight in 2012 and accepted a full-time job this past May after graduation. “I’ve mostly been creating process-and-instrumentation diagrams for our small pilot plant in Virginia,” Kim says. “But I’ve met everyone, and I’ve gotten to do a little bit of everything. That’s the great thing about working for a start-up. This is the best introduction I can imagine to the post-college work world.”

Frogner also hopes that some of the collective expertise of companies at CETI can pay off for the UMBC campus itself, including the possibility of applying “smart grid” technology developed at the incubator to future campus construction projects.

Other companies in the clean-energy incubator include Plant Sensory Systems, which has large federal grants to support the development of genetically-engineered plants with high oil yields and low requirements for nitrate fertilizers; Innovative Bios, which converts animal wastes into cell culture broths for the biotechnology industry; and Agira Energy, a solar-cell manufacturer.

David J. Fink, director of entrepreneurial services at bwtech@UMBC, says that he believes that even more companies at CETI will be helping create a greener future in the marketplace – and maybe sooner than anyone thinks.

“We have today a very strong and diverse set of companies,” Fink says, “and they’re all geared toward bringing products and services to market very rapidly.”

– David Glenn

Creating a startup has never been easier. And once you get going — depending on your drive, vision and personal motivation — you will likely experience rapid growth and productivity at the start of your journey. Everything’s new and there’s seemingly endless potential to grow.

However, once the honeymoon period fades and reality sets in — and it will at some point — you will be faced with doubts, fear, and insecurity. This point in time is a crucial fork in the road; one path will move you forward and the other will lead you astray.

When that time comes, it’s important to deal with the following common issues experienced by most startup founders.

1. Waiting for Everything to Be Perfect

Sometimes it’s hard to get things moving because you want things to be flawless.

However, perfection never happens. Perfection is a pipe dream.

To succeed in business means focusing on the things that matter. Moving forward and growing means not letting inconsequential details derail you from launching your product or distracting you from your vision.

After all, a startup business is like a living organism, it will evolve over time. As long as you have the core features in a sufficient state, you will be fine.

It’s best to take your product to the market swiftly and improve it over time, rather than agonizing over non-essential features and ending up missing the mark. As LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman once said, "If you’re not embarrassed by your first launch, you’ve launched too late."

You have to start some time, and that time isn’t when everything is perfect.

Even Apple — now one of the most successful companies in the world — started with a humble and imperfect product: The Apple I computer.

Source: Ed Uthman

The Apple I lacked even the most basic features of a computer, like an input device and monitor, which, even at the time, were already expected features of consumer-oriented computers.

However, the Apple I was an innovative product at the time because it was easier to operate compared to other options. Also it could display the computer’s output using only an ordinary television.

It didn’t matter that the Apple I lacked features that consumers expected, or that not every aspect of the product was flawless. What did matter, however, is that the computer had a couple of game-changing features that a segment of computer enthusiasts appreciated.

Successful entrepreneur and developer Dave Winer says this about building software: "Software is a process, it’s never finished, it’s always evolving. That’s its nature. We know our software sucks. But it’s shipping! Next time we’ll do better, but even then it will be shitty. The only software that’s perfect is one you’re dreaming about."

Suggested Reading

• Progress Not Perfection (medium.com)
• Taming Perfectionism (www.defmacro.org)
• I Want to Punch Perfection in The Face (medium.com)
• Just Ship It (www.neiland.net)

2. Trying to Live Up to Your Competitors

It can be all too easy to compare yourself to your competitors. This process can be intimidating and discouraging, too.

Keeping up with industry news and knowing about your competition is an essential task for all business founders. But when it becomes an obsession, it can be unhealthy for your company.

Don’t waste time thinking about your competitors’ every move. Only you can be the maker of your business’s success. Analyzing the competition can be a long, dark maze in which you can easily lose yourself in.

Paul Graham — a successful entrepreneur, startup advisor and investor behind companies like Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe and Reddit — pointed out in a blog post that startups rarely fail because of its competitors.

A crowded market, according to Graham, is a signal that there’s an unfulfilled need in that market. The presence of competitors should be viewed as a healthy sign of market viability, rather than a threat.

Do your competitor analysis and keep abreast with what’s going on in your industry, but don’t let it discourage you from building your vision.

Suggested Reading

• Stop stressing about startup competitors (startupnorth.ca)
• Competing in a Startup World: Lessons From a CFO (insideindianabusiness.com)

3. Doing Everything Yourself

Don’t feel compelled to wear all the hats of HR, marketing, IT, finance, web development, and sales. Your energies are best channeled into a few specific and strategically crucial tasks, so make sure you get help from other people. Delegation is an important skill all entrepreneurs must master.

Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media, looked back at his career as an entrepreneur and what he wished he had done differently. O’Reilly notes that one of his biggest failures was trying to do everything himself: "I believe it was Harold Geneen who once said, ‘The skill of management is to achieve your objectives through the efforts of others.’ Yet, like so many entrepreneurs, my first instinct was not to hire the team to go after a new product or market, but to do it myself, or with the team I already had."

Empower the relevant people in your business and give them the best tools you can afford to let them do their job.

4. Taking Yourself Too Seriously

With the number of business-critical decisions you will have to take, it’s easy to become a little too serious.

Serial entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is probably the ultimate embodiment of a good-humored startup founder. Behind his cheeky smile, however, lays a very solid business rationale: a sense of humor and positivity tends to create a culture of openness where employees are more likely to be creative. "Granted, smiling can’t solve every problem, but it can make almost any situation a little better," Branson says.

Maintaining positive morale is crucial in the close confines of a startup.

5. Fear of Failure

There’s nothing wrong with being wrong. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that mistakes will happen. You will always wish you had done certain things differently.

The art of getting things right is also about getting things wrong. Nobody has ever had a perfect idea that didn’t need any work or changes — accepting this notion demonstrates a self-awareness and maturity that will be integral to the success of any young business.

Many successful entrepreneurs, from Rand Fishkin of Moz to Hiten Shah from KISSmetrics, have encountered hurdles along the way but have got up and kept going.

The key to their success was the ability to learn what had gone wrong, why it had gone wrong, and how they could stop it from happening again.

Suggested Reading

• Why You Should Ignore Startup Failure Stats (venturebeat.com)
• How My Start-Up Failed (alumni.stanford.edu)

And What if You Do Fail?

Try to make failure as low-cost as possible and learn from it as much as you can.

And have a plan Z. Having a backup plan if things go really wrong (which ensures you will have a roof on your head even if it means going back to Mom and Dad’s) will help you face difficult times with more objectivity and come out of it, if nothing else, at least a little wiser.

Related Content

• 10 Myths about Startups
• 10 Ways to Be a More Productive Web Developer
• The Secret to Building Large Websites: Website Architecture
• Should We Always Deploy Content Management Systems?
• Related categories: Business and Project Management

About the Author

Sabelline Chicot is a content strategist at Further, an award-winning Web marketing agency.  She writes about entrepreneurship and tech topics such as IT security. She’s always on the lookout for tech solutions that truly solve problems. Follow her on Twitter: @sabellinechicot.

The post 5 Things That Slow Down Your Startup’s Growth appeared first on Six Revisions.