Kimberly Zhang, Author at Under30CEO

What Companies Can Learn From These Failed Innovation Attempts

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship / July 3, 2019

Over the past 20 years, corporate innovation has evolved from a powerful differentiator into a vague buzzword. Companies that claim to offer innovative solutions may or may not keep their word, and truly innovative companies have to struggle to prove their uniqueness. Sometimes, businesses get ambitious and go too far in their quests to innovate. Google Glass famously crashed and burned. Juicero somehow raised more than $120 million…

6 Ideas to Form Bonds with Your Employees

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship / June 20, 2019

As a CEO, you’re at least partially responsible for directing, inspiring, and leading a team of employees. Most people take this as a cue to be as professional and distant as possible, setting a firm standard of stoic, duty-focused professionalism for others to follow. An impression of strength removes vulnerabilities and allows others to trust you, right? However, it’s often even more valuable to break down those walls…

5 Ways to Find Your Ideal YouTube Brand Ambassador

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Startup Advice / June 18, 2019

Updated October 15, 2019 If you’re looking for a good deal in influencer marketing, there’s one platform where you’ll find it: YouTube. According to influencer marketing agency Mediakix, just 11 percent of marketers plan to spend most of their influencer money on the social video platform this year. Compare that to Instagram, where 69 percent of marketers will sink the majority of their influencer dollars. But it isn’t…

3 Things Brands Should Be Doing to Prepare for Gen Z

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Startup Advice / June 13, 2019

By now, marketers understand that members of Generation Z aren’t just younger Millennials. The latest generation to join the workforce has its own unique preferences, and brands that fail to acknowledge those differences will struggle to connect. Research from McKinsey found that Gen Zers prioritize individuality more than their older peers. They don’t see differences between the people they meet online and the people they meet in person.…

How to End Things on Good Terms with Employees

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship / June 11, 2019

When you have an employee who needs to go, you might feel tempted to leave a resignation letter template lying on the copier. While that might work in some cases, passive-aggressive strategies rarely leave employees feeling good about their departures. Just like ending a business partnership, ending an employment agreement can be painful. No one enjoys firing an employee who genuinely wants to do well. Letting people go…

Tax Refunds Are Down — Here’s How to Protect Your LLC

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship / June 4, 2019

If you run a small business, your 2018 taxes were probably far higher than expected. The reason: The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act significantly modified the tax code. These changes didn’t become evident until Americans filed their 2018 taxes. At their heart, the changes aimed to lower taxes for corporations. While this mostly means bigger companies, forming or modifying an LLC can help reduce your tax burden.…

4 Tips for a Customer-Centric Rebrand

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Startup Advice / May 31, 2019

Imagine spending decades building a team, turning it into a national brand, moving it to another city — and then a hurricane blowing the whole thing to pieces. That’s exactly what happened to George Shinn, the former owner of the Hornets basketball team, when he moved it from Charlottesville to New Orleans. “Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown,” Shinn famously…

How to End a Business Partnership on Good Terms

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Startup Advice / May 28, 2019

Departing good terms is always a good idea when it comes to business partnerships.

Every business partnership has ups and downs. Usually, the lowlands and peaks balance each other out. When the valleys become the status quo, however, it may be time to dissolve the partnership. The good news for partners in this predicament is that there are always other entrepreneurial fish in the sea; you can even use a dating app to find them. In the meantime, though, you have to…

How to Turn an Underperformer Into One of Your Strongest Employees

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Startup Advice / May 24, 2019

When your co-worker underperforms, you have the option of looking the other way. But when you’re the team leader, you’re in a different position. As a manager, you’re expected to deal effectively with underperformers — either by letting them go or helping them improve. Easier said than done, right? However, with the proper mix of patience, guidance, and tact, you can manage your direct reports to success and…

Didn’t Start at the Bottom? Here’s How You Can Still Lead Like You Did

by Kimberly Zhang / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Startup Advice / May 22, 2019

Here's how you can cultivate a perspective that values every level's input.

Are good business leaders born or made in the trenches? Early work experience forges how a person will lead. For many successful CEOs, starting out on the company’s bottom rung has been an invaluable opportunity for learning. For example, David Cote started out at General Electric as an hourly employee when he was 21. By age 33, he’d worked his way up to a midlevel financial planner role…

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