We were thrilled to see our client LeapFish.com featured in the Web+Department section in the March 2009 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine.

Launched in November 2008, LeapFish is a search engine that uses proprietary hyper-threading to deliver more results in a single search. 

What makes LeapFish unique and so fun to use is its "click-free" search functionality.  As you type, the screen refreshes with new results -- give it a try!

Entrepreneur selected LeapFish along with a handful of other innovators in search.

The other featured startups included 123people.com, Cuil, EcoSmartSearch.com, RushmoreDrive.com, and Spock.com.

• Training manuals that document key tasks performed by key personnel, so that someone else could take over their job requirements in the event that they were out of the office temporarily or long-term


• A hiring plan that allows you to efficiently recruit and train new personnel


• Constantly networking and telling people the exciting aspects of your business so that there is a pent-up demand to work at your company

The old adage about the definition of insanity -- "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" -- has never been more applicable than it is right now with the crisis in our financial markets and our government's response thereto.  The daily, depressing drama of the federal government's frenetic, "bailout flavor of the day" response mechanism would be comical if it wasn't so tragic, frustrating, and anger-inducing.

Sometimes I feel I went to bed one night in the United States of America and woke up in the U.S.S.R. in the midst of a "5-year plan." It is long-overdue time for Main Street America, for Small Business America, for Scientist's and Engineer's America, for Junior Achievement America, for Paper Route America, for Immigrant America, for eBay America, for Mary Kay America, for Franchise America, for Venture Capital America, for Startup America, for Entrepreneurial America to stand up and shout ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Because they built this country.  Because they represent and embody its best and most admirable and most idealistic qualities.  And because if the Washington bureaucrats would just let them be and get out of their way they can and will dig this country out of its current hole far quicker, cheaper, and more fairly than via the banana republic cronyism that masquerades as policy in Washington these days.

The funny thing is, Entrepreneurial America has never been more vibrant, more creative, more productivity-building, more value-creating, than it is right now.  With the collapse of the "Blue Chips," the playing field has never been more level, the competitive arena never more wide open, the cost of key business inputs (labor, rents, technology) never less than it is right now for entrepreneurs.

What these firms need to succeed is not government handouts or "stimulus," but simply good old-fashioned growth capital.  And for this capital, these companies -- in such dynamic growth arenas as alternative & green energy, healthcare & biotechnology, digital media, and software -- are priced at  "end-of-the-world" levels.  In other words, as long as the world does not end, they will make themselves and their investors money.

So my suggestion to all of those in Entrepreneurial America: make yourself heard.  Call and write your congressperson and senator.  Email essays like this to your family, friends, and colleagues.  Support your local small business.  If you see a website of a business you like, write the company and tell them to keep on keeping on.   Blog.  Twitter.  Post on YouTube.  Shout out on Facebook.  Because this is a fight for private enterprise and economic freedom and one that Entrepreneurial America, and the world for that matter, cannot afford to lose.

Read Jay's second article in this series - Entrepreneurial America, Part 2.

Webinar: Keys to Successful Private Company Investing

Please join me on a live, interactive web conference where I will share with you my keys to successful private company investing including:

- How to utilize the Internet to source and research opportunities
- How to conduct data-driven risk analysis on private company deals
- How to exploit the "pricing inefficiency gap" endemic to private equity
- The importance of technology bias (and which technologies to bias) when selecting deals
- How to properly apply "black swan," or "randomness" thinking to private company investing strategy

To register, click here: http://www.growthink.com/livedeals

• Why achieving "top rankings" or "driving traffic" is less than half of the battle
• Which segments of internet marketing are growing, and where you need to invest today to remain competitive
• How to create an inbound "pull" strategy to have customers knocking down your door
• How to effectively convert website traffic to prospects, buyers, and lifetime customers
• Why a holistic, integrated approach consistently delivers superior ROI

It is absolutely astounding how quickly the discussion around the appropriate government response to the economic crisis has morphed -- from one around whether it even makes sense, or is the proper thing to do, for government to bail out ailing financial and manufacturing firms -- to one simply around "how much," "how fast," and "how many."

What does the girl who rejected me at a dance when I was thirteen years old have to do with your ability to raise capital for your business?  Well, it all has to do with psychology, human nature, and how you can leverage the two to attract capital. Watch the 4-minute video below to learn more:

Yesterday, I received an interesting package in the mail. I opened it up and inside was a shoebox. And inside the shoebox was "The Dogball." The Dogball, as I found out, is a new toy for dogs, and the founder, based in France, was trying to get me to distribute it here in the United States.

There are actually several important lessons from The Dogball as it relates to your business plan and raising capital. So, I documented them in a video since I had to make sure each of you could actually see exactly what the Dogball is:

• Priority A: Strategic/Corporate Investors (24)
• Priority B: Most Active Southern California Investors (24)
• Priority C: Active Southern California Investors (25)
• Priority D: Most Active Networking Investors CA-based (72)
• Priority E: Active Networking Investors CA-based (88)
• Priority F: Most Active Networking Investors U.S.-based (46)
• Priority G: Active Networking Investors U.S.-based (176)