Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 14, 2010
How to Interpret Analyst Reports. The headlines in the media are filled with that latest stats. Stats sell. The stats are often quoted from the latest reports. People then parrot them around like they’re fact when most of them are complete bullsh*t. People throw them around at cocktail parties. Often when they do I throw out my favorite statistic: 73.6% of all statistics are made up.
Steve Blank
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
It’s been a year since I’ve been blogging. The 100 or so posts add up to about 300 pages of text. One of the downsides to a large number of blog posts is that older stories tend to get buried and hidden. Categories and indexes on the web pages aren’t quite the right metaphor or substitute for random access. So bowing to popular demand the 2009 blog posts are now available on Amazon on a portable device which provides instant and random access to any post and does not require power or a
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crowdSPRING Blog
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week! Measuring Up: Are You a Good Designer or a Great One?
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
After not seeing the word patent in my daily information routine for a few weeks, I saw it twice today – first in an article titled Turning Patents Into ‘Invention Capital’ (in the NY Times) and then in Region Sustains Robust Patent Production in the WSJ. Both stirred me up early this morning, but for different reasons. If you are interested in patents, I encourage you to read Turning Patents Into ‘Invention Capital’ as I’m very interested in your reaction.
Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic
Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
Absolute Power Corrupts, Absolutely. I was living in Europe in 2000 when the first WAP phones (Wireless Access Protocol) were introduced. These phones were so over hyped. They were going to bring the Internet to your mobile phones ushering in the era of “m-commerce.&# Gag. I had just returned from living in Japan where I witnessed the hugely successful launch of i-mode by NTT DoCoMo so I knew the potential that the mobile web would ultimately bring, but I saw so many flaws in the launch
This is going to be BIG.
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
I am excited to share the news of First Round Capital 's recent investment in cloud-to-cloud backup service Backupify. This is the first deal I've closed for FRC and I've also joined the board of the company. Josh Kopelman will be working closely on this investment as well. Joining our investment in the $900k round were General Catalyst, Betaworks, Jason Calacanis, and Chris Sacca.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
techcrunch.com
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Tech Gadgets Mobile Enterprise GreenTech CrunchBase TechCrunch TV Disrupt SF More TechCrunch TV Beta Invites Crunchies Elevator Pitches Gillmor Gang Podcasts TechCrunch Europe TechCrunch Trends TechCrunch France TechCrunch Japan Whats Hot: Android Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Twitter Yahoo Zynga Subscribe: Think Your Start-up Is Venture Worthy? Think Again.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 14, 2010
Back in November I agreed with Nivi over at VentureHacks to do a series on the ten most important attributes of a successful entrepreneur. This is the last post in that series. This is actually an addendum to my list rather than “on&# my list. That in itself will be controversial, I know. When Nivi published the series he titled it “the top 10 things I look for before I write a check.&# As a result I felt compelled to add this final attribute because it matters a lot to me.
Life Beyond Code
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
You’ve probably seen those thirty-minute, late-night television infomercials that tell you a story about a product in all its glory. After about twenty minutes into the commercial, you have been repeatedly told that your life is incomplete without this latest gizmo. You’ve heard others enthusiastically state how the item changed their lives and brought them health, wealth, happiness, and love.
Austin Startup
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
MyEdu , the definitive online source to increase success and save money in college, today announced $5.5 million in series B funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Bain Capital, one of the largest and most respected private investment firms in the world. Bain Capital has a long history of funding successful companies such as DoubleClick, LinkedIn, Princeton Review, SurveyMonkey, and The Learning Company.
crowdSPRING Blog
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
If any of you are as excited as I am about the FIFA World Cup being held for the very first time in an African country then you’ll be just as excited about this company that posted a project on crowdSPRING. CAfrica Sports (pronounced see-Africa-sports) was in need of a logo and stationary design for their company that will be the first private broadcaster to deliver content to over 40 countries in sub-Sahara Africa.
www.readwriteweb.com
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
ReadWriteStart ReadWriteWeb Channels ReadWriteStart ReadWriteBiz ReadWriteEnterprise ReadWriteCloud ReadWriteHack ReadWriteMobile International ReadWriteBrazil ReadWriteChina ReadWriteFrance ReadWriteSpain ReadWriteStart All Posts Archives Featured RSS Twitter Facebook Design for Startups: The Aesthetics of Web Apps in 6 Questions By Jolie ODell / September 8, 2009 1:42 PM / 26 Comments Tweet Think twice about that huge font and those glassy icons: Look and feel is the first thing we see and not
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
FEBRUARY 15, 2010
Many of my mistakes can be traced back to a failure to recognize and appreciate "sunk cost.". The term comes from economics: "Sunk Cost" is money you've already spent and cannot get back no matter what. A " rational actor ," as economists say, will completely ignore sunk costs when making decisions because the money is gone no matter what action is taken next.
deal architect
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
Paul Greenberg is on a crusade to educate the corporate world about the social customer. His new book, his seminar series are all aimed at that. As he is quoted in my upcoming book “Social CRM measures not just Customer. Tags: Industry Commentary.
Steve Blank
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
In my last post I described what happened when a company prematurely scales sales and marketing before adequately testing its hypotheses in Customer Discovery. You would think that would be enough to get wrong, but entrepreneurs and investors compound this problem by assuming that all startups grow and scale by executing the Revenue Plan. They don’t.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
A while back I found some great product leadership guidance in “ The Secrets of Tuned In Leaders ”, by Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott. They did a series of interviews with CEOs to understand how technology companies create success, and why most fail. They found many similarities between the companies that are winning in the marketplace and those that are struggling.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
The startup community over at Answers OnStartups has really taken off! Dharmesh and I started it just a few months ago and it's already helped thousands of people. And vice-versa: For every question I've answered, there's another where I've learned something too. It's a total blast — you should come check it out. It's like being in a room with 200 people in various stages of doing startups, all eager to listen to your problems and questions and ready with experience and advice.
deal architect
FEBRUARY 14, 2010
Hey, I was just quoting that guy from Google :) I mean this is Dallas and All my Children and bunch of other soaps bundled in one if you believe Maureen O’Gara. Screw Apple’s faux consumery sex and sizzle and. Tags: Enterprise Software (IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP).
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
I’ve been obsessed with the notion of email as the ultimate social network for a while. I wrote a post in 2007 titled Social Networks In Obvious Places that catalyzed me to thing harder about this as an investor. I eventually decided that the email address is the ultimate reference id for one’s current online identity and that it was ludicrous to ignore this notion.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
It’s great to dream big, but your startup needs a laser focus in the beginning to get market and investor attention. Google did it with search engines, Apple did it with a personal computer, and even Wal-Mart did it through low prices. A business plan I saw recently to combine all the good features of several popular social networks on one site does not do it.
Rembrandt Communications
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
When you prepare to contact a reporter, it is essential to conduct some research first. Media members receive hundreds of calls and e-mails each week, and you want to make a good, first-impression without being annoying. To stand out and get your story heard, here is a simple reminder of ten questions you should never [.].
deal architect
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
For a fleeting moment I got excited about the Verizon-Skype announcement. Then I read it will not work on Wi-Fi. WTF? Only on its 3G network, marginally better than AT&T’s, and the likely risk we get slammed soon with some. Tags: Telecommunications.
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
Innovation happens all over the place. While I typically write about innovation in software and the Internet (which are the two areas I invest in), it’s useful to occasionally step back and tell a story about innovation in a different area that I’ve been exposed to. Peter Frykman was 15 years old when Muhammad Yunus proposed alleviating poverty through the innovation of the social-objective-driven entrepreneur , one who “competes in the marketplace with all other competitors but is inspired by a
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 13, 2010
I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. Even for low-tech startups, the scope of information available on the Internet, and its global reach, has had a similar financial impact on the many other challeng
Rembrandt Communications
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
When you prepare to contact a reporter, it is essential to conduct some research first. Media members receive hundreds of calls and e-mails each week, and you want to make a good, first-impression without being annoying. To stand out and get your story heard, here is a simple reminder of ten questions you should never [.].
deal architect
FEBRUARY 14, 2010
On the New Florence blog It’s a small world, after all IDEA 2009 Winners The Hospital of the Future Technology at the Vancouver Opening Ceremonies.
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
If there is one thing you read today, go read Brad Burnham at Union Square Ventures excellent essay titled Software patents are the problem not the answer. Several years ago when I first started saying things like “software patents are invalid constructs” or “software shouldn’t be able to be patented” or “software patents are a huge drag on innovation”, I was told by many people (lawyers, journalists, patent trolls, and other VCs) that while I might be right, no other venture capitalist would ag
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
People with a victim mentality should never be entrepreneurs. We all know the role of starting and running a business is unpredictable, and has a high risk of failure. For people with a victim mentality, this fear of failure alone will almost certainly make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m sure you all know someone who is the perennial victim. The problem is that most of these people aren’t likely to accept your assessment, so it’s hard to help them.
Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
This is the fourth article in a series on Positive Change. My goal with this series is to give you the tools necessary to manifest positive change in your reality, or simply put, to get what you want and eliminate what you don’t want in your life. Before you read this article, make sure you read the first three in the series in this order – Is It Really Possible To Create The Change You Want In Your Life?
This is going to be BIG.
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
I generally like NYC City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. I think she's smart, hardworking, and I think she'd probably make a good mayor someday. However, her take on the NYC innovation economy during her recent State of the City Address confirmed my thinking: Most of what the NYC government should be doing to support technology entrepreneurship in NYC is to try and stay out of the way.
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
If you are a long time reader of this blog, you know that I’m a huge believer that the way we interact with computers in 20 years will be radically different than how we interact with them today. I’ve put my money where my mouth is as Foundry Group has invested in a number of companies around human computer interaction , including Oblong. For the past few years, every time someone talks about next generation user interfaces, a reference to the movie Minority Report pops up.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
Even though it has been a long haul, it’s nice to see some optimism on the horizon for 2010. Just yesterday, a new study “ U.S. Small Business Outlook 2010: Lessons Learned – A Case for Greater Optimism ,” was published by CIT Group, Inc., in conjunction with Forbes Insights. It shows that small business owners feel more confident and better positioned than ever.
Berkonomics
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I have stated previously that I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses. Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. . Let me tell you a short story at my own expense. In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons,
crowdSPRING Blog
FEBRUARY 15, 2010
Well today is Valentines Day and, being the tool that I am, I’m sitting at the computer writing tomorrow’s post. Like many startup entrepreneurs I gave up much to follow the dream, and friends and family have definitely taken a hit. Ross and I work seven day weeks, have little vacation time, and have essentially given up any semblance of a social life in favor of building the company and pushing it to success.
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 14, 2010
Megan Sweeney , the awesome person who put together the TechStars Founders video series , put up a beautiful video of her golden retriever Owen explaining his Rules of Love. Owen’s rules of love are (1) Don’t limit your love, (2) Let yourself be loved, and (3) Never give up. Good lessons for all human beings. Now, while I know it’s Valentine’s Day (and I’ll behave appropriately), I am very much looking forward to Valentine’s Day for Guys which happens in a month.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 15, 2010
To be an entrepreneur, you have to be navigate lots of unknowns, and the path is fraught with risk. Once you are past a certain mental age, you know too many of the things that can go wrong, so you never start. Sort of like the old saying that if we didn’t have young men to fight our wars, we could achieve world peace in no time. People who are young, or young at heart, don’t know all the negatives, or don’t worry about them.
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