Both Sides of the Table
JULY 16, 2010
Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. Here’s my take: 1. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. 2.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
JULY 12, 2010
This is part 1 of the series: 5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches. Listening to first-time entrepreneurs talk about their competitive advantages is as predictably invalid as the local weatherman's 10-day forecast. Between this blog and reviewing applications to Capital Factory I see hundreds of pitches a year. Every pitch has a section on competitive advantages, and quite literally 95% of the time the claimed competitive advantages are pathetic, unoriginal, and not really advantages at all.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
SoCal CTO
JULY 13, 2010
Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. Here are the top 30 along with a brief snippet from the post. 10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conferenc
deal architect
JULY 12, 2010
Abbie Lundberg, former editor-in-chief at CIO magazine in her review of my book, The New Polymath called it a “veritable firehose of innovation examples”. The book covers wide innovation ground across industries, countries and technologies.
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
JULY 14, 2010
Yesterday I wrote a post about top-down versus bottom-up thinking. There is a corollary to that advice, which is “doing the right things is more important than doing things right.&# Sounds simple but in practice I promise you most organization fall into the latter trap. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
JULY 11, 2010
I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Most were on paper and video; 20 were invited to pitch in person. Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error. Those who avoided just one of those errors stood out in the crowd. These are problems with the business concept or the founder's attitude, not specific to raising angel money.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
crowdSPRING Blog
JULY 14, 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 logo design , web 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!
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 12, 2010
There’s a famous line about consultants that clients love to repeat, “consultants take your watch and then tell you the time.&#. I suppose there’s some truth to that but of course it’s an over simplification. I used to work for Andersen Consulting (for > 8 years) – mostly building computer systems for large companies in the fixed telecoms, mobile and Internet sectors.
Occam's Razor
JULY 12, 2010
Stale. One thing that I never want to be. We all have a tendency to learn up to a point, we get comfortable and keep chugging along rarely investing in our ongoing education. I call it the slow but sure path to irrelevancy. Let me share my prescription for avoiding irrelevancy: Try new things. Simple right? At any given time I have six or seven interesting tools running on this website.
Austin Startup
JULY 12, 2010
Andy Meadows is the founder and CEO of Bearhug , an Austin-based customer engagement platform launching today. He is focused on delivering real business value by educating clients about the latest proven technologies, strategies that deliver improved profits and operational efficiencies, and using technology to improve life. Customer Care Today. 37signals’ dustup with GetSatisfaction almost 2 years ago now for bullying marketing tactics is still cited as an example of how, especially when it com
crowdSPRING Blog
JULY 14, 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! The Legal Risks And Dangers Of $99 Logo Stores – [link].
Ben's Blog
JULY 13, 2010
Music orientated so when hip-hop was originated. Fitted like pieces of puzzles, complicated. –Rakim. As former founder and CEO of Loudcloud, one of the original cloud computing companies, I am considered somewhat of a domain expert in all things “cloud.” Combine that with cloud being one of the hottest areas of new development and the most overloaded term in technology (well, maybe “real time” is more overloaded, not sure) and I have probably seen more new cloud companies than any other variety.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 13, 2010
For the first 5 years of my career I was a “bottom up&# thinker and worker. I assembled tons of data, grouped things, found results and drew conclusions. It was difficult to make the transition to a “top down&# thinker but as a senior executive – and as an entrepreneur – you’re far less effective without this skill in your arsenal.
Austin Startup
JULY 15, 2010
We’re throwing our summer happy hour at The Dogwood (formerly Mother Egan’s) and we’d like to invite you to come out and join us and the rest of the Austin technology community. There has been a lot of things going on around town, including new funding, acquisitions, and new technology leadership all across the community. What better time to come on out, bring your friends, and enjoy a fun and relaxing happy hour, courtesy of our sponsor BountyJobs.
crowdSPRING Blog
JULY 12, 2010
It’s been over a year since I last updated the community on our efforts to build a world-class customer service organization. We are committed to providing great support and doing it in a timely, polite, and efficient manner. Since we launched in May of 2008 we have provided customer service via our online Help Center, our help desk software via the Contact Us form available anywhere on the site (word to our friends at Zendesk !
Software By Rob
JULY 15, 2010
Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← A Micropreneur Blueprint: How to Stay Solo, Bleed Passion, and Build Products that Matter Book Review: Never Eat Alone → Lessons Learned Taking Parental Leave as a Solo Entrepreneur Micropreneurship , Startups If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.
Sophia Perl of Wisdom
JULY 13, 2010
I don’t know about you, but it seems that a lot of my employed and non-employed friends are interviewing like crazy. The job economy is definitely picking up. To help you with your season’s greetings, here are some tips from my friends with my two cents. If you’re applying for a technical position, spend some time reviewing relevant topics and coding exercises (e.g., databases, data structures, networking, etc.).
Austin Startup
JULY 13, 2010
LiveOffice, the number-one provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) email archiving, email compliance and email continuity solutions and Socialware , the leader in helping companies manage, embrace and leverage public social networks, today announced a partnership. Together the companies will provide LiveOffice users with the ability to pre-review and route social networking activity through their existing compliance workflow within LiveOffice AdvisorMail, while automating social media policy th
crowdSPRING Blog
JULY 12, 2010
It’s been over a year since I last updated the community on our efforts to build a world-class customer service organization. We are committed to providing great support and doing it in a timely, polite, and efficient manner. Since we launched in May of 2008 we have provided customer service via our online Help Center, our help desk software via the Contact Us form available anywhere on the site (word to our friends at Zendesk !
Software By Rob
JULY 13, 2010
Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← Why You Should Build Your Startup to Sell (But Not to Flip) Lessons Learned Taking Parental Leave as a Solo Entrepreneur → A Micropreneur Blueprint: How to Stay Solo, Bleed Passion, and Build Products that Matter Uncategorized If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.
deal architect
JULY 16, 2010
A stone's throw from historic Trinity College in a place appropriately called the Library Bar we convened. You could feel the ghosts of Joyce and Yeats and Shaw and Goldsmith in the hallways. Dublin's glorious literary history provided a nice.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 11, 2010
[if you're not old enough to get the reference between this image and the title you can click on the image for a prompter]. This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. One of the meetings I had (organized by my good friend Jeff Yolen ) was with New Atlantic Ventures held the at the CIC, aka the Cambridge Innovation Center (no prizes for guessing where it’s located).
Steve Blank
JULY 15, 2010
If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Here’s why. The Golden Age for Entrepreneurs and VC’s.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 16, 2010
If you expect to succeed in the thrill-a-minute, roller coaster ride of a startup, let me assure you it takes more than a good idea, a rich uncle, and luck. In fact, the idea is often the least important part of the equation. Investors tell me that they look at the people first, the business plan second, and only then at the idea. If you want some tips to beat the insurmountable odds, take a look at the following concepts, adapted from Richard C.
deal architect
JULY 12, 2010
In the “social” chapter in my new book, I was honored to have Paul Greenberg talk about the social customer and the fact that he/she increasingly “controls the conversation”. He succinctly talked about “customer referral value” versus “customer lifetime value”. Tags: Industry Commentary.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 10, 2010
This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice). For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to
Steve Blank
JULY 12, 2010
I started working when I was 14 (I lied about my age) and counting four years in the Air Force I’ve worked in 12 jobs. I left each one of them when I was bored, ready to move on, got fired, or learned as much as I can. There was only one job that I quit when I feared for my life. Life Is Good. The Vietnam War had just ended and I was out of the Air Force back in college living in Ann Arbor Michigan.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 14, 2010
A few days ago I met a 26 year-old entrepreneur with an attitude that exemplifies what I believe it takes to succeed in this new economy and new world. After doing well as a teen in the jewelry business, he made his first big jump as an entrepreneur by buying a failing store to begin his entrepreneurial career, but quickly found that the road can be a rocky one.
deal architect
JULY 12, 2010
Consumer Reports says it cannot recommend the iPhone 4. No bowing to mighty Apple. And it reminded me how few such emphatic calls we have in tech. We don’t call BS on software quality – the torrent of Microsoft bugs. Tags: Industry Commentary.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 15, 2010
We started this week’s show with a Q&A session where I answered viewer questions about fund raising and the VC industry. If you enjoy this blog I think you’ll enjoy watching the first 14 minutes of this video (just click on the image of me below). Heck, stick around and watch me discuss the seed funding debate that is going on right now and what is happening in the VC industry overall.
Seeing Both Sides
JULY 15, 2010
There's a famous moment in 1970s television sitcom lore when the super-popular "Happy Days" lost its mojo. That moment is when the main character and hero, Arthur Fonzarelli ("The Fonze"), performs the improbable water-ski trick of jumping over a shark. Now, I'm an avid water-skiier, and I've been known to jump a Loon or two, but jumping over a shark is so absurd its laughable.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 15, 2010
Startups provide leadership in the market. Entrepreneurs provide leadership to their startup. There are many styles of leadership, like dictatorial, bureaucratic, and democratic. One that I will highlight here, which I believe is the most appropriate for startups, is called “servant” leadership. What is servant leadership? The servant leader serves the people they lead through mentoring, direct assistance, listening, and acting on their employees input.
deal architect
JULY 15, 2010
Courtesy of the hospitality of a number of European bloggers I am doing small book events in various cities over the next few days. Please join us in for innovation conversations and raffles for free copies of my book. 16th.
For Entrepreneurs
JULY 15, 2010
Almost every sales and marketing funnel has blockage points where the conversion rates are lower than hoped, or the process cannot be scaled. This blog post talks about how to solve those blockage points using an intense study of the customer's concerns, and brainstorming to see what motivations can be used to over come the friction that comes from these concerns.
Rembrandt Communications
JULY 14, 2010
You have your business up and running and are ready to announce it to the world. Hold on! Before you send out that press release letting everyone know about your services, there are three things to keep in mind: 1. Is your site ready? If people see your press release and visit your site, what [.].
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 12, 2010
A few months ago I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Roy McAlister, who has been a prolific inventor for thirty years, and a recognized authority on the use of hydrogen as the ‘fuel’ of the 21 st century. While he still remains upbeat, I can sense the frustration that comes from years of facing barriers to innovation. In his world, and many others that entrepreneurs inhabit, the problem is not a lack of ideas or technology.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
311 
Let's personalize your content