Over the last decade we assumed that once we found repeatable methodologies (Agile and Customer Development , Business Model Design) to build early stage ventures, entrepreneurship would become a “science,” and anyone could do it. Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not. MORE >>

This series of posts are going to offer a new three-stage model of how startups grow into large companies. Instead each is a unique stage of development with distinctive behavior, modes of thinking, physiology and more. Let’s take a closer look at the first two of these stages. Stage 1: The Scalable Startup. Summary. MORE >>

I had coffee with an ex student earlier in the week that reminded me yet again why startups burn through so many early VP’s. And agile enough to deal with daily change, operating “without a map”. The early hire he needed to help him run Customer Validation and Pivots has a very different skill set and job spec. MORE >>

Second, in an early stage startup, the product manager role is most appropriately played by the CEO or one of the founders (see [link] ). For many teams, the contribution of the product manager is not at all clear. However, to some the backlog may just appear as a simple list of user stories. Sadly, in many teams, they are right. MORE >>

don’t like distributed development teams in early stage businesses. I often advise these CEOs to make the tough choices early in the company’s history – either move up North or build your tech team in LA. prefer that early stage companies not offshore development. Conventional wisdom is wrong. MORE >>