Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

In this model, you take some fraction of the lifetime value of each customer and plow that back into paid acquisition through SEM, banner ads, PR, affiliates, etc. For eBay, this is caused by the incredible network effects of their business (so-called demand-side increasing returns and supply-side increasing returns).

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Very useful perspective - as a first-time CEO managing a small startup, these ideas are timely and thought-provoking. For example, one angel investor reportedly invested in several hundred social networking ventures employing this philosophy. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

Customers found it confusing and it turned out to be at odds with our fundamental value proposition (which really requires an independant IM network). Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Unfortunately, positioning our product as an "IM add-on" was a complete mistake. Talk about waste.

Customer Development 131

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

This was 2004, and we had never even heard of MySpace, let alone had any understanding of social networking. It required hearing customers say it over and over again for us to take a serious look, and eventually to realize that social networking was core to our business. But the early customers all compared it to MySpace.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Pick a similar product that they do use, and ask them "who was the first person you know who started using [social networking, mobile phones, plasma TV, instant messaging.]? Like gmlk, I usually subscribe the first time I find something useful. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 133

The Next Web

JANUARY 24, 2014

To put it into management speak, our digital infrastructure is world-class. We are the most active Twitter country in the world (measured by tweets per account) and the third most socially networked. We have great intellectual property protection, and have efficient ways to enforce contracts. A top-notch infrastructure.

Netherlands 143

Netherlands Technical Review Stock Silicon Valley 143

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. 8220; His three things (worth reading his whole post anyway) are set vision/strategy and communicate broadly, recruit/hire/retain top talent, and make sure there’s enough cash in the bank. It’s great advice.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191