SoCal CTO
JUNE 9, 2010
Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 6, 2010
The ability to ask questions effectively is one of the most important skills in business as is the ability to actively listen. Yet as important as these two skills are they really don’t seem to ever be taught in school. I wonder if more college students ought to take a journalism course for a semester or do an internship at their school newspaper in investigative reporting.
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Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 6, 2010
Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t invest in non-profits. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. Yet I still get this question on a regular basis, so I’ll try to outline the considerations in common-sense terms. A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals.
mashable.com
JUNE 8, 2010
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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
Life Beyond Code
JUNE 7, 2010
There is an old saying – “don’t put a square peg in a round hole&# and it’s obvious why it is true – the square peg does not fit in a round hole!!!! Of course, nobody will try to use a square peg in a round hole. Not literally. Even if they do, they will fix that very quickly as there is an instant visual feedback. But businesses are different.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 8, 2010
I’m typing this from the lawn of Alan Patricof’s “Greycroft” home in East Hampton – my first time in the Hamptons. Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. We learned this weekend that it was named after his East Hampton home. We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer deve
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Babbling VC
JUNE 10, 2010
I've been asked the question, mostly when on panels, of how to get access to VC's. So I thought instead of giving some non-specific advice, I'd simply explain how I found the deals I've done. Maybe this will give a better idea of how to get access to and interest from a VC. Note, I am focussing more on how to get the initial meeting and shortly thereafter.
Venture Chronicles
JUNE 8, 2010
Is social CRM a product category or a collection of strategies that social media consultants and analysts are pushing? That is the question I have been spending much time considering as of late. Clearly there are product components, most notably the customer community pieces that vendors like Get Satisfaction and UserVoice are offering (notice the Feedback widget to the left, I started my own VC community on Get Satisfaction!).
deal architect
JUNE 7, 2010
Apologies to Nick Carr for mangling the title of his new book, but every since I spent time in Niskayuna, NY in January I have been puzzled. I had visited the GE Global Research Center as part of my research. Tags: Industry Commentary.
Software By Rob
JUNE 11, 2010
Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← Don’t Plan to Get Rich from Your Startup Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) → Last Chance for the Pre-Launch Discount on the “Developer’s Guide to Launching a Startup&# Micropreneurship , Startups If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 5, 2010
A few months ago, I was quoted by a Wall Street Journal reporter in an article, the inverse of this one, titled “ The 7 Most Overrated Businesses ” (I said no more traffic-driven social networks, please). Several people suggested that it might be more productive to list some positive opportunities, rather than problems, so it’s time for me to take another look into the crystal ball.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
JUNE 10, 2010
I hate it when writers resort to dictionary definitions to make a point. "The New Oxford American Dictionary defines 'authentic' as 'relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.'. "So true, so true, and that's the perspective you must adopt to become adroit in social media.". Yeah? 'Cause from what I can tell "authentic" actually means "pretending to care about what other people think so that they'll mention you on Twitter.".
Feld Thoughts
JUNE 6, 2010
On the eve of re: Bilski, the anxiously awaited Supreme Court decision on business method patents (with potential implications for software patents), I decided to collaborate with the End Software Patents coalition and send out 200 copies of the short movie they recently produced called Patent Absurdity about why software should not be able to be patented to a focused list of key people.
VC Cafe
JUNE 10, 2010
C heck out this interesting video on the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace. I loved the illustrations of RSAnimation to the original talk given by Dan Pink. So, what motivates us? Hint: it’s not just the money… three factors lead to better performance and personal satisfaction: 1) Autonomy – the desire to be self directed (so many companies kill this with over-management). 2) Mastery – the urge to get better at stuff (“fun&#
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 8, 2010
With as many as 400 million blogs (web logs) now active on the Internet, how can you find and read the ones you need to be a leader in your business domain? I’m a speed reader, but that’s a challenge for even the best of us. Yet we know keeping up with the latest trends and techniques can make all the difference in ensuring that your business stands the test of time.
This is going to be BIG.
JUNE 8, 2010
Last week I went to a Girls in Tech talk about women entrepreneurs and venture capital. There was a comment made in the crowd about why women seem to lag men when it comes to networking. The comment, made by a female, was essentially that women look to build and rely on deeper relationships and are less likely to use their loose connections for networking.
Feld Thoughts
JUNE 6, 2010
I was in a meeting with Rich Miner from Google Ventures on Friday with some entrepreneurs we are working with on a potential investment. While the team isn’t a rookie team, they’ve never worked with VCs before and they’ve been wrestling around the dynamics of how to interact with the two VCs in the room (me and Rich) and the various angels that are part of the seed round we are planning to do.
Start Up Blog
JUNE 10, 2010
Recently the Victorian metropolitan train system has not been working very well. So much so that the incumbent Connex trains was sacked and replaced recently. It’s created an interesting example of how not to re-brand somethin g. And before I rant further, I’ll remind you of the startupblog definition of a brand: Brand: A cognitive shortcut from which informed decisions can be made.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 10, 2010
I’ve always wondered why every executive meeting has to be one hour in length, or longer. That’s probably a tenth of your day spent on one issue. It better be a critical one, because you have a hundred others waiting. I believe you can be much more productive, as well as a more effective leader, if you approach most meetings as mentoring opportunities, and limit them to five minutes.
Growthink Blog
JUNE 8, 2010
As an athlete for all of my youth, I was always a huge fan of John Wooden. Wooden, as you may recall, was the legendary UCLA basketball coach who won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period. No other college basketball coach has come close to achieving this feat. Wooden also wrote a powerful book called "The Pyramid of Success." The book showed his 15 building blocks for winning at basketball and in life.
Feld Thoughts
JUNE 8, 2010
One of my often quoted lines is that “fear is a useless emotion in business.” Sure – self doubt enters the picture on occasion and there are plenty of dark days, but why be fearful of anything? There’s just no value in it. Watch as some of the TechStars founders confront some new and exciting types of fear that includes some of Boulder’s majestic rocks. "Be Fearless.
The Startup Lawyer
JUNE 9, 2010
A startup’s Series A financing shouldn’t be a large liquidity event or salary payday for the startup’s founders. While a startup typically receives millions of dollars in a Series A, if too much of that $$$ flows guaranteed to the founders, various incentives get out of whack. Not all startup founders understand this tenet. Case Study.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 7, 2010
True leaders realize that, by definition, the word "leader" places one at the front and not the rear. Yet many, many executives try to lead through fear and intimidation. This isn’t really leading at all. It’s pushing. Those of you with time in the military probably understand this concept well. In startups, leading from the front means that you are not afraid to get your hands dirty, pitching in to get the job done.
crowdSPRING Blog
JUNE 9, 2010
Over the past year, I’ve been fortunate to talk with Tony Hsieh (Zappos CEO) and Alfred Lin (Zappos COO/CFO), about ways that Zappos grew its culture and its phenomenal customer service. Most people don’t know that Zappos had a very turbulent history when it was founded, or about the many personal sacrifices that Tony Hsieh (and early Zappos employees made) to help Zappos achieve such extraordinary success and $1 billion dollars in revenues in fewer than 10 years.
Feld Thoughts
JUNE 10, 2010
I’m in Washington DC again – this time to talk about innovation. I’ve been here three times in the past year – the first time was to hear Bilski at the Supreme Court in November and then I was back in March to talk about and promote the Startup Visa. Yesterday, Thomas Friedman article wrote another great OpEd about the topic titled A Gift for Grads: Start-Ups.
Up and Running
JUNE 10, 2010
This is a good list: 50 Top Startups Worth Watching at Louisgray.com. I’m amazed at how well known some of these are. Foursquare , for example, and Gist , DropBox , Bit.ly and Seesmic. And there are several I use every day, like Tweetdeck and Feedly. I was particularly happy to see Klout , #27 on the list, my personal favorite these days because it’s offering serious metrics for twitter users (my daughter works there).
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 11, 2010
Every startup wants to be a predictable success, yet so few ever achieve this enviable position. In reality, getting there is not a random walk, and requires an understanding of the stages that every business must navigate and the organizational characteristics necessary at each stage. Les McKeown, in his new book “ Predictable Success ” outlines these stages and characteristics for any business.
Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak
JUNE 8, 2010
I was rummaging around my apartment looking for my Canadian passport this week and came across a DVD recording of one of my presentations at an Andrew and Daryl Grant workshop. The focus of the workshop was quick cash ideas, and I was invited to tell my story of how I “flipped&# websites part time and made $180,000 in profit. I managed to take the content from the DVD and get it online for you to watch.
Feld Thoughts
JUNE 5, 2010
The video from the second panel I was on at Google I/O 2010 – Technology, innovation, computer science, & more: A VC panel – is up. Dick Costolo – the COO of Twitter – is the moderator and my fellow panelists are Albert Wenger, Chris Dixon, Dave McClure, and Paul Graham. Someone didn’t like the title so it was renamed “VCs Who Code” but apparently that didn’t stick with the official event panel namers.
Up and Running
JUNE 9, 2010
This happens all the time, but usually on a much smaller scale, so this story gets into headlines and serves as a reminder to all entrepreneurs. I read Why I Sold Zappos on Inc. Magazine’s website just two days after I posted Choose an Investor Like You Would a Spouse on this blog. And the Zappos story is a great example: if investors and entrepreneurs have conflicting goals, there’s going to be trouble.
Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook
JUNE 7, 2010
Walking down a street in North London last week, I spotted this chair in a store window. Ice cream for the eye! It had me wondering why we “hold back&# on color so much. I’ve often resisted the urge to wear colorful clothes for example. Why are we sometimes color restrained? And, what does this [.]. Tags: Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Creativity and Self-Expression Innovation Inspirational color Creativity forced association Gregg Fraley ideation london Motorola photography self
VC Adventure
JUNE 8, 2010
I had planned to title this post “If you have a data intensive business, don’t forget to look at your data.” But when I thought about, really all businesses are (or should be) data-intensive. And as a result all businesses should be obsessed with the data their systems generate. Measure. Track. Analyze. Adjust. Years ago I remember sitting in ServiceMagic board meetings when Rodney or Mike (the co-founders) would pull out a Blackberry and announce: “in the 45 minutes since this meeting began, we
Start Up Blog
JUNE 7, 2010
There’s quite a few bad words used in business and marketing. Words which quantify, extract and segment. They dehumanise business. I’d like to see them removed from our vernacular. Here’s two examples worth sharing. Target & Consumer. I prefer Audience and People and here’s why: A Target is something we aim for shoot at, maybe even kill.
Growthink Blog
JUNE 7, 2010
I have two close friends that are very much alike. They both grew up playing the same sports. They both look fairly alike. And they both went to the same college and got nearly the same grades. But one of them is now wildly successful, while the other is still sort of just getting by. I had my hunch regarding why they have achieved such different outcomes in their careers.
Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak
JUNE 10, 2010
Click here to download the audio-only MP3 [ 54 MB ]. This interview features Tyrone Shum , a serial entrepreneur from Sydney, who as you will hear considers himself a “generalist&#. I can tell you though, he’s good at one thing – copying me! I’ve had to laugh a few times when I’ve received emails from Tyrone (I’m on his newsletter ), and when I read them I notice the words are very familiar.
Up and Running
JUNE 7, 2010
Forget your economics 101 where they say low price means high volume. That’s for coal in the 1900s. In today’s world, low price means high volume only if you’re a capital-intensive location-intensive big business like McDonald’s, Costco, or Walmart. For the rest of us, especially the startups and the real-world small business, the high-value high-price strategy is far more likely to work.
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