Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
We live in an age that values the timely. We race to tweet or post, to catch the continuous wave of conversation that runs 24/7/365. The rewards of timeliness are great; it allows us to influence and persuade. It burns like a firework, lighting up the sky. But in our haste to live a real-time … Continue reading Timely and Timeless
Most entrepreneurs focus on expanding the envelope of possibility. They love to tell me about potential applications of their technology and new markets that could use it. Their goal is to expand the envelope of possibility. Expanding the envelope is critical. Startups begin with nothing; only by expanding the envelope of possibility can they succeed. … Continue reading You need to shape the envelope of possibility
Why do startups succeed? They have fewer people. They have fewer resources. They have less brand recognition. Most founders are smart, but incumbents have smart people too. That’s usually how they became incumbents. The answer, and your startup’s fundamental advantage is tempo. We usually call it speed or agility, but speed and agility are capabilities, … Continue reading Your startup’s advantage is tempo
It’s not that complicated to build a success startup. Just build a profitable business while spending as little as possible. It’s not complicated, but it’s hard. I recently saw the news that Yahoo! had bought Xobni. Xobni was a noble attempt to tackle the email overload problem (xobni = inbox backwards). According to the stories … Continue reading Build a profitable business while spending as little as possible (the lesson of Xobni)
I’m a big fan of to-do lists, but I’ve noticed something about them. If I have too few to-dos, I’m not really productive because I’m still trying to keep all my tasks in my head. If I have too many to-dos, I’m not really productive because I’m getting to far down in the weeds, and … Continue reading The bell-curve of to-do list productivity (and how to manage it)
I recently finished reading/listening to Atul Gawande’s “Checklist Manifesto,” the 2009 bestseller about using checklists in medicine, construction, and air travel. Gawande’s book argues that the incredible complexity of modern endeavors such as building a $100 million skyscraper, flying a jumbo jet, or performing open heart surgery is best managed using simple checklists. For example, … Continue reading Checklists make sure you ask the right questions
There’s one school of thought that tries to paint VCs as the enemy of the entrepreneur. The VC-haters cite a litany of evidence, ranging from the tendency of VCs to turf out founders to the pressure they put on startups to scale prematurely. There is no doubt that VCs–like the rest of us–make mistakes. But … Continue reading Why (it seems like) all VCs are assholes
The rise of the startup accelerators has given many the impression that you can mass-produce startups. 500 Startups has invested in 450 companies. Y Combinator has graduated 567 startups. Every demo day, the startups and their pitches get more polished. But the problem with mass production is that it causes entrepreneurs to focus on the … Continue reading You can’t mass-produce startups
Most entrepreneurs are control freaks. That’s not a bad things. When you’re a 1- or 2-person company, and when you want to create a great product, you need the person in charge to really sweat the small stuff. The problem arises as the organization increases in size. Soon, other people are talking with customers, writing … Continue reading It’s easier to push the big picture to the frontlines than to feed details to headquarters
Judd Apatow is probably the most influential person in the movie industry today. Thanks to a string of hits that he directed or produced, like Old School, Wedding Crashers, Superbad, and Bridesmaids, his brand of comedy has become the dominant school. So given his success, you’d think that Apatow would rely on his billion-dollar comedy … Continue reading You’re not your audience