Tag: entrepreneurship

The whole point of suggestions is that *you* choose whether to follow them

by Chris Yeh

When you’re an entrepreneur, you’ll hear lots of suggestions.  These suggestions may come from co-founders, employees, investors, customers, friends, relatives, cab drivers, and so on. One rookie mistake is to rush to follow others’ suggestions, especially when those others are rich, powerful, experienced, or all three. It’s very tempting to follow the suggestions of the … Continue reading The whole point of suggestions is that *you* choose whether to follow them

Get the big rocks rolling

by Chris Yeh

You’ve probably heard the parable of “put the big rocks first”: http://bit.ly/17RwBxG The point of “big rocks” is that you need to fit the stones and pebbles in your life around the big rocks, rather than vice versa. I’d like to propose a corollary of “put the big rocks first.”  I call it, “Get the … Continue reading Get the big rocks rolling

Don’t fight battles you can’t win

by Chris Yeh

One of the most important lessons an entrepreneur needs to learn is to avoid fighting battles your startup can’t win. I like to make this point with entrepreneurs by sharing a funny story from my life.  When I first met my wife (I won’t share the year, for fear of comments like, “Wow, that’s the … Continue reading Don’t fight battles you can’t win

Why is coaching rewarded in sports (but not in the startup world)?

by Chris Yeh

One of the sports rumors from the weekend is that the Los Angeles Clippers are going to make a trade with the Boston Celtics to acquire their coach, Doc Rivers. Yes, that’s not a misprint.  The Clippers would trade players to the Celtics in order to acquire a coach. This has actually been done before; … Continue reading Why is coaching rewarded in sports (but not in the startup world)?

Are you getting good “At Bats”?

by Chris Yeh

One of my more quixotic quests is my ongoing habit of blogging about what the startup world can learn from the sports world.  As I’ve noted before, the founders of Silicon Valley seem to take a perverse delight in their ignorance of sports, which they probably view as the purview of the jocks who gave … Continue reading Are you getting good “At Bats”?

Silicon Valley: The “Ultimate Meritocracy”

by Chris Yeh

My fellow denizens of Silicon Valley are fond of referring to our happy little ecosystem as the ultimate meritocracy.  It’s definitely true that in comparison to the rigid and/or corrupt regimes that prevail in other industries and geographies, Silicon Valley is a meritocracy, but it is far from perfect. I often joke with the female/minority/over-30 … Continue reading Silicon Valley: The “Ultimate Meritocracy”

What every investor thinks about your startup…but isn’t willing to say

by Chris Yeh

I loved Sam Altman’s post on 95 pieces of great startup advice: http://bit.ly/17RlyVt The whole piece is a must-read for entrepreneurs, but I want to highlight one particular item: “9. In the current pivot-happy world, good ideas are underweight.  It’s worth the time to think through a good one.” I’ve discussed this point with a … Continue reading What every investor thinks about your startup…but isn’t willing to say

The real reason it’s hard for entrepreneurs to say goodbye to B2C

by Chris Yeh

I enjoyed Noah Glass’ guest post on pivoting his startup from B2C GoMobo.com to B2B OLO.  His story has a ton of good lessons about how to successfully make the transition, but it’s the psychology of leaving the consumer market that interests me: http://bit.ly/11Sh7p4 “What followed was a soul-searching period in my life as a … Continue reading The real reason it’s hard for entrepreneurs to say goodbye to B2C

Stop lying to yourself

by Chris Yeh

When I was a kid, I studied the violin. (I know, quite a shocker for a Chinese-American kid growing up in the 1980s) My violin teacher made me keep a practice log.  I was supposed to practice for 30 minutes per day.  For each 30 minutes I practiced, I got a token which let me … Continue reading Stop lying to yourself

A Tale Of Two Americas (and a failure of imagination)

by Chris Yeh

I really enjoyed this recent rant that appeared in the MIT Entrepreneurship Review, “The Unexotic Underclass”: http://bit.ly/11oslgw The editorialist, C.Z. Nnaemeka writes eloquently and movingly about Silicon Valley entrepreneurs’ tendency to focus on a target market that resembles that of a Hollywood sitcom: Young, white, and improbably blessed with money and free time. “Those who … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Americas (and a failure of imagination)