Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
As you know, I’m a big advocate of working on the culture of your startup. The instant you start your company, you’re starting to build the culture, and the decisions you make in the garage days are likely to reverberate for years to come, even if your company grows by orders of magnitude. But far … Continue reading Culture is never neutral
I love Silicon Valley. It’s a phenomenal place that I’ve chosen to make my personal and professional home. It’s brought me success (whatever that is) and happiness. But I understand its limitations, and don’t have a problem talking about them. It is an echo chamber, whose brainstorms don’t always “take” elsewhere. Just ask all those … Continue reading Silicon Valley is awesome (but it isn’t the answer to every problem)
I recently read a Washington Post editorial by Francisco Dao, “The terrifying rise of the political entrepreneur”: http://wapo.st/13WViC5 Dao argues that we’ve seen the rise of a new breed of entrepreneurs, who manage to be successful despite not building real businesses: “There seems to be a new breed of entrepreneurs whose greatest skill is playing … Continue reading Why I’m not worried about “political entrepreneurs”
I was struck and touched by a recent post I read by entrepreneur Chris Granger, who wrote movingly about dealing with his mother’s partner’s terminal cancer, and trying to build a company at the same time: http://bit.ly/13TKS9B “And this is the stark truth of startups: you are the last and only line of defense against … Continue reading Once you take everything away, what’s left?
Superstar science author Steven Johnson (I’m a big fan of his book, “Where Good Ideas Come From“) recently wrote a critique of claims that Silicon Valley is turning into Gilded Age America–a land of unfathomably rich oligarchs that are oblivious to the poverty around them: http://bit.ly/11ouEWF Johnson points out that the Valley’s love of open … Continue reading Silicon Valley isn’t about the money…it’s about the money
Here in Silicon Valley, we love to focus on “sustainable competitive advantage.” We talk of moats, barriers to entry, and lock-in. If a product is “addictive,” that’s considered a good thing. The highest praise is to be compared with crack cocaine. It’s not a pretty picture. I would argue that loyalty comes from listening, not … Continue reading Consumer loyalty comes from listening, not lock-in
One of my favorite movies when I was growing up was the 1984 classic, “Revenge of the Nerds.” If you haven’t watched it yet, take two hours to do so–yes, it’s available on Netflix: The movie really spoke to me–a guy so nerdy that the kids at my private school for gifted children nicknamed me … Continue reading The rise of the bros, and the fall of the geeks
One of the people who commented on my recent post on sexism in high tech made a very good point. Beth noted, “What’s our take away. What do we want, exactly? It’d be easier to speak to both sides if we had a clear objective.” I’m far from an expert on effecting social change. In … Continue reading 2 Concrete Steps To Combat Sexism At Tech Conferences
The big topic of discussion today is the fallout from the PyCon conference. At the conference, former Adria Richards, who, at the time, worked in developer relations for SendGrid, heard two conference attendees behind her making jokes about “forking” and “dongles” in the sort of juvenile way that often happens in the tech industry. Richards … Continue reading Sexism in tech is like an onion–it has many layers and makes people cry
Today I had the great fortune and privilege to meet Bob Teichner, age 100. Bob took an “early” retirement package from HP in 2000, when he was 87. I happened to meet his daughter, Andrea, while we were walking our dogs, and struck up a conversation. When I found out about her dad’s history, I … Continue reading Life lessons in entrepreneurship from a 100-year-old man