Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
After bailing a couple of times in the past, I finally made it to one of Dave McClure’s Startup2Startup dinners. Very interesting format–what makes it work is the fact that Dave imposes a high quality filter on attendees, and that the usual talk is supplemented by a table discussion. Tonight’s guests were Matt and Toni … Continue reading Startup2Startup: 7 Rules for Open Source Businesses
“Every startup ends up in the ICU at least once, and pays a visit to the emergency room at least once a year.” —Beth Seidenberg, Kleiner Perkins
I was recently contacted by a new startup that’s doing very cool things in the investing/finance space. I’ve seen a demo, and while I can’t tell you what it is, it blows the kind of information available on Yahoo and Google Finance out of the water. Truly innovative stuff. They’ve got a great team from … Continue reading Cool Investing/Finance Site Looking for Internet Marketer
Whenever a boom comes around, I read articles about how it’s dangerous to be too cheap and too cautious. One saying I learned during the last boom was “You can’t save your way to prosperity.” Maybe. But as you start to hear the siren song of profligacy (last time, we called it “Get Big Fast”), … Continue reading In Praise of Capital Efficiency: How Being A Cheap Bastard Leads To Startup Success
One clear way to distinguish between a good organization and a bad one is to look at how it handles disagreement. The mark of a good organization is that disagreement leads to improvements in the business. The mark of a poor organization is that disagreement leads to a worsening in the business. In the chaos … Continue reading The Difference Between How Good and Bad Organizations Handle Disagreements
Entrepreneurs are often very independent. You generally don’t choose the risks and pains of starting a company unless you’re pretty dead set against having a boss tell you what to do. But don’t let this independence blind you to other perspectives. I recently worked with a great team of young entrepreneurs. They had done a … Continue reading Your Hard is Another’s Easy
I was talking with my friend Penelope Trunk (side note: BUY HER BOOK, like everything else about her, it’s great), who encouraged me to post a few of the tidbits I shared. Thank you, Penelope. I work a lot with young entrepreneurs, which means that I work with a lot of first-time entrepreneurs. Some of … Continue reading Long-term Perspectives for Young Entrepreneurs