On Wed Nov. 30 from 6-8pm, we are brainstorming with some folks about forming a mastermind group for technology firms. We want to take stock and evaluate what will impact our bottom line. Join us for the upcoming Open House. Bring your 2012 plans and let’s brainstorm on what this mastermind meetup could be. If […]
Mastermind Group Open House Wed-Nov-30 in Sunnyvale Read More »
Innovative user interfaces have helped a number of products get adopted. These are three examples–interview, treemap, and tornado chart–may help to stimulate your thinking.
Better Interfaces: Interview, Treemap, Tornado Chart Read More »
Reflections at Thanksgiving 2011: in the second half of my life, it’s time to appreciate all that I have and be more forthcoming in my gratitude to others.
You waste time and reputation using these methods for B2B customer discovery: surveys, landing pages, and asking for endorsement before product experience.
Pictures Are to Words as Conversations are to Surveys Read More »
Do your shopping on-line and avoid the crowds, then drop by the Bootstrappers Breakfast® in Mountain View this Friday at 9am at Red Rock Coffee. We will be upstairs in our usual location in the corner to the left of the staircase. A Bootstrappers Breakfast allows you to Take part in a serious roundtable conversation among
Start Black Friday at the Bootstrappers Breakfast in Mountain View Read More »
We have two bootstrappers as panelists for Wednesday’s Business Book Club webinar on Seth Godin’s Bootstrapper’s Manifesto. Neal Tovsen, founder of TelemetryWeb.com Neal’s fifteen years of professional experience have focused on the architecture, design, and end-to-end development of highly available, distributed, scalable, software-as-a-service platforms. His understanding of how to integrate sensor networks, remote monitoring, and
Panelists Announced for Bootstrapper’s Manifesto Book Club Webinar Read More »
On Veterans Day 2011 we honor those who have served in the military and lived: thanks for putting your life on the line for all the things we hold dear.
In Seth Godin’s “Bootstrapper Bible” he has this short manifesto that really is worth reading periodically. We will be discussing this at next week’s Book Club for Business Impact with several bootstrappers: I am a bootstrapper. I have initiative and insight and guts, but not much money. I will succeed because my efforts and my
Seth Godin’s “Bootstrapper’s Manifesto” Read More »
Perfectionism vs. Mastery Mastery’s great accomplishments require time and a willingness to release a sequence of prototypes. Perfectionism means you don’t ship until it’s perfect. Which means you never ship or what you ship has not learned from problems or needs that only visible post deployment. Randall Munroe’s “The General Problem” embeds this observation: “I
Perfectionism vs. Mastery Read More »
A few thoughts on customer interviews and why their capacity to surprise us makes them preferable to surveys and landing pages for early market exploration.
Customer Interviews: Allow Yourself to Be Surprised Read More »
I came across an interesting tool this week in the collaboration area. The web page invited me to apply for membership, prompting me to enter my e-mail, twitter handle, blog, and a brief bio. But they were “purposefully vague’ about who they were. It wasn’t exactly stealth mode, more like maintaining deniability if it failed
Stay Tuned! We Are Being Purposefully Vague Right Now Read More »
Geva Solomonowich, an early employee at Fraud Sciences and several other startups joins us tomorrow to share lessons learned getting early customers and growing the business. Francis Adanza interviewed him on the Bootstrapper Breakfast blog in mid-October, here are some excerpts: Francis: Prior to Fraud Sciences, what were you doing? Geva: Before Fraud Sciences I
Geva Solomonovich of Fraud Sciences at Fri-Nov-4 BB Read More »
Align your startup with a higher purpose to sustain motivation. Avoid “entrepreneurial lifestyle” and startup mythology: build a going concern.
The Startup Mythology of Silicon Valley Read More »
You can follow @skmurphy to get them hot off the mojo wire or wait until the end of the month when these quotes for entrepreneurs are collected on the blog. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–October 2011 Read More »
I watched the Grey Fox recently as was struck by two pieces of dialog. Richard Farnsworth plays Bill Miner, “the Grey Fox” a train robber and “gentleman bandit.” When asked by another ex-convict to take up robbing banks instead of robbing trains he answers: Bill Miner: “A professional always specializes.” I first heard this
A Professional Always Specializes Read More »
This originally appeared in EETimes on-line as “Eric Deal bounces back from a startup shutdown to establish Cyclic Design” on Dec-20-2010. I met Eric Deal, president of Cyclic Design, through the IEEE Consulting Network of Silicon Valley and was impressed by his energy and enthusiasm in bouncing back from one failed startup to begin a
Founder Story: Eric Deal, Cyclic Design Read More »
Our “Book Club For Business Impact” promises actionable insights for entrepreneurs and change agents, drawn from the panelist’s experience and informed by the book’s content. Dave Stubenvoll, CEO of Wowza Media, joins the discussion of Amar Bhide‘s “Origin and Evolution of New Business” this Wednesday October 26 at Noon PDT. Click http://skmbhide111026.eventbrite.com/?discount=WowzaMedia to attend at
Dave Stubenvoll Guest for “Origin & Evolution of New Business” Oct-26-2011 Read More »
This interview originally ran Nov-4-2010 at “Docea Power Successfully Bootstraps As a New EDA Player.” I had a chance to catch up with Ghislain Kaiser, CEO of Docea Power, a promising new startup based in France. Their product, Aceplorer, has been gaining increasing acceptance in the power and thermal management space. Ghislain was kind enough
Founder Story: Ghislain Kaiser, Docea Power Read More »
An interview with Paul van Besouw, the founder and CEO of Oasys Design System, explores lessons learned from his entrepreneurial efforts at Ambit and Oasys.
Founder Story: Paul van Besouw, Oasys Design Systems Read More »
In a blog post last October entitled “Entrepreneurship as a Science – The Business Model/Customer Development Stack” Steve Blank suggested Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur defined a business model as how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. More importantly they showed how any company’s business model could be defined in 9 boxes. It’s an
Business Model Representations Read More »
