Sean Murphy

Venkatesh Rao Thought Provoking on Tempo at Bootstrapper Breakfast

Books, Events, skmurphy / By /

We had Venkatesh Rao, author of “Tempo“, and blogger at RibbonFarm as  guest at today’s Bootstrapper Breakfast. He has had an eclectic career: between 1997 and 2011, he pursued a traditional research/entrepreneurial career (a PhD, a postdoc, a startup, and an industrial R&D lab where among other things, he founded trailmeme.com as Entrenrepeur-in-Residence at Xerox). […]

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Tony Schwartz’s Principles For Fiercely Complex Times

Rules of Thumb, skmurphy / By /

Tony Schwartz offers “Ten Principles For Living in Fiercely Complex Times” that  you can “rely on to make choices that reflect openness, integrity and authenticity.” Here are the top three for me: “Emotions are contagious, so it pays to know what you’re feeling.” Tony Schwartz One of the balancing acts of entrepreneurship is control vs.

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Narrative Rationality: Be Mindful Of Your Self-Description

3 Early Customer Stage, 4 Finding your Niche, skmurphy / By /

Pay attention to self-description: the story you tell yourself and about yourself. Cultivate productive habits that don’t require conscious decisions. “It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise

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It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC

2 Open for Business Stage, 5 Scaling Up Stage, Funding / By /

It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC From Hillel Cooperman‘s  “Bootstrapped vs. VC Funded–Who is Likely to Make the Most Money?” I bet that founders of bootstraps end up earning more money over the long haul out of their businesses than founders of venture-backed firms. The rare IPO may spike the numbers in the other direction, but

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A Simple Sales Schema

skmurphy / By /

A schema is a conceptual model that offers an organizing principle for how business buyers evaluate and purchase. The challenge is to match your sales effort to where they are in the process. Doug Hall’s Three Laws of Marketing Physics Jerry Weissman’s Power Presentations John Boyd’s OODA Loop Simple Schema 1. Overt Benefit Understand Observe

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Reminder: Book Club July 13 Community of Practice

skmurphy / By /

The Book Club for Business Impact looks at “Communities of Practice” Wed-Jul-13 from Noon to 1pm PDT. I think the key difference between social networks, communities of interest, and communities of practice is that a community of practice has a focus on shared learning. Entrepreneurs of all sorts should consider taking part in communities of

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When Do I Need a Model? I am Bootstrapping

1 Idea Stage, 2 Open for Business Stage, skmurphy / By /

I have condensed this from a recent series of conversation with bootstrapping entrepreneur. I thought it captured many of the key questions that you need to be consider once you are “open for business.” Bootstrapping  Entrepreneur: I am just getting started on a new project. I have several advisors and one has suggested that I

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Find A Peer Group Who is Interested In What You Have To Say

Community of Practice, skmurphy / By /

Humiliation “My own view is,” I began, but no one listened. At the next pause, “I always say,” I remarked, but again the loud talk went on. Someone told a story. When the laughter had ended, “I often think—”; but looking round the table I could catch no friendly or attentive eye. It was humiliating,

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Look Forward

skmurphy / By /

Stonehenge They sit there forever on the dim horizon of my mind, that Stonehenge circle of elderly disapproving Faces—Faces of the Uncles and Schoolmasters and Tutors who frowned on my youth. In the bright center and sunlight I leap, I caper, I dance my dance; but when I look up, I see they are not

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SKMurphy, Inc. 8 Years In: What We Are Working On Now

Clients in the News, Customer Development, Sales, SKMurphy customer references, Testimonial / By /

Steve Blank: “Sean Murphy adds tremendous value for startups in setting them up “getting out of the building” and how to make sense of the data they’ve gathered. He’s one consultant I personally know (I’m sure there are others) who doesn’t confuse his role with the founders. I think of his consulting firm as a

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