Every few days I post a quotation on www.twitter.com/skmurphy that I think will be useful or thought provoking for entrepreneurs. On the last day of the month I collect all of these quotes for entrepreneurs into a blog post and add some context. For a list of all my blog posts that are related to […]
Quotes For Entrepreneurs – May 2009 Read More »
One of the challenges with customer development is that it involves not only formulating and testing hypotheses about your customer and their specific needs but also uncovering hidden assumptions that may be holding your team back. If you feel you’ve hit a brick wall in your efforts please sign up for a free teleconference session
Conference Call on Customer Development For Entrepreneurs Wed-Jun-3 Read More »
A personal memory of a cousin who died in Vietnam for Memorial Day 2009 commemorate those who died in the service of our country.
Co-founder and chief technical officer of Forte Design Systems, John Sanguinetti talks about his experience of turning an idea into a business. He was the principal architect of VCS, the Verilog Compiled Simulator, and was a major contributor to the Verilog’s resurgence in the design community. He has 15 publications and one patent. He also
Interview with John Sanguinetti Read More »
John Sanguinetti was the founder and CEO of Chronologic Simulation, a startup that developed a compiled code approach to Verilog simulation. I am working on an interview with John and came across a very interesting position statement he gave as a part of a panel at DAC 98 called “The EDA Startup Experience: The First
John Sanguinetti on an EDA Startup’s First Product Read More »
I had the good fortune to meet Chris Wensel last year at a Hadoop User Group meeting at Yahoo and I was immediately impressed by his ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts in cloud computing. His explanations were not “dumbed down” but flowed from a deep understanding he had gained using the technology to
Briefing on Cloud Computing Paradigms at IEEE-CNSV May 19 Read More »
Athol Foden of Brighter Naming is our guest speaker Friday May 8 for the Bootstrapper Breakfast™ at 7:30am at the Omega Restaurant in Milpitas. Athol has over 16 years of experience helping clients name companies, products, services, and taglines. Athol’s opening remarks will be followed by a question and answer session on developing the right
Athol Foden at Friday May 8 Bootstrapper Breakfast in Milpitas Read More »
It’s been a year since I started using Twitter to post quotes for entrepreneurs. I realize now that using Twitter, while encouraging me to collect more new quotes, forces me to focus on ones that will fit into a 140 character limit. I am thinking of re-titling this “Pithy Quotes For Entrepreneurs” where pithy means
Quotes for Entrepreneurs – April 2009 Read More »
I ran into an entrepreneur last night after the IEEE-CNSV “Service Economy” event who had been to a Bootstrapper Breakfast but had had to shut down his business. He asked me “I don’t have much to say right now but I get a lot out of the breakfasts, can I still come?”I said “Certainly. Not
Bootstrapper Breakfast This Friday Read More »
One formulation of Conway’s Law is that communication problems in an organization will manifest in their finished products: communication channels matter.
Conway’s Law: the Co-Evolution of Business Organization and Product Design Read More »
Key take-aways from “Eight Rules for Prototyping” by John Hanks and Todd Dobberstein. A prototype is used both to assess technical feasibility and to provide a demonstration to a customer to get feedback. Customer development is a sequence of prototypes.
Customer Development is a Sequence of Prototypes Read More »
Some output formats to consider your application, they each have different properties and affordances and are not easily substituted for each other : Screen E-Mail Projector Print Fax Screen Most common way that users will interact in everyday use. This is how many prospects will view the product. E-mail output options Simple hypertext (e.g. URLs
Five Output Formats to Support Read More »
Building on yesterday’s “A Too Common Conversation of Late” here are some additional suggestions and advice for the newly unemployed. The loss of structure can be crippling. Get active and stay active. Unplug your television and visit the library. Make a list and read 5-10 books a month. Reconnect with old friends at least once
What To Do After the Layoff Fairy Taps You on the Shoulder Read More »
Layoffs continue to encourage old friends and co-workers to reconnect and many to consider–somewhat involuntarily–an entrepreneurial phase for their next career move. I spoke to three people today who had been laid off in the last month or so. Here is the summary of some key suggestions the three conversations: If you are considering joining
A Too Common Conversation of Late Read More »
We live in uncertain times, both in terms of the economic and technology transitions that are underway. I offer two rules that I use to navigate by.
I came across a very thought provoking approach to customer development, or at least offering consulting services for customer development (a subject at least of personal interest to me). Juan Paredes’ “Spanish Method” is outlined in his “First Iteration of a New Minimum Viable Service“: I don’t price by project or by hour. I price
Spanish Method: Pay For Customer Development Per Iteration Read More »
Joshua Schacter’s “On URL Shorteners” is a great examination of the likely outcomes from the proliferation and use of URL shorteners. There are three other parties in the ecosystem of a link: the publisher (the site the link points to), the transit (places where that shortened link is used, such as Twitter or TypePad), and
Joshua Schacter: URL Shorteners Considered Harmful Read More »
We had a great “Getting More Customers” workshop yesterday. It was our first time using the Pacific Business Centers location in Palo Alto and it worked out well. We used their boardroom and it made for a comfortable setting. This was the first time we’ve used a large flat screen TV monitor instead of an
Comments from Mar-31 Getting More Customers Read More »
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Quotes for Entrepreneurs – March 2009 Read More »
Update Mon-Mar-30: Sold Out. Sorry No Walk-ins (Register to be notified of upcoming events) Theresa blogged about this in more detail in February “Getting More Customers – A 90-day Plan” Tuesday, March 31, 2008 8:15 AM – 1:00 PM (Lunch Included) Pacific Business Center 2225 East Bayshore Road Palo Alto CA 94303 650-320-7600 Click here
One Seat Left for Tue-Mar-31 Getting More Customers Read More »
