Entrepreneurship gets a lot of hype but it’s not for everyone: here is a brief discussion of some of practical realities of what it’s like to work at a startup.
Q: Should I Get A Normal Job Or Work At A Startup? Read More »
For the third year in a row I will moderate a panel of startup founders sharing lesson learned bootstrapping a technology startup at Silicon Valley Code Camp. This “Working for Equity” session will be on Sunday Oct 7 at 9:15am. Here is the announcement Many of us in Silicon Valley seek to found or be
Startup Founders Announced for Working For Equity Panel at SVCC 2012 Read More »
Q: I was contracted to develop a custom software application that I delivered with a minimum set of features the client requested so that it was simple to use. Once my client is satisfied should I try and market it? There are similar products available but mine is simpler and I can afford to offer it
Q: Can a Custom Solution Be The Basis For A Product? Read More »
Bootstrappers prosper by closing deals with customers and partners. Here are twelve tips if you are new to crafting deals.
Crafting Deals with Customers and Partners Read More »
When you are trying to choose from a range of opportunities, a key step is to consider what’s changed that makes this a compelling opportunity for you.
Consider What’s Changed And What You Bring To An Opportunity Read More »
Slides and Audio From “Forming Leading A Team of Experts” at Project Management Institute of Silicon Valley on Sep-17-2012. Audio includes a lively discussion.
Slides and Audio From “Leading A Team of Experts” at PMI-SV Sep-17-12 Read More »
Three Great Books on Generating Innovative Business Ideas These three books contain a wealth of useful suggestions for generating innovative business ideas from observing, questioning, and networking with customers and others: Innovator’s DNA “The Innovator’s DNA” by Christensen, Dyer, and Gregerson outlines a set of five skills that innovator’s use to develop entrepreneurial ideas: Associating:
Three Great Books on Generating Innovative Business Ideas Read More »
Successful entrepreneurs have a passion to see their inventions adopted as innovations not admired as works of art. This is the science of startups.
Entrepreneurial Passion and the Science of Startups Read More »
George Gilder address the mental and spiritual elements of entrepreneurship in “Unleash the Mind” defining entrepreneurship as the launching of surprises.
George Gilder: Entrepreneurship is the Launching of Surprises Read More »
An exploration of Neal Stephenson’s suggestion that “whenever serious and competent people need to get things done in the real world, all considerations of tradition and protocol fly out the window.”
Serious and Competent People Read More »
An analysis of Yanis Varoufakis “Why Valve? What do we need corporations for and how does Valve’s management structure fit into today’s corporate world?”
Yanis Varoufakis: “Valve is an Enlightened Oligarchy” Read More »
You can fail to live up to your espoused beliefs due to hypocrisy or because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. The difference is an important distinction and one with implications for the example you set in establishing the culture in a startup. Is there one set of rules that everyone strives
Neal Stephenson on Distinguishing Different Motives for Hypocrisy Read More »
Two excerpts from Neal Stephenson‘s “The Diamond Age” that have implications for the culture of a startup or an economic region. These are from pages 24 and 25 and outlines two real life events as a part of the back story of one of the characters in the novel, hyperlinks have been added to provide
Neal Stephenson on the Importance of Culture Read More »
Tim Draper, founder of the VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, is taking a holistic approach to entrepreneurial education with his “Draper University for Heroes” in San Mateo. Here is a promo video from the school’s website. [vimeo clip_id=”45872530″ width=”400″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″] In a planning document submitted to the City of San Mateo on March 16,
Draper University of Heroes Takes Holistic Approach to Teaching Entrepreneurship Read More »
“In restless dreams I walked alone, Narrow streets of cobblestone.” Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sounds of Silence” Nothing new ever works, but doing the same thing over and over again without variation or detecting and correcting mistakes is insanity (or at least bureaucracy). So many startup overnight success stories that stress the importance of passion
You Tried: It’s OK To Make a Change Read More »
Avoid “vendor speak” where you use words like innovative, seamless, robust, disruptive, or patented. These are not words a customer would use to describe your product.
Innovative, Robust, Seamless, Disruptive, and Patented Read More »
This is a case Study of SKMurphy’s advisory support for eMOBUS. It includes a detailed write-up by Moe Arnaiz, CEO of eMOBUS.
Case Study: eMOBUS Experience With SKMurphy Read More »
PC’s and workstations allowed each knowledge worker to upgrade at their own pace. SaaS is witnessing a return to the Mainframe IT Mindset: sysadmins only support one system and upgrade at their convenience.
The Unfortunate Return of the Mainframe IT Mindset Read More »
Debugging your startup requires peace of mind because debugging any problem, including debugging yourself, requires peace of mind. It’s what enables you to stay in flow.
Debugging Your Startup Requires Peace of Mind Read More »
The last question in”The First Seven Questions Any Product Plan Should Answer” is What Are You Replacing? Every Product Has Competition But after careful experimentation we learned that most entrepreneurs would instinctively cast themselves in the role of the early bird who gets the worm and say “Nothing. We are brand new!” So we re-phrased
The Early Bird Already Has The Worm Read More »
