I got the following unsolicited E-mail this morning; I think the marketing term for this is “blogger outreach.” I have redacted the name of the sender (“YYY”) and the name of the firm/product (“XXX”) but “[press kit]” and “[review/checkout]” were included verbatim in the original. There was no footer with an unsubscribe option although phone […]
Five Blogger Outreach Mistakes To Avoid Read More »
I like this 2009 video by Grasshopper “Entrepreneurs Can Change The World” that portrays the entrepreneur as a change agent and celebrates the freedom and economic opportunities that America has traditionally offered immigrants.
An Entrepreneur Is A Change Agent Read More »
Q: We have been in customer discovery for a few months and have a situation in a negotiation that I am not sure how to deal with. A decision maker at a potential customer says he believes that our product can help but it’s not addressing a burning problem. The wrinkle that I have not
Q: Side Payment Requested In Negotiation Read More »
When I spoke on Thought Leadership at the San Bruno Rotary Club on August 6 this “four way test” was printed on all of the placemats. It was the first time I had encountered it and I found it to be a useful insight for evaluating a course of action.
Thought Leadership: Rotary Club Four Way Test Read More »
Successful bootstrappers are open to possibilities, including mistakes. Their focus and perseverance to explore many options but say yes to only a few.
Few Against Many Requires Focus and Perseverance Read More »
In the mind of the entrepreneur the future is obvious and imminent. This “reality distortion field” can be useful for making a better future possible, but it inclines the entrepreneur to minimize adoption risk–people will see the benefits of my product immediately and adopt it–and to be impatient. Customer development techniques allow you to identify expensive
David Binetti On The Mind of the Entrepreneur Read More »
It’s not a mistake to accept venture capital if your business merits and requires it for growth. Don’t get distracted seeking it until then. “The seductive narrative of Silicon Valley stars a genius-hero who goes on a journey, overcomes myriad obstacles, has a flash of insight and is rewarded by wise and benevolent investors with
Don’t Get Distracted Raising Venture Capital Read More »
Direct Mail: A Letter With a Stamp Is Not Spam In advertising it pays to be different. Letters and postcards with real stamps get through. With everyone getting some much email SPAM, direct mail can be a way to differentiate yourself. Postcards Work Too We have used postcards to announce events where clients will be
Direct Mail: Letters and Postcards Still Work Read More »
I interviewed Arun Kumar in 2012 on his experiences bootstrapping Kerika. It’s a long interview but really gives you a sense of his journey as an entrepreneur, his insights into the future of global teams and how they will collaborate, and a candid list of lessons learned. Here are nine key take-aways that he offered
Arun Kumar: 9 Lessons Learned Bootstrapping Kerika Read More »
Ilya Semin, founder of Datanyze, joins us at the Palo Alto Bootstrapper Breakfast 7:30am on Fri-Sep-5-2014 at Hobees in Palo Alto. Ilya will share what he learned bootstrapping Datanyze to $1M+ ARR and 9 employees. DataNyze provides competitive intelligence for Web analytics, Widgets, CDN, DNS, and related firms. It can answer questions like “Who are my competitor’s biggest
Ilya Semin on “Bootstrapping DataNyze to $1M/ARR” Sep-5-2014 in Palo Alto Read More »
John Foster McKenna: December 4, 1990 – August 8, 2014 “Man that is born of a woman has but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He comes up, and is cut down, like a flower; he flees as it were a shadow, and never continues in one stay. In the midst
John Foster McKenna 1990-2014 Read More »
I found Janet Iwasa‘s Ted Talk on “how animations can help scientists test a hypothesis” to be extremely thought provoking. It’s worth considering how to animate your hypothesis to explore it’s viability and implications.
Janet Iwasa: Animate Your Hypothesis to Explore Its Viability and Implications Read More »
Q: My research focused on the assessment of atherosclerosis in coronary arteries using Computed Tomography examinations as the imaging modality. I have looked at various aspects of atherosclerosis such as volume scores, automatic extraction of anatomical structures, plaque detection, dual energy CT and plaque distribution patterns. I am new to the lean innovation methods and am
Q: How to Apply Lean Innovation Methods To Regulated Industries? Read More »
Direct download from http://traffic.libsyn.com/skmurphy/Tristan_Sean_6-13-14b.mp3 Here is a rough transcript of the first five minutes or so to give you a flavor, I think you will find it interesting if you are wrestling with customer development or customer validation in an early market: Sean: I am sitting here today with Tristan Kromer, we are going to
A Conversation With Tristan Kromer on B2B vs. B2C Customer Acquisition Challenges Read More »
I gave a briefing to the San Bruno Rotary on Thought Leadership on Aug-6-2014. Here is the audio for the core of the talk (I have cut the introduction and about ten minutes of Q&A) Or download from http://traffic.libsyn.com/skmurphy/ThoughtLeadership140806c.mp3 Here is my handout from the talk.
Thought Leadership: A Briefing For San Bruno Rotary Read More »
The prisoners dilemma thought experiment that posits a single isolated transaction as the entire relationship does not offer a good model for business and dealing with prospects, customers, partners, suppliers, employees, or really anyone. Q: Is the Prisoners Dilemma A Good Model for Doing Business? Q: I am currently working on a degree in Computer
Q: Is the Prisoners Dilemma A Good Model for Doing Business? Read More »
Customer development surveys always sucks for B2B: have a conversation instead.
Customer Development Surveys Always Suck For B2B Read More »
Both for personal or business growth, an entrepreneur has to cultivate patience and consider long term effects, not just a transaction’s immediate benefits.
Planting Trees: Finite and Infinite Entrepreneurship Read More »
Elizabeth Denzig published an interview with Sidney Brenner in February or 2014 in “King’s Review” entitled “How Academia and Publishing are Destroying Scientific Innovation: A Conversation with Sydney Brenner” I think there are a number of lessons–or in several cases cautions–for selling to scientists.
Sidney Brenner: The Trouble with American Science Read More »
Identify what is unlikely to change: e.g. problem area, type of customer. Build on experience. Join communities that focus on these.
