While we stress the value of serious conversations with prospects and customers there are other sources of market insights on emerging opportunities for your current product or next offering. I have placed them on a spectrum that runs from a macroscopic view based on objective measurements and numbers to a microscopic view that is more […]
Verify Your Market Insights Against A Variety of Information Sources Read More »
Shelly Gordon, from G2 Communications Inc., has come to a couple of Bootstrapper Breakfasts® in the last year and offered very practical suggestions on how to tell the story of your startup and where to look for coverage. We have asked her to share her insights on the “How to turn my problem solving idea into
Shelly Gordon of G2 Communications at Sunnyvale BB Tue-June-19 Read More »
VCs and angels may talk about changing the world, but their business model rests on a more prosaic calculation: Buy low, sell high. They invest in companies they think will become more valuable, so they can sell their stake for a sizable profit. From the time that VCs invest in a company, they have five
Exits vs. Enduring Companies Read More »
Today many change initiatives (and new software sales almost always involve the key elements of a change initiative) rely on interviews and replicating the results from an existing “manual system.” Processes mining tools and techniques will play an important role here.
Enterprise Change Agents Need to Add Process Mining to Their Bag of Tricks Read More »
Entrepreneurship is sustained by what’s in your heart and a childlike curiosity toward how the world works and new undiscovered possibilities.
The Heart That Holds On Read More »
One key technique for determining whether you have a workable plan of action is to conduct a premortem, a review of possible sources of failure in advance with a goal to avoid them, or at least reduce their impact and likelihood of occurring.
How to Tell When Your Team Has a Workable Plan of Action Read More »
Entrepreneurs must learn that managing rejection is a requirement from the moment they commit to getting started. I could argue that you have not started until you have been rejected.
Getting Started and Managing Rejection Read More »
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–May 2012 Read More »
I am interested in talking with anyone who is using Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) or Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) methods and paradigms to inform their customer interviews. I have been reading “Working Minds: A Practitioner’s Guide to Cognitive Task Analysis” by Gary Klein et. al. and I had an epiphany that these techniques would be
Are You Using Cognitive Task Analysis for New Market Exploration? Read More »
I’m hardly the first person to complain about the word “user” to describe people who do stuff with software…People don’t think of themselves as “users” and in all other contexts the word “user” is not generally positive and certainly not evocative of the kind of intimate, day-to-day relationship we’d like our work to have with
Your Prospects and Your Customers are Real People Read More »
On Memorial Day 2012 in we commemorate those who died in the service of our country. I offer some excerpts from Lt. Col. Michael Strobl’s account of escorting the remains of a Marine killed in combat in 2004 for you to meditate on.
What follows are excerpts from a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. I thought they were an appropriate antidote to a model for entrepreneurial motivation that aspires to make enough money to do whatever you want. Wallace outlines some of the risks in failing to align
David Foster Wallace: The Only Choice We Get is What to Worship Read More »
Conversations with prospects unfold in real time: you must listen for what’s said and not said, manage your emotions, and understand the implications.
Conversations With Prospects: Practice, Review, Share Notes, Ask for Feedback Read More »
Jim Manzi, founder of Lotus and Applied Predictive Technologies, advises entrepreneurs to “Focus on delivering value to customers at a foreseeable profit” in “How to Succeed in Business by Really, Really Trying.” How to Succeed in Business by Really, Really Trying. It’s a great article and also on the limits of advice to entrepreneurs, in particular autobiographies
Jim Manzi: Focus on Delivering Value to Customers at a Foreseeable Profit. Read More »
Shared situational awareness means that a team has reached–and maintains–a working consensus on the objective reality they must deal with.
The Wit to See and Understand Objective Reality Read More »
Create and Deliver Surprisingly Compelling Software Demonstrations “Do The Last Thing First” — the recipe for a Great Demo! This is an interactive workshop with Peter Cohan geared especially for you who demonstrate B-to-B software to your customer and channels. Bring a copy of your demo and be prepared to present it — we’ll help
Great Demo! Workshop on October 10 & 11, 2012 Read More »
In Reamde, Neal Stephenson captures the value that a company founder can continue to provide after significant growth: change agent.
Founder as Change Agent from Reamde Read More »
Recorded discussion on Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen’s The Innovator’s DNA chapter 6, recorded on June 20, 2012. Michael Fern and Edith Harbaugh join Steve Hogan and Sean Murphy to discuss lessons learned experimenting to foster innovation. Chapter 6: Discovery Skill #5 Experimenting The Innovator’s DNA by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M.
Book Club: Chapter 6 The Innovator’s DNA: Experimenting Read More »
We continue our review of “The Innovator’s DNA” by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen with a focus on networking, which the author’s define as seeking serious conversation with individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise. Here is a quote by Ronald Burt on creativity from idea brokerage (condensed from page 117): “People connected
Tristan Kromer Joins Book Club’s Panel on Networking Skill Development Read More »
Call-in Book Review recorded on May 16, 2012 Tristan Kromer, Steve Hogan and Sean Murphy discuss the book and specifically Chapter 5 on networking. Chapter 5: Discovery Skill #4 Networking The Innovator’s DNA by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen Practical and provocative, The Innovator’s DNA is an essential resource for individuals and teams
Book Club: Chapter 5 – The Innovator’s DNA Read More »
