What Are You Doing to Obsolete Your Product?
A story from my interview process at Cisco. I asked “what are you doing to obsolete your product?”
What Are You Doing to Obsolete Your Product? Read More »
Find Early Customers In Forums
“Communities already exist..think about how one may help a community to do what they want to do.” Mark Zuckerberg As a rule of thumb if you cannot find a forum (broadly defined) that has already collected a chunk of your prospects–a target rich environment–then one of three things is true: You are in a nascent
Find Early Customers In Forums Read More »
Get More Customers in 2011, Workshop Wed-Dec-8-2010
We are offering our “Getting More Customers” next Wednesday, December 8, at FortisGC in Redwood Shores. This will cover a variety of proven marketing techniques for growing your business in 2011: you will select one or two that fit your strengths and interests and leave with a 90 day implementation plan developed and critiqued in
Get More Customers in 2011, Workshop Wed-Dec-8-2010 Read More »
Great Demo! Workshop on April 12, 2011
Create and Deliver Surprisingly Compelling Software Demonstrations “Do The Last Thing First” — the recipe for a Great Demo! When: Tuesday, April 12, 2010 8 am – 5 pm Where: Moorpark Hotel, 4241 Moorpark Ave, San Jose CA 95129 Cost: $590 Before March 28: $566 This is an interactive workshop with Peter Cohan geared especially
Great Demo! Workshop on April 12, 2011 Read More »
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–November 2010
You can follow @skmurphy to get these quotes for entrepreneurs hot off the mojo wire or wait until the end of the month when they are collected on the blog. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–November 2010 Read More »
Keeping Your Customers’ Trust
Earning and keeping your customers’ trust is essential to your success as a startup. Gerald Weinberg’s “Secrets of Consulting” offers “11 Laws of Trust” as a guideline for establishing and maintaining successful business relationships.
Keeping Your Customers’ Trust Read More »
Advising Entrepreneurs
I spend a fair amount of time advising entrepreneurs, both informally when solicited and formally when I have been retained–and sometimes even when I have not been asked for advice. Here are some key principles I follow.
Advising Entrepreneurs Read More »
My Interview With Peggy Aycinena
My Interview With Peggy Aycinena I was interviewed by Peggy Aycinena about six months ago and she subsequently published it in July on the GabeOnEDA site as “Business 101: Art & Magic of EDA Marketing.” Peggy has always appreciated that the technology is nothing without the team and it’s the people you need to focus
My Interview With Peggy Aycinena Read More »
“Getting More Customers in 90 Days” Workshop Dec-8-2010
I am pleased to be able to offer our “Getting More Customers” workshop again next month. We will cover a variety of proven marketing techniques for growing your business: attendees will select one or two that fit their style and develop a plan to implement them in their business in the next 90 days. Speaking
“Getting More Customers in 90 Days” Workshop Dec-8-2010 Read More »
Three Tips for Small Talk and Casual Conversation
“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.” Wilson Mizner One of the more challenging aspects of entrepreneurship for engineers is the need to be able to engage in “small talk” and casual conversation with strangers. I have three suggestions that go to state of mind more than
Three Tips for Small Talk and Casual Conversation Read More »
Some Things Change, Others Remain Constant
Some things change, others remain constant. It’s hard to see the patterns when you are enmeshed in them. You have to pause and reflect.
Some Things Change, Others Remain Constant Read More »
Three Bootstrapper Breakfasts This Week
We have three Bootstrapper Breakfasts this week in Silicon Valley: the Dublin/Pleasanton breakfast was re-scheduled a week earlier to avoid falling on Thanksgiving. This is also our first San Francisco Breakfast in a new location: Sandbox Suites at 567 Sutter near Union Square. Tue-Nov-16-20 Sunnyvale 7:30am register Thu-Nov-18-2010 Dublin/Pleasanton 7:30am register Fri-Nov-19-2010 San Francisco (Sandbox
Three Bootstrapper Breakfasts This Week Read More »
Nomadic Entrepreneurs In Indigenous Markets
David Mamet in a 1997 interview with Richard Covington suggests a paradigm for entrepreneurs based on behavior of nomadic people in a new location: make a new solution that hasn’t occurred to the indigenous people because the indigenous people have been there too long.
Nomadic Entrepreneurs In Indigenous Markets Read More »
Three Quotes from Glenn Kelman on Entrepreneurship
Three quotes by Glenn Kelman on entrepreneurship that speak to entrepreneurship as self-actualization, partnerships, and depression.
Three Quotes from Glenn Kelman on Entrepreneurship Read More »
How Conferences Will Persist: Rebooting DAC
There comes a moment in a roller coaster ride when everything seems to come to a stop for an instant: you are just cresting the top of the rise and the amusement park is spread out all around you. Time stands still for a moment that seems like it might last forever. And then slowly,
How Conferences Will Persist: Rebooting DAC Read More »
Veterans Day 2010
On Veterans Day 2010 we honor those who have served in the military and lived: this year I want to recognize one veteran for his service in WW2.
Build On Your Passion With A Basic Model And Numbers
What follows is a chat transcript from an hour long conversation I had with a entrepreneur recently. I have cleaned up all of our typos and removed or modified some identifying information. The basic business was for a website to arrange services for travelers. I wanted the entrepreneur to move beyond his passion for the
Build On Your Passion With A Basic Model And Numbers Read More »
Fall Back 2010
“The time will come when Winter will ask you what you were doing all Summer.” Henry Clay I took the extra hour I had today and made a list of a few key things I want to accomplish before the end of the year. Many of these I can use your help or feedback on,
Fall Back
Daylight savings time ends tonight in Silicon Valley: we get the hour back we lost in the Spring. So tomorrow is technically a 25 hour day, something I wish for when I can’t prioritize. We have eight weeks left in 2010 and there’s not enough time left to accomplish everything I wanted to this year.
Good Decision, Bad Outcome
You never have complete information, if you do it’s a choice not a decision. You have to evaluate a decision in the context of the information that was available at the time. “Good Decision, Bad Outcome” When I first heard someone use this phrase it took a few weeks to sink in. Too often we
Good Decision, Bad Outcome Read More »