“The truth is, start-up-land is littered with mavericks, iconoclasts, dropouts, and misfits.” Sramana Mitra in “The Real VCs of Silicon Valley” Entrepreneurship is Involuntary I have come to the conclusion that most entrepreneurship is involuntary. Either someone is an entrepreneur from the time they are young, which was my personal experience, or they are thrust […]
Mavericks, Iconoclasts, Dropouts and Misfits Read More »
I meet teams trying to cold call for their first business customer and I just haven’t seen it work; the trust issues cripple them. Here is a relevant excerpt from Gabriel Weinberg’s interview with me for his traction book.
Cold Calling Won’t Find Your First Business Customer Read More »
Every bootstrapper has a limited budget for attorney’s fees. Attorneys can help you foresee problems and craft contract language, which looks remarkably similar to English but is in fact code that is executed by the legal system. Use them to protect valuable assets–intellectual property, source code, revenue streams–not create them. A small digression If you
The Limits of Legal Self-Help Read More »
If you are considering joining a startup or are in the process of building out your initial team I am moderating a panel at Silicon Valley Code Camp with three startup CEO’s that you should find helpful. It’s scheduled for Sunday October 10 at 2:45pm and you can sign up here. We will explore: Practical
“Work For Equity” Panel at SVCC Set For Sun-Oct-10 2:45pm Read More »
Pete Tormey moderates the Dublin/Pleasanton Bootstrapper Breakfasts® (along with Richard Moerschell) and fills in from time to time in San Francisco as well. I asked him what he felt some key benefits attendees gained at a breakfast and he sent me a great three minute podcast that I have embedded below. He identifies three benefits
Pete Tormey on the Benefits of Attending a Bootstrappers Breakfast Read More »
A review of Michael Malone’s “The Future Arrived Yesterday: the Protean Corporation.” Malone believes that successful companies of the future must find a way to continuously and rapidly change almost every one of their attributes but retain a core of values.
The Future, Arriving Yesterday, Remains In Constant Motion Read More »
Just a quick reminder that I will be presenting on “Feed Readers De-Mystified: Tips for Keeping Informed” this Thursday, September 23, 12:00-12:45 PM PDT. If you are not using feeds and alerts to track your competition, stay on top of developments at major customers, and keep abreast of significant developments in your industry, then you
Reminder: “Tips for Keeping Informed” Webinar Thu-Sep-23 Read More »
A hunger for certainty will not help an entrepreneur make timely decisions or manage the level of ambiguity and uncertainty they need to navigate through.
We Cannot Sate Your Hunger For Certainty But We Can Increase Your Odds of Success Read More »
I mentioned in “3 Equations 3 Unknowns: Customers, Features, and Message” that we spend a lot of time on the early customer stage. It requires very different sales style than you’ll see later on. It’s a conversational sales style. It’s much more about understanding the problem. You’re trying to solve three equations, three unknowns: Are
3 Equations & 3 Unkowns: Target Customer is Key Initial Value Read More »
I apologize for this detour from our exploration of entrepreneurial issues, but this anniversary of my complete confusion is one that I continue to observe, still attempting almost a decade later to make sense of it. But please, take a minute to recall 9 years ago.
Take a Minute to Recall 9 Years Ago Read More »
My interview with Gabriel Weinberg has inspired a number of entrepreneurs to contact us about getting our help with their early customer acquisition issues. I thought I would outline briefly how we help them get to know us better. We work one or more of your issues with you in a phone call that lasts
How We Help You Explore Whether to Hire Us Read More »
Gabriel Weinberg is a serial entrepreneur (latest startup: DuckDuckGo), a Hacker Angel, insightful blogger, and frequent contributor to Hacker News. He is writing a book on how startups get traction and interviewing folks like Patrick McKenzie to collect lessons learned from a variety of perspectives. I was delighted when he approached me to take part
Gabriel Weinberg Interviews Me For His Traction Book Read More »
I curate startup advice in three word doses from Dharmesh Shah, Ed Weissman, the Cluetrain Manifesto, and a number of other sources.
Startup Advice in Three Word Doses Read More »
When a prospect criticizes your product, or your suggestion for a solution, don’t react as if they said, “Your baby is ugly.” Appreciate their candor, make sure you understand their need, and probe for what’s wrong or needs improvement in your offering.
Appreciate Why Prospects Say “Your Baby Is Ugly” Read More »
A Chalk Talk on “Managing Risk In Technology Adoption” that covers some of key challenges technology providers have with getting companies to use their products.
Chalk Talk on Technology Adoption Read More »
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 to deliver new blog posts to your inbox.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–August 2010 Read More »
Sarah Allen will talk about bootstrapping a mobile startup at the Bootstrapper’s Breakfast Wednesday September 1 at 9am at Boudin Bakery, Embarcadero 4 in San Francisco. Sarah is a serial entrepreneur who is using her software development consulting business, Blazing Cloud, to bootstrap a mobile-focused startup, Mightyverse. The Mightyverse blog offers this overview of the
Bootstrapping Mightyverse Talk at Sep-1 Breakfast in SF Read More »
I will be giving a short presentation on “Feed Readers De-Mystified–Tips For Keeping Informed” at the September 23 Lunch & Learn Webinar hosted by People on the Go. Cost: No Charge When: Thursday, September 23, 2010 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM PDT Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/151449787 I will outline some important ways to monitor information about your
Feed Readers De-Mystified at Sep-23 Lunch & Learn Webinar Read More »
Startups have fewer meetings than larger companies but entrepreneurs still need to make those meetings effective, in fact there is less margin for unproductive meetings in a startup than there is in a larger firm. Here are two sources of good information on effective teams and how they meet: James Shonk’s “Working in Teams” is
Debugging Teams/Meetings: Start With Goals & Roles Read More »
Theresa Shafer and I are giving a talk on “10 Tips on How to Choose a Business Partner” on Monday, September 13, 2010, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm at the Women In Consulting (WIC) South Bay meeting. We will outline some important tips and considerations when choosing a partner, sub-contractor, or alliances members that will
10 Tips For Choosing a Business Partner at WIC Sep-13 Read More »
