Add comment July 15th, 2008
Two from “Knots” by R.D. Laing
“What Jack says about Jill,
Says more about Jack,
Than it does about Jill.”
If I don’t know I don’t know, I think I know
If I don’t know I know, I think I don’t know
Three that I have not been able to source:
“Listen for what isn’t being said.”
“Most communication is indirect.”
The primary barrier to communication is the belief that it’s occurred.
Add comment July 14th, 2008
I have netted out a couple of key suggestions I made to the three presenting companies at Monday’s SDForum Marketing SIG “Marketing Lab” so that they are more generally applicable. I was impressed: all three start-ups were well prepared, they managed their presentations to the time limits and were serious about their businesses.
It was a good format: my only change, given how well everyone managed their time, would be to allow 5 minutes of audience questions after each pitch as well. It was a very enjoyable event.
1 comment July 14th, 2008
I first met Debra Willrett, founder of Expert Software Consulting, at an IEEE Consultants Network for Silicon Valley (CNSV) when she gave a great talk on the new CNSV website in February of 2006. Later I learned that she was the inventor of the Macintosh application MacProject, an application that has defined a paradigm for interactive graphical project management tools for the last 25 years, and we asked her for an interview for our Founder Story series that we posted in April of this year.
She is coming to tomorrow’s Bootstrappers Breakfast, please RSVP as we have limited space. She has prepared a couple of remarks and then, like all Bootstrapper Breakfasts, it will be a serious discussion on growing a business based on internal cash flow. I hope to see you tomorrow at 7:30AM in the back room at Coco’s in Sunnyvale on the corner of Lawrence and Oakmead in Sunnyvale (1206 Oakmead Parkway, Sunnyvale, CA 94086).
1 comment July 13th, 2008
I am always surprised by how unprepared CEO’s and founders were to meet the time limits, typically five or six minutes, that they had been given at various conferences to get their point across: Office 2.0, Under The Radar, and Struct08 to name a few that come most readily to mind.
This is not an artificial limit.
Peter Cohan, in his Great Demo! methodology, stresses the need to get through a basic demo in six minutes. Get the audience’s attention with a glimpse of what’s possible that can help them satisfy a real business need.
On a trade show floor you have perhaps a minute to a minute and a half to capture prospect’s attention, after you’ve gotten them to stop and listen to that much.
When you meet someone at a networking event and are asked “what do you do” you have perhaps 30 to 45 seconds to trigger a conversation. This is typically referred to as the “elevator pitch.” Entrepreneurs should bear in mind that most buildings in Silicon Valley are two to four stories, it’s a very short ride.
Even if you come have arranged a meeting in someone’s office for 30 minutes, the first five or six minutes set the tone for the balance of the time. Jill Konrath’s third story in her “3 Hard Earned Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks” post recounts an actual situation:
“Sit down,” he said gruffly. “You’ve got 5 minutes. Talk.”
“If you’re busy, I’ll come back,” I said, trying to be gracious.
“Nope,” he stated. ” 5 minutes. Tell me why I should buy your product. Your 5 minutes is starting now.”
I mumbled. I stumbled. I tried to engage him in conversation. I tried to explain that I needed more time. He wasn’t one bit interested. After 5 minutes, he arose and said, “Your time is up. You can leave now.”
[...] I couldn’t concisely state why he should listen to me.
I wanted to build a relationship and warm up the call. That made me feel better. He was a busy man who chose to use his time judiciously. I didn’t respect his needs.
There is really only one way to achieve this. Practice.
“It’s not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.” Bear Bryant
1 comment July 11th, 2008
Tim Berry writes in Productive as a Morning Person, Creative as a Night Person
As a morning person, I’m generally more productive.
As a night person, I’m generally more creative.
Which I hadn’t considered before, but felt exactly right when I read it. I find I always feel productive when I am awake and working by 7:30AM–which may help explain why I believe we have “serious conversations with serious entrepreneurs” at the 7:30AM Bootstrappers Breakfasts.
We tend to schedule our hard core work sessions for the morning and defer phone calls and errands for the afternoon, one of the benefits of running your own business.
Late at night I tend to blog, although I will sometimes not publish a post until I have reviewed it “in the clear light of day.” Some startups (and VC firms) we have worked with have a “no E-Mail after 10pm” rule as folks can become more carried away. It’s one I try to follow as well.
Postscript: I submitted Tim Berry’s post on Hacker News and several folks commented, which led me to add some thoughts from that discussion as a postscript here:
Add comment July 10th, 2008
Tomorrow we have a first Bootstrappers Breakfast in Milpitas at the Omega Restaurant, 90 S. Park Victoria Drive. Come join us for our shake down cruise at a new location. If you haven’t been to one here are some guidelines for first timers:
The breakfast starts at 7:30am and ends at 9am. Your cost is your meal + 20% tip; we get the “back room” to ourselves. The other attendees will all be in early stage software startups, it will be a chance to compare notes on operational, development, and business issues with peers. The format is as follows:
These breakfasts were designed for entrepreneurs to share ideas and leverage thoughts with other folks who are serious about growing their business. We facilitate the breakfasts as a service to the Silicon Valley bootstrapper community, so there is no sales pitch from us or anyone else who attends.
We also facilitate breakfasts in Sunnyvale at the Coco’s on Oakmead at Lawrence and in Palo Alto at the Hobee’s on the El Camino near Arastradero. See a Calendar of Events or the Bootstrappers Breakfast website for more details.
We have been doing these since October 2006 at Coco’s and March of 20007 at Hobee’s; I hope to see you at one when it’s convenient.
1 comment July 9th, 2008
I have been invited to take part in a “Startup Marketing Lab” next Monday at a joint session of the SDForum Marketing and Startup SIG’s. Four companies with “a tiny marketing budget” want to get “best use of their marketing.” They have ideas for how to market “but want to get some second or third opinions from other experienced marketers.” I will be joining two “experienced marketeers” dispensing advice:
I have been asked to make my feedback “directly actionable and appropriate for a small budget” which I have assured the organizers is all that the bootstrapping start-ups we normally work with will tolerate. There will be four companies presenting and it should make for an interesting evening.
The event is at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP on 2000 University Ave., East Palo Alto, CA 94303
Registration and Networking start at 6:30 and the formal program begins at 7pm, with four companies presenting the program will run to 8:45PM. It’s free for SDForum Members and $15 for non-members.
A sad postscript: I learned late today that Barbara Cass, who retired as the volunteer coordinator at SDForum last December after more than two decades of service (starting with the original Software Entrepreneurs forum that subsequently merged with the Center for Software Engineering to form the Software Development Forum) passed away yesterday. I had the pleasure of first meeting Barbara in the early 90’s when I started attending the old Software Entrepreneur’s Forum meetings that were held at the old Palo Alto Elks club. I was immediately impressed at her charm and efficiency in “herding cats,” keeping a roomful of technologists organized and on track. She was the reason that I got involved in reviving the SDForum Marketing SIG in 2005/6. She had a strong sense of the traditions and values that have enabled the SDForum to continue providing value to it’s members over more than two decades of technology evolution and revolution in Silicon Valley.
More on Barbara Cass: SDForum has posted a remembrance page at http://www.sdforum.org/barbaracass
According to her wishes, no services were held. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Oncology Department, attention Philanthropy, 795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301
July-24-2008 obituary in The Almanac: Barbara Cass created software entrepreneurs forum
Barbara Cass, a longtime Ladera resident who had a second career as executive director of software industry groups, died at her home July 8 of pancreatic cancer.
Her volunteer work at the Resource Center for Women in Palo Alto, where she counseled women re-entering the job market, sparked her interest in the fledgling computer industry. She eventually became an executive in several nonprofit associations in that industry, said Tom Cass, her husband.
Ms. Cass helped form Software Entrepreneur’s Forum (SEF), where software engineers and entrepreneurs exchanged ideas during monthly dinners. She became executive director of the forum in 1984 and started inviting industry luminaries to speak. She was named to the “MicroTimes 100″ several times in the 1990s.
In 1998, SEF and the city of San Jose’s Center of Software Development joined forces and became SDForum, a merger that was one of the proudest moments of her career, she had said. That same year, she helped create the prestigious annual Visionary Awards, which recognize the successes of luminaries in the technology field.
Ms. Cass retired last December as a result of her illness.
Born in San Francisco, Ms. Cass graduated from Lowell High School at age 16 and graduated from the University of California.
She married Tom Cass, whom she met while at Berkeley, a month after graduation. They lived in Washington, D.C., while her husband was in the U.S. Navy, then returned to Berkeley, and later lived in Paris while Mr. Cass completed postdoctoral studies.
Ms. Cass, a nursery school teacher during the early years of her marriage, later stayed at home to raise her young children. When the family relocated to California in 1970, she was guided to Ladera by her aunt Fanita Stendell, then secretary of Ladera School.
Ms. Cass became active as a parent volunteer at Ladera School. When her children were older, she began volunteering at the Resource Center for Women/Career Action Center in Palo Alto.
Her husband said her skills as a homemaker carried over into her professional life. She had a way of making everyone feel comfortable and welcome, he said, and as a hostess, she was always ready to accommodate one more.
Ms. Cass is survived by her husband of 49 years, Tom Cass; her mother, Norma Stendell of San Jose; a son, Peter Cass of Menlo Park; a daughter, Carin Zimmerman of San Francisco; and three granddaughters.
According to her wishes, no services were held.
Add comment July 8th, 2008
I was sorry to read the “VMware Announces Change in Executive Leadership” press release today from EMC.
VMware’s Board of Directors announced today that it has made a change in the leadership of the company with the departure of Diane Greene as President and CEO. VMware’s Board of Directors has appointed Paul Maritz as President and CEO of VMware effective immediately. Maritz was also named to VMware’s Board of Directors.
I heard her speak at a October 2006 Fireside chat at TiE and was extremely impressed by her low key style and forthright manner. She also said a number of smart things and as I blogged back then “I got a real sense of her as a genuinely caring leader (what Jim Collins would call a “Level 5 Leader” ).”
I always hate to see a founder get ousted from a company, especially one that’s still wildly successful (VMWare is expected to grow revenue almost 50% this year over last). I am interested in her perspective on events: she was against VMWare being acquired by EMC, mentioning it as one of the two “blackest days” she faced at VMWare during the Fireside chat, so I look forward to her being able to speak more candidly about the last few years once she is fully separated from EMC.
Update July 12: Ho Nam at Altos Capital has an interesting take–especially for a VC, but Altos is an unusual shop–in his post “Ousting the Founder.”
I was shocked to learn this week that Diane Greene, the co-founder and CEO of VMWare was ousted. I was not alone. Except for senior management (who found out very late, the night before) the employees of VMWare read about it, just like I did on Tuesday morning. [...]
As co-founder and CEO, Diane Green built one of the all time great successes in Silicon Valley. Very, very few companies ever reach $1B in revenues. Even fewer in the technology industry. Even fewer in the software industry. And even fewer ever exceed $10B in market cap.
Why the hell would you fire her?? No, don’t tell me…I’ve heard all the reasons. VCs oust founders all the time. I’ve been in plenty of board level discussions around this topic! It’s almost a rite of passage in Silicon Valley. As a founder, you start a company, get VCs to fund you, recruit a “world class” management team…and eventually, find your replacement (or get ousted).
What people seem to miss, however, is that just about every great company ever created – in technology as well as low-tech, was built by a founder (or a CEO who happened to join the company very early in its growth phase) and a team of dedicated people who grew with their companies.[...]
I’d rather take my chances with the people who built the business and grew their companies than the “professionals” – the hired guns – the mercenaries – coming in, after the fact, to “fix” things or to “take it to the next level.”
We tell all of our companies this – if you want to build the leader in your industry, you have to have the world’s leading experts in your field working for you. But do NOT expect to find them outside of your company. Someone senior from the outside won’t come in to show you the way. They won’t save you.
4 comments July 7th, 2008
I gave a talk on October 16 of last year at the KASE/KIN Entrepreneur Academy on “After Launch, Now What.” My theme was “What was once heroic must become routine” (podcast is here, it’s about 16 minutes if you would like to listen).
I was reminded of it when I came across the famous “This is Still a Start-Up” E-mail from June 2000 by Brendan Barnicle at MyLackey.com. Excerpts with my comments intermixed follow, along with some articles that detail how the story ended.
It is now 6:45 pm and there are only 12 people in our office. We have 65 people that work here in Seattle. This is totally unacceptable.
Barnicle is no stranger to hard work himself–he graduated cum laude with a B.A. in government from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Washington–but he seems unable to find the right words or policies to motivate his staff. Most importantly, he doesn’t put himself in the boat with them. It may be effective to criticize one or two individuals privately for poor performance, but when you start to berate the entire company via an e-mail it’s time to look in the mirror. Also, he is measuring an input (time in the office) not outputs. To build a successful start-up team you have to hold the team accountable for results, when you get too much into the “how” you may preclude them from finding a better way.
This company has far too much very important work to do to have virtually empty offices at 6:45 pm. If anyone thinks that everything we need to do as a company can be accomplished within an 8 hour day, then I think they fail to understand the scope and complexity of our venture. Anyone harboring such illusions should seriously consider a career change. I am sure that I could point to tasks for every single person in this company that would merit working past 7 pm every single night.
This for me is where he goes seriously off the rails. Now that MyLackey has launched and is scaling, what’s needed are systems and a business model that generates a profit without constant heroics on the part of the staff. They need scorekeeping mechanisms that are visible to everyone and allow each group to integrate their efforts into a profitable whole: dashboards and a workflow system that pinpoint what each person needs to be doing. By the time you reach a headcount of 65 you can’t have the CFO/co-founder running around telling everyone what to do. If you are a founder and find yourself exhorting everyone to work harder you should stop immediately and figure out what’s gone wrong.
We have an amazing lead on an outstanding business, but it will not last forever and we must move faster. As some of you know, we are lagging behind our revenue goals. We need everyone in every department working every day to meet and exceed these goals. We have similar goals in development, sales, business development, marketing, operations and every other aspect of our business.
What’s interesting is that at the time he is writing this, and certainly in subsequent conversations with his venture capitalists, he is asking for more money for expansion when he can’t get his Seattle operation profitable. I know that we have all learned the lessons of the dotcom era: expenses follow revenue, nothing new ever works, you can’t lose money on a product or service but make it up in volume.
This is not a bank; this is not Boeing. This is a start-up and we are all expecting to be rewarded for taking the risk of a start-up. But, there will be no rewards without exceptional effort.
There are normally only rewards for exceptional results. Effort and risk taking are necessary but only results are sufficient.
In transition from heroics you need a system that accumulates sustainable individual efforts in the same direction so that you actually get results. You can’t rely on heroics once you are scaling the company. If you are reading this blog you have probably left a big company where they had process, metrics, and dashboards and you are thinking to yourself “I don’t want anymore of that.” So as little of that as possible is probably a good idea, but just assuming that folks will do the right thing without guidance and feedback when there are more than a dozen on the team is a recipe for disaster.
Parts of the e-mail that was published were disputed as fabrications by MyLackey representatives. A provocatively titled article “Who Wants to Play ‘Which Dot-Com is Next to Die?‘” in the June 23rd 2000 Business Week (about a provocatively titled website) a paragraph was devoted to the MyLackey E-Mail, ending with:
A spokeswoman for MyLackey.com confirms that the e-mail did come from Barnicle, but says Kaplan’s posting of it had been “corrupted in some places.” She won’t elaborate on what that means.
An article in the June 22, 2000 edition of the Seattle Stranger entitled “The Boss’ Lackey”
A spokesperson for Mylackey, Howard Barokas, called the e-mail “bullshit,” saying it was a tampered version of Barnicle’s original message. Barnicle himself told The Seattle Times that forcing employees to work 10 1/2-hour days was not part of the original e-mail.
However, neither Barnicle nor Barokas disputed any other part of the tirade, including a warning that the company was “lagging behind” its “revenue goals.” Mylackey recently grabbed $6.5 million in funding to expand its operations in other cities.
A May 5, 2000 article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer “MyLackey to use capital to enter 11 new markets” noted (Bold in original):
MyLackey.com competes against Seattle-based ServiceStop, Alexandria, Va.-based VIPDesk.com and Denver-based Concierge Confidant. Earlier this week, ServiceStop announced new vendor agreements with Wondermaids, Cookies By Design, Gordon Biersch, Malesis Flowers and White’s Mobile Detail, bringing the total number of vendors to 250. The company, which has 50 corporate customers in Seattle, also announced the opening of a new office in San Francisco.
Only VIPDesk.com survives today. Their business model allows educated people to work from home part time. A far cry from cleaning houses on demand. A Tue Oct 24, 2000 article announces the shutdown–probably inspired by some 9/11 induced sobriety since they hadn’t run out of money but realized that that didn’t have a business model that was profitable.
With a catchy name, an aggressive marketing campaign and $8 million in financing, MyLackey.com appeared to be a rising star in the Seattle Internet scene. But when it came time to make money, the online errand service fell far short. So co-founder Brian McGarvey made the unpleasant decision Friday to pull the plug on the business and lay off its entire staff of 85 employees. [...]
MyLackey.com. The company, which raised a $6.5 million round of financing led by WaldenVC in April, could not persuade investors to provide more capital for the company’s expansion plans. So instead of blowing through the remaining cash, McGarvey and the executive team decided to close down.
“It has been a phenomenal ride,” said McGarvey, 32, who co-founded MyLackey.com just 16 months ago. “Of course, we could have done some things better. But who would have known. It had never been done before, and it wasn’t like there was a book you could open up for the answers.”
He said the company would not file for bankruptcy and employees will receive salaries for the rest of the month and benefits for the remainder of the year. “I still think this is a great idea and a great business,” said McGarvey, who is now consulting with Internet entrepreneurs. “But we just didn’t have enough time.”
Craig Weindling, owner of Smiley Dog pet food in Shoreline and a MyLackey.com service provider, said MyLackey.com is a classic example of a company that grew too big too fast. He said his 8-year-old company had opportunities to grow faster, but he refused to overextend the business.
“I don’t think the Internet companies are any different than other businesses,” said Weindling, whose three-member company is profitable. “If you don’t cover your bases, you ain’t going to make it.”
I am sorry to spend so much time recapping a dotcom era failure, but I encounter more and more entrepreneurs who are either unaware of, or oblivious to the lessons we all learned the hard way from 2001 to 20004 or so. We are a ways from a bubble, but too many folks seem to think an infusion of new capital will solve all of their problems, or that it’s the only thing holding them back.
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