July 2012

Draper University of Heroes Takes Holistic Approach to Teaching Entrepreneurship

Tim Draper, founder of the VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson,  is taking a holistic approach to entrepreneurial education with his “Draper University for Heroes” in San Mateo. Here is a promo video from the school’s website. [vimeo clip_id=”45872530″ width=”400″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″] In a planning document submitted to the City of San Mateo on March 16, …

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You Tried: It’s OK To Make a Change

“In restless dreams I walked alone, Narrow streets of cobblestone.” Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sounds of Silence” Nothing new ever works, but doing the same thing over and over again without variation or detecting and correcting mistakes is insanity (or at least bureaucracy). So many startup overnight success stories that stress the importance of passion …

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Speaking at Startup Sales Circle Thu-Aug-9 at GroundFloorSV

I have been invited to help re-launch the Startup Sales Circle Meetup, we will be meeting August 9th at GroundFloorSV.  I will be making some brief remarks on debugging your sales process to cut time to revenue and then there will be open conversation on startup sales challenges. Bring any (or all!) of the following …

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Fog

Working Day and Night

It’s less about working day and night than working on the right things. I used to determine when I needed a break by when I was too sick to work. It’s an effective stopping rule but not particularly well thought out.

5 Promotional Ideas I got from Startup Digest

Promotion often makes the difference between business success and failure. A recent email from Startup Digest gave me some great ideas. Develop checklists and top 10 lists. Tie your news story to recent events. Get in the email inbox. Celebrate the holidays with discount or special offer. Always include a list of upcoming events. Upcoming …

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“Working For Equity” Panel Session Returns to Silicon Valley Code Camp For Third Year

I am moderating a panel at Silicon Valley Code Camp 2012 on “Working For Equity.” Here is the session description: Panel discussion with three software startup CEOs offering their perspective on the practical realities of starting and growing a company. This session is for both aspiring and active entrepreneurs, it will outline important tips and …

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The Early Bird Already Has The Worm

The last question in”The First Seven Questions Any Product Plan Should Answer” is What Are You Replacing? Every Product Has Competition But after careful experimentation we learned that most entrepreneurs would instinctively cast themselves in the role of the early bird who gets the worm and say “Nothing. We are brand new!” So we re-phrased …

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Independence Day 2012

For my Independence Day post I have picked three quotes that span the last thousand years or so of the move from kings and tyrants to representative government and the rule of law. “To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.” Magna Carta clause 40 of 1215 charter …

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The Fact That Your App Was a Weekend Project Is Not a Feature

The fact that your new application was a weekend project is not a feature! I see announcements like We just coded this up last weekend take  a look… I wrote this on a Saturday afternoon check it out… We built the tool (over the last few weekends)… I don’t know if it’s Startup Weekend’s original …

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Q: Is Building The Wrong Product A Waste Of Time?

Building the “wrong product” is not a waste of time you learn about the market and technical feasibility. Right and wrong are both gray, not black or white. Customer development and technical development typically require a sequence of prototypes that are “less wrong” over time under they become good enough.

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