Competition is inevitable, that is why it’s wise to prepare for it and immunize yourself with difficult to copy differentiation where possible. A pure focus on implementing new features as fast as possible in an effort to outrun the competition is unlikely by itself to be enough. Here are some barriers you can erect that […]
Erecting Barriers to Competition That Are Difficult to Duplicate Read More »
Amazon’s S3 and AWS platforms, and similar on demand storage and computing services, are becoming increasing popular as core infrastructure for software startups. There is a tendency, because the costs are well defined, to base your price on adding a margin to these services. There are three problems with that.
Tangible Costs, Time, and Pricing to Value Read More »
Buster Benson lists “A few rules that I try to live by” on his home page. Here are my top six picks from his list of 17 (the bold wording is Buster’s) with some commentary
Six From “A Few Rules That I Try To Live By” by Buster Benson Read More »
Rehearsal is key to making a successful presentation. If you can do at least two rehearsals of an important presentation it will pay huge dividends.
We had Venkatesh Rao, author of “Tempo“, and blogger at RibbonFarm as guest at today’s Bootstrapper Breakfast. He has had an eclectic career: between 1997 and 2011, he pursued a traditional research/entrepreneurial career (a PhD, a postdoc, a startup, and an industrial R&D lab where among other things, he founded trailmeme.com as Entrenrepeur-in-Residence at Xerox).
Venkatesh Rao Thought Provoking on Tempo at Bootstrapper Breakfast Read More »
Why We Like Trade Shows If your prospects are accustomed to attending industry trade shows and conferences it’s normally worth exhibiting. Trade shows are one of the few venues where you can sell directly and explicitly and it’s accepted by prospects. If they walk up to your trade show booth they expect a sales pitch.
Why We Like Trade Shows Read More »
Logan Pearsall Smith wrote “Afterthoughts” in 1931 but I find his aphorisms timeless. I selected these six as good advice or perspective for entrepreneurs:
Six Afterthoughts From Logan Pearsall Smith For Entrepreneurs Read More »
Tony Schwartz offers “Ten Principles For Living in Fiercely Complex Times” that you can “rely on to make choices that reflect openness, integrity and authenticity.” Here are the top three for me: “Emotions are contagious, so it pays to know what you’re feeling.” Tony Schwartz One of the balancing acts of entrepreneurship is control vs.
Tony Schwartz’s Principles For Fiercely Complex Times Read More »
Pay attention to self-description: the story you tell yourself and about yourself. Cultivate productive habits that don’t require conscious decisions. “It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise
Narrative Rationality: Be Mindful Of Your Self-Description Read More »
From Hillel Cooperman‘s “Bootstrapped vs. VC Funded–Who is Likely to Make the Most Money?” I bet that founders of bootstraps end up earning more money over the long haul out of their businesses than founders of venture-backed firms. The rare IPO may spike the numbers in the other direction, but I’d love to see the
It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC Read More »
A schema is a conceptual model that offers an organizing principle for how business buyers evaluate and purchase. The challenge is to match your sales effort to where they are in the process. Doug Hall’s Three Laws of Marketing Physics Jerry Weissman’s Power Presentations John Boyd’s OODA Loop Simple Schema 1. Overt Benefit Understand Observe
A Simple Sales Schema Read More »
The Book Club for Business Impact looks at “Communities of Practice” Wed-Jul-13 from Noon to 1pm PDT. I think the key difference between social networks, communities of interest, and communities of practice is that a community of practice has a focus on shared learning. Entrepreneurs of all sorts should consider taking part in communities of
Reminder: Book Club July 13 Community of Practice Read More »
Silicon Valley is a nicely furnished room in a house that’s burning down, the state of California. From Joseph Vranich‘s blog “CA Business Departures Increasing–Now 5x 2009” June 20, 2011. From Jan. 1 of this year through this morning, June 16, we have had 129 disinvestment events occur, an average of 5.4 per week. For
A Nicely Furnished Room In A House That’s Burning Down Read More »
I was rummaging around in Mr. Google’s basement–you can get lost done there in a maze of bright and shiny objects if you are not careful–and I came across this quote by Justin Rosenstein in “How is Asana’s Beta Going” (I am not using nor contemplating using Asana but it’s the next part you should
What Are Your Stable Browser Tabs? Read More »
When I started out at Cisco in 1990 it was a part of the culture that a request for help or question that was too vague or poorly specified would be answered with “How long is a piece of string?”
How Long is a Piece of String Read More »
I have condensed this from a recent series of conversation with bootstrapping entrepreneur. I thought it captured many of the key questions that you need to be consider once you are “open for business.” Bootstrapping Entrepreneur: I am just getting started on a new project. I have several advisors and one has suggested that I
When Do I Need a Model? I am Bootstrapping Read More »
Sometimes a bad example can be useful. I got the following E-Mail from a startup whose tool I had tried to use about a year ago but gave up because it embodied too idiosyncratic view of a particular productivity problem. I had probably spent an hour trying to work with it and perhaps an hour
How Not To Manage Early Adopters Read More »
Humiliation “My own view is,” I began, but no one listened. At the next pause, “I always say,” I remarked, but again the loud talk went on. Someone told a story. When the laughter had ended, “I often think—”; but looking round the table I could catch no friendly or attentive eye. It was humiliating,
Find A Peer Group Who is Interested In What You Have To Say Read More »
Stonehenge They sit there forever on the dim horizon of my mind, that Stonehenge circle of elderly disapproving Faces—Faces of the Uncles and Schoolmasters and Tutors who frowned on my youth. In the bright center and sunlight I leap, I caper, I dance my dance; but when I look up, I see they are not
When I was a boy the 4th of July was sparklers and fireworks in Kirkwood Park. While I don’t find fireworks as exciting today as when I was younger, I do have a better understanding of these words from the Declaration of Independence and I find them very energizing.
July 4, Independence Day, 2011 Read More »
