I blogged about mass E-Mails in “Please Take Me Off Of Your E-Mail Distribution List” in Sep-2007 but I got the following E-Mail recently which gave me some pause (names change to protect the repentant). Hi Sean, How is your summer going? Things are going great here at [XYZ Co]–in the past couple of quarters […]
Send Personal E-Mail Read More »
High availability is often expressed as “nines”, or the percentage of availability in a year. Six nines is 99.9999% uptime or no more than 31.5 seconds of downtime in a year.
Achieving “Six Nines” When You Launch Read More »
Both engineering and entrepreneurship alternate exploration and verification cycles to develop a solution that satisfies a customer’s need. Both of these rely on the scientific method of “observation, hypothesis formation, prediction, and experimentation” to develop and validate testable theories, engineering solutions, and profitable products. Both require that a new configuration or an opportunity be recognized
The Limits of “I Will Know It When I See It” Read More »
There is never enough time to do everything you have to do. While you should always seek to be more productive, the reality is that you have to focus for effect: priorities trump productivity.
Priorities Trump Productivity Read More »
One formulation of Conway’s Law is that communication problems in an organization will manifest in their finished products: communication channels matter.
Conway’s Law: the Co-Evolution of Business Organization and Product Design Read More »
Key takeaways from “Eight Rules for Prototyping” by John Hanks and Todd Dobberstein. A prototype is used both to assess technical feasibility and to provide a demonstration to a customer to get feedback. Customer development is a sequence of prototypes.
Customer Development is a Sequence of Prototypes Read More »
Cecily Drucker, CEO and Founder of Bottom Line Time–and daughter of the late Peter Drucker–has a good post up on the “What Would Dad Say” blog entitled “Secrets of a 64 year old Startup Virgin” that lists fourteen startup secrets she has learned with her first startup. She has a few more insights in her introduction
Cecily Drucker’s Startup Secrets Read More »
Be Here Now When Giving a Talk I spent Monday through Wednesday of this week at O’Reilly ETech and was struck by how infrequently the audience met the presenter’s expectations. We rarely seemed to be large enough. Since this is about emerging trends I picked a number of oddball sessions and saw the same reaction
Be Here Now When Giving a Talk Read More »
Yesterday’s post talked about traction as the ability to set and hit goals. Here are three tests for goals to determine if they well-formed for your startup team.
Three Tests For Goals Read More »
Networking is good questions, listening, and helping others. Carry more than your own card. Connect folks who will benefit from talking.
Three Things I’ve Learned About Networking Read More »
Three Answers We Need Before We Will Use a New Productivity App Do You Have a Pricing Model? We use many web applications to run our business and deliver services. Often our clients are also users of the application. If the application has a problem our clients hold us accountable. We need to see a
Three Answers We Need Before We Will Use a New Productivity App Read More »
Five tips for end of year planning for startup entrepreneurs. As the year draws to a close dates in calendar are closer than they appear.
Last Full Work Week of 2008: Tips for End of Year Planning Read More »
Last December Michael Arrington wrote “The Twice Shy Entrepreneur” lamenting that entrepreneurs like himself who had lived through the dotcom meltdown were more cautious. They were “once bitten, twice shy.”
Michael Arrington “Twice Shy” One Year Later Read More »
See www.xkcd.com/ for more comics. This scene plays out in one form or another several times a year.I have learned to: send the E-Mail just to myself and read it again in the morning. save the forum comment in a separate text file. save the blog post for review in the morning. Update Tue-Nov-5: Jim
Late Night Comments and E-Mail Read More »
Some post-Thanksgiving musings on my belief that most people want to do a good job. As you grow your startup find ways for everyone involved to work hard, see an impact, and improve. “Ancient Greeks defined happiness as the exercise of vital powers, along lines of excellence, in a life affording them scope” Edith Hamilton
Offer Scope for Employees to Exercise Their Vital Powers Read More »
A great write-up by Yatin Trivedi on the value of coopetition: the motivation for a partnership program in any company is to better serve the customers beyond one’s ability.
Yatin Trivedi on the Value of Coopetition Read More »
When introducing disruptive tools, the difficulty of adoption is proportional to the cube of the number of organizational silos who need to agree.
Disruptive Tools Can Stall At Group Boundaries Read More »
In April of 2001, as the euphoria from 1999 started to fall to earth again (by October it would be accessible only by Deep Submersible Rescue Vehicle) Daniel Pink wrote “Land of the Free” in Fast Company that was a teaser for “Free Agent Nation” as a hardback in May of 2001 and paperback in
Daniel Pink’s “Free Agent Nation” Worth Revisiting Read More »
I think every startup above a certain size needs someone who can do “odd jobs” with an even temper. Especially in tough times, don’t underestimate the value of small kindnesses, humor, and calmness in a crisis.
Odd Jobs With an Even Temper Read More »
Having a public reference, testimonial, or case study is a significant risk reducing asset for a startup. It’s prudent to negotiate the level of reference in parallel with price.
Negotiate the Level of Reference in Parallel with Price and Others Terms and Conditions Read More »
