An exploration of Neal Stephenson’s suggestion that “whenever serious and competent people need to get things done in the real world, all considerations of tradition and protocol fly out the window.”
Serious and Competent People Read More »
Yanis Varoufakis is an economist-in-residence at Valve Software. In “Why Valve? Or, what do we need corporations for and how does Valve’s management structure fit into today’s corporate world?” makes this interesting observation. Valve is a private company owned mostly by few individuals. In that sense, it is an enlightened oligarchy: an oligarchy in that
Yanis Varoufakis: “Valve is an Enlightened Oligarchy” Read More »
I will be speaking on “Accelerating Your Sales” on on Thursday, August 9th at 6:30pm at GroundFloorSV Bring sales questions and situations you would like to discuss. Bring any (or all!) of the following with you: A gnarly sales opportunity with an active prospect where you’d like some help; A prospect that you’d like to
Speaking on “Accelerating Your Sales” at Aug-9 Startup Sales Circle Read More »
What can Silicon Valley learn from Grand Rapids? The value of encouraging the heart.
What Silicon Valley Can Learn From Grand Rapids Read More »
Scott Sambucci of Sales Qualia recently self-published a great book on selling entitled “Startup Selling: How to Sell If You Really, Really Have to and Don’t Know How…” It’s a slim volume chock full of practical advice for entrepreneurs new to selling to businesses. Unlike many business books that have 20 pages of useful content
Scott Sambucci: Seven Tips For Selling as a Startup Founder Read More »
Dear LinkedIn: I am not looking for a job or other full time employment. I have a business account that I pay for every month so you don’t need to try and make money by showing me ads that I don’t want to see. By the way, I don’t want to see any ads, but
Three Things I’d Like LinkedIn To Stop Doing Immediately Read More »
You can follow @skmurphy to get these hot off the mojo wire or wait until the end of the month when these quotes for entrepreneurs are collected on the blog. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–July 2012 Read More »
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,
Draper University of Heroes Takes Holistic Approach to Teaching Entrepreneurship Read More »
Avoid “vendor speak” where you use words like innovative, seamless, robust, disruptive, or patented. These are not words a customer would use to describe your product.
Innovative, Robust, Seamless, Disruptive, and Patented Read More »
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
Speaking at Startup Sales Circle Thu-Aug-9 at GroundFloorSV Read More »
This is a case Study of SKMurphy’s advisory support for eMOBUS. It includes a detailed write-up by Moe Arnaiz, CEO of eMOBUS.
Case Study: eMOBUS Experience With SKMurphy Read More »
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
“Working For Equity” Panel Session Returns to Silicon Valley Code Camp For Third Year Read More »
Debugging your startup requires peace of mind because debugging any problem, including debugging yourself, requires peace of mind. It’s what enables you to stay in flow.
Debugging Your Startup Requires Peace of Mind Read More »
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
The Early Bird Already Has The Worm Read More »
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
Independence Day 2012 Read More »
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
The Fact That Your App Was a Weekend Project Is Not a Feature Read More »
The Bootstrappers Breakfast® website has been re-designed so that it’s wider, brighter and now has a banner full of coffee beans across the top–tea drinkers still welcome! Please let us know what you think… …and drop by a breakfast when it’s convenient, there are meetups in Champaign, IL Chicago, IL Minneapolis, MN Mountain View, CA
Bootstrappers Breakfast® Website Upgraded Read More »
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.
Q: Is Building The Wrong Product A Waste Of Time? Read More »
You can follow @skmurphy to get these hot off the mojo wire or wait until the end of the month when these quotes for entrepreneurs are collected on the blog. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–June 2012 Read More »
S. John Ross wrote a great short essay on “Five Elements of Commercial Appeal in RPG Design” (that I first read in “Things We Think About Games” by Will Hindmarch and Jeff Tidball) that suggested these elements were critical for creating a commercially successful RPG. I think they are also a good way to think
Cliche, Combat, Fellowship, Anarchy, Enigma Read More »
