Paul Tyma defines the Old Man’s Business Model as taking the sure way, even though it may be longer than shortcuts that may not work. Tyma calls a “trade-off of investment up-front versus brute-force hope.” The “old man” makes an investment up front instead of hoping a quick and dirty approach may work.
Paul Tyma on “The Old Man’s Business Model” Read More »
Entrepreneurs are often quick to characterize prospects who don’t see the benefits of their new shiny technology as laggards. Sometimes that’s the case, but often the product presentation does not present benefits that are either relevant or compelling. Laggards get a lot of bad press in the startup community, but their reasons not to change
Q: Help! I Can Only Find Laggards in My Target Customer Segment Read More »
Finding the right customers is not just a matter of kissing frogs until one turns into a prince, but a methodical search guided by an experimentation perspective where your selection criteria are continually refined and re-evaluated.
A Q&A with Lee Carter where we explore the value of direct observation of customer environments to complement customer interviews. Lee shares details of a project he worked on where direct observation provided a valuable complement to a basic product specification.
Lee Carter on the Value of Direct Observation Read More »
If you have “failed fast” it’s still possible to recover as long as your team has shared trust and a sense of common purpose. Failed Fast, Now What? Q: We started out with a mission that we found compelling and executed pretty well against it but now we are out of money and cannot figure
Failed Fast, Now What? Read More »
In “My Billion Dollar Mistake” Hiten Shah shares four lessons he learned from the early successes and ultimate eclipse of KISSMetrics.
Hiten Shah: Four Lessons I Learned Squandering My Opportunity at KISSMetrics Read More »
When John Perry Barlow turned 30 in 1977 he wrote a set of 25 “Principles of Adult Behavior” that he asked his friends to hold him accountable to. Here are a few I want to incorporate into my life.
Learning from John Perry Barlow’s Principles of Adult Behavior Read More »
A personal note on why I enjoy working with teams of bootstrapping entrepreneurs and the kinds of problems we help them solve.
Why I Enjoy Working With Teams of Bootstrapping Entrepreneurs Read More »
My longer answer to “Do you ever get the feeling that everything you know is wrong?” The short answer is “yes, every few years.”
Do You Ever Get the Feeling That Everything You Know is Wrong? Read More »
Design your MVP in two weeks to avoid adding unnecessary features and complexity to your offering. A two-week time box forces you to focus on essentials.
Design Your MVP In Two Weeks Read More »
A concierge MVP or service -first approach delivers the benefits that your product offers as a service or consulting first, charging for the result not your time.
Concierge MVP or Service-First Forces You To Be Your Own Test Pilot Read More »
Professional services innovation requires deepening your understanding of customer needs and emerging problem areas, deepening expertise, and incorporating technology and specialized tools into service delivery.
Professional Services Innovation: Customer Insight, Expertise, and Technology Read More »
Here are seven sets of insights from “Organize for Complexity” by Niels Pflaeging that I found useful for entrepreneurs who scaling their startup and intrapreneurs who are driving change in large organizations.
7 Sets of Insights from “Organize for Complexity” by Niels Pflaeging Read More »
Napoleon Hill wrote “The Magic Ladder to Success” in 1930. Despite being a con man and failure for most of his life, Hill was able to accurately summarize a number of common sense rules for success. I have tried to pull out some key insights in this blog post, leaving out a number of other
Napoleon Hill on Principles for Success in Business and Life Read More »
It’s useful to explore several paths in parallel and have a default list of pivots ready of your first few efforts don’t bear fruit.
Q: How Do I Plan for Pivots or Even Shutting Down My Startup? Read More »
SKMurphy Support Letter for Kinetic River SBIR Wed-Sep-5-2018 I am writing to support the Kinetic River Phase II SBIR on a novel flow cytometry instrument. Since 2003 I have worked at SKMurphy, Inc. as a business development consultant for dozens of early stage technology startups. I have been an advisor to
SKMurphy Support Letter for Kinetic River SBIR Read More »
David Brooks offers a metaphor for college graduation as a transition from traveling station to station to navigating a borderless sea. The same can be said for making the transition from employee to entrepreneur.
College Graduation: From Traveling Station to Station to Navigating a Borderless Sea Read More »
In February 2010 Derek Sivers gave a great talk on “How to Start a Movement” that offered some important tips for leaders and but offered the surprising conclusion that concluded that the most important and underappreciated key to a successful movement was the follower’s courage to follow and ability to show others how to follow.
Derek Sivers: How to Start a Movement Read More »
Key points from Mary Sorber’s presentation on “Qualitative Research: Problem Exploration for Lean Startups” at Lean Culture July-31-2018.
Qualitative Research: Problem Exploration for Lean Startups Read More »
The October 2018 Great Demo! Workshop at Embassy Suites by Hilton in Milpitas that past attendees have stayed at and enjoyed. A list of other nearby hotels.
Hotels near October 2018 Great Demo! Workshop Read More »
