Q: Should I Tap My 401K To Bootstrap?
Q: Should I tap my 401K to bootstrap my startup? A: No, and read Barry Moltz’s “You Have to Be a Little Crazy” on the risks of money from friends and family.
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Good and Bad Reasons to Pivot
Much has been written about a startup making a pivot in direction after Eric Ries first coined the term in a 2009 blog post “Pivot don’t Jump to a New Vision.” The word pivot has attracted almost as much wordplay as the word lean. What follows is a short list of good and bad reasons to
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Esther Derby’s Six Rules for Change
Esther Derby (@estherderby) presented “Six Rules for Change” at LeanWX NYC 2015 “The Design of Purposeful Work” Congruence. Honor what is valuable about the past and what is working now. Assess the current situation and system. Ascertain who is trusted and who people turn to for advice, and weave them into your network. Guide the
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Larry Smith: Fail Fast, Fail Often, and Die
Larry Smith is an Economics Professor of Economics at the University of Waterloo who writes and lectures on Entrepreneurship, innovation, and Technology markets. What follows is part of a conversation he had with Alan Quarry in the AQ’s Blog & Grill series of interviews with entrepreneurs. His key point, that he makes in a somewhat cranky fashion, is that technology
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Resources for Student Entrepreneur Organizations
With the 2016 school year getting ready to start in the next six to eight weeks at most colleges and universities I have had several conversations with student entrepreneur organizations about how I might be able to help them. I have developed content and given talks and webinars over the last five years that may provide
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Webinar Replay: You Need to Be a Little Crazy
This is a webinar replay that was recorded on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 with Massimo Paolini, Miles Kehoe, Dorai Thodla, and Sean Murphy discussing Barry Moltz‘s “You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business.” They share how they personally found the courage to start their businesses and their
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Kennedy Inaugural Address 1961
Selections from the John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address, Friday, January 20, 1961. 54 years have passed and we face the same challenges but seem possessed of less courage in our beliefs and less committed to spreading democracy.
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13 From Zeldin’s 36 Topics for a Serious Conversation
Theodore Zeldin‘s “Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives” ends with a list of 36 topics for a serious conversation. I have selected 13 for entrepreneurs to consider.
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Jonathan Bendor: Use Rubrics To Guide Innovation
An interesting interview from May 1, 2015 with Jonathan Bendor, a Stanford professor, who suggests that firms use rubrics to guide innovation so that criticism becomes less personal and more consistent and constructive. What follows is an edited transcript with some additional commentary.
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Gary Smith 1941-2015
Gary Smith, founder and chief analyst at Gary Smith EDA, passed away July 3, 2015 after a brief illness. He was a good friend and a mentor and he contributed substantially to fostering the collaboration around a shared vision in Electronic Design Automation that is necessary to keep Moore’s Law moving forward. I learned a
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Summer Reading List for Entrepreneurs–2015 Edition
Here is my summer reading list for entrepreneurs, 2015 edition. These six books cover a range of topics: sales and marketing, skills for innovation, cultivating expertise, giving and getting advice, pursuing mastery, and mapping the value chain for a new product.
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A Serious Conversation Can Change Your Life
Theodore Zeldin gave a series of six lectures on conversation that were collected in slim book called “Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives.” I found it offered a number of insights on what is needed for a serious conversation. And since serious conversation is one of the primary tools for early market exploration and
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–June 2015
You can follow @skmurphy to get these quotes for entrepreneurs hot off the mojo wire or wait until they are collected in a blog post at the end of each month. Enter your E-mail address if you would like to have new blog posts sent to you.
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Quotes From Whispers Under Ground, Broken Homes, and Foxglove Summer
Some quotes from “Whispers Under Ground“, “Broken Homes“, and “Foxglove Summer.” They are the third, fourth, and fifth novels in Ben Aaronovitch’s “Rivers of London” series of novels about Peter Grant, a London Police Constable and apprentice magician. I bought these three on the strength of his first book I had the feeling that Aaronovitch
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Henri Frederic Amiel on How to Be Ready
What follows is the entry for August 15, 1851 by Henri Frederic Amiel in his Journal where he explores how to be ready, how to focus on the essential and how to fulfill your purpose. I have added some details on my own shortcomings: procrastination, disorganization, and a rock-paper-scissors approach to picking the next task
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Moon over Soho: Nature, Technology, Magic
Some extracts with commentary from Ben Aaronovitch’s “Moon over Soho.” It’s the second in his “Rivers of London” series of novels about Peter Grant, a London Police Constable and apprentice magician. I have selected them to revisit yesterday’s “Nature, Technology and Magic” post.
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Nature, Technology and Magic
What seems natural, artificial, or supernatural is a function of familiarity. Nature is the background or context for innovation. The challenge is that we live in a world and culture formed by millennia of innovation so that some incredibly advanced technologies seem natural. The difference between technology and magic is not that one works more
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” is an autobiographical fantasy novel written by Neil Gaiman in 2013. He explores how we carry the lessons of childhood and the wisdom of a seven year old with us throughout our lives.
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Investment Presentation Formats
If you have bootstrapped your startup to the point where you have a business that both merits and would benefit from outside investment then you may need to consider seeking investment. Here are some common formats we have seen for an investor presentation.
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Your First Dozen Enterprise Customers
My interview with Gabriel Weinberg was originally published Sep-8-2010. He was doing research for what became his fantastic book Traction. We talked for the better part of an hour and a half and I can remember he kept returning in different ways to what was needed to close your first dozen enterprise customers. He recently
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