Memorial Day 2012
On Memorial Day 2012 in we commemorate those who died in the service of our country. I offer some excerpts from Lt. Col. Michael Strobl’s account of escorting the remains of a Marine killed in combat in 2004 for you to meditate on.
David Foster Wallace: The Only Choice We Get is What to Worship
What follows are excerpts from a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. I thought they were an appropriate antidote to a model for entrepreneurial motivation that aspires to make enough money to do whatever you want. Wallace outlines some of the risks in failing to align
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Conversations With Prospects: Practice, Review, Share Notes, Ask for Feedback
Conversations with prospects unfold in real time: you must listen for what’s said and not said, manage your emotions, and understand the implications.
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Jim Manzi: Focus on Delivering Value to Customers at a Foreseeable Profit.
Jim Manzi, founder of Lotus and Applied Predictive Technologies, advises entrepreneurs to “Focus on delivering value to customers at a foreseeable profit” in “How to Succeed in Business by Really, Really Trying.” How to Succeed in Business by Really, Really Trying. It’s a great article and also on the limits of advice to entrepreneurs, in particular autobiographies
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The Wit to See and Understand Objective Reality
Shared situational awareness means that a team has reached–and maintains–a working consensus on the objective reality they must deal with.
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Founder as Change Agent from Reamde
In Reamde, Neal Stephenson captures the value that a company founder can continue to provide after significant growth: change agent.
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Tristan Kromer Joins Book Club’s Panel on Networking Skill Development
We continue our review of “The Innovator’s DNA” by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen with a focus on networking, which the author’s define as seeking serious conversation with individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise. Here is a quote by Ronald Burt on creativity from idea brokerage (condensed from page 117): “People connected
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Founders Story: Arun Kumar of Kerika
The following interview is constructed from e-mails and skype calls from February to April 2012 with Arun Kumar of Kerika. See also this video: https://vimeo.com/24502212 and the Kerika blog for more info on Kerika. Founders Story: Arun Kumar of Kerika Q: Can you talk a little bit about your background I started off as a
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Seth Godin “Trust Is Even More Scarce Than Attention”
“Trust is even more scarce than attention.” Trust doesn’t scale, it’s built up by repeated interactions over time. That’s what makes it so important.
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Three Tips from Sid Faulkner For Preparing To Sell Your Startup
Sid Faulkner, CFO of Ciranova gave a talk today on “Navigating the Treacherous Path of Mergers and Acquisitions” at an event at Abbot Stringham and Lynch. Mr. Faulkner was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Oak Technology, Inc. where he led the 1995 initial and secondary public stock offerings, established an active program of
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–April 2012
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.
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Four Excerpts from the Valve Employee Handbook That Belong In Yours
A link to the Valve Employee Handbook made it to front page of Hacker News recently and I can see why, it makes for very interesting reading.
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Focus on Delighting Early Customers Over Accumulating Followers
Focus on delighting early customers over accumulating followers. You need proof of deep value in a niche over small value dispersed over a large market.
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A Storm Driven Sparrow
Two excerpts, one from H. Rider Haggard and one from Venerable Bede, that use a sparrow in flight as a metaphor for the evanescence of a man’s life.
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Michael Malone “Good Friday: A Day to Contemplate Your Life”
Some Good Friday thoughts by Michael Malone on success in Silicon Valley and the need to contemplate your life from time to time.
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The Technology is Nothing Without the Team
The technology is nothing without the team. Teams listen to customers and translate technology into supported products.
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Worry About Scaling After You Find Your Niche
It’s very hard to forecast the rate of adoption of a genuinely new offering in an emerging market, one that is discontinuous with current practice. A focus on scaling is premature until you have proof of value and have found your niche.
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A Beta Customer Is Not A Tester Or A User But An Early Customer
“Beta customer” blurs beta tester, beta user, and early customer. If you sell to business, beta customers are early customers, not beta testers.
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–March 2012
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.
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Startup Stages Overview Video
Here is our Startup Stages Overview video, it explains our startup stages model and the risk reducing milestones that separate each stage.
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