Startup Fantasy Camp
Startup Fantasy Camp: throw a group of strangers together for 48-72 hours and have them pretend to be a startup.
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–August 2011
You can follow @skmurphy to get them 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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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–July 2011
You can follow @skmurphy to get them 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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I Heard You Went to Stanford
I don’t often mention I went to Stanford when I meet people. I list it on all of my standard biographical summaries since it’s part of the formula, but I don’t lead with it. It’s rare to meet someone who attended Harvard or MIT not mention that in the first few minutes of the conversation.
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Len Sklar: Be Clear About Payment Terms And Consequences
Len Sklar, author “The Check is NOT in the Mail” has spoken several times at Bootstrapper Breakfasts. Here is a recent talk he gave where he stresses the importance of putting payment terms and the consequences on non-payment in writing, communicating them in advance, and ensuring that they are understood. It all seems so obvious
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The Search for Validation is Baggage, and You Need to Travel Light
Jon Carroll wrote a wonderful column on July 5, 2000 titled “As You Get Older.” The whole thing is worth reading but there is a section that begins “This is your challenge…” that reads like poetry. So I have re-formatted it as blank verse, it contains a number of observations on advice and influence that
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Erecting Barriers to Competition That Are Difficult to Duplicate
Here are some barriers to competition that you can erect that are often difficult to duplicate, or at least duplicate rapidly.
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Tangible Costs, Time, and Pricing to Value
Amazon’s S3 and AWS platforms, and similar on demand storage and computing services, are becoming increasing popular as core infrastructure for software startups. There is a tendency, because the costs are well defined, to base your price on adding a margin to these services. There are three problems with that.
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Six From “A Few Rules That I Try To Live By” by Buster Benson
Buster Benson lists “A few rules that I try to live by” on his “Cultivate the Core” blog post. Here are my top six picks from his list of 17 (the bold wording is Buster’s) with some commentary
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Rehearsal
Rehearsal is key to making a successful presentation. If you can do at least two rehearsals of an important presentation it will pay huge dividends.
Venkatesh Rao Thought Provoking on Tempo at Bootstrapper Breakfast
Venkatesh Rao on the OODA Loop. Disruption is operating inside an opponents tempo. It’s not about moving faster or iterating faster, it’s right action at the right time.
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Why We Like Trade Shows
We like trade shows. Prospects who walk up to your booth expect a sales pitch and you can walk the floor and get an industry snapshot.
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Six Afterthoughts From Logan Pearsall Smith For Entrepreneurs
Logan Pearsall Smith wrote “Afterthoughts” in 1931 but I find his aphorisms timeless. I selected these six as good advice or perspective for entrepreneurs:
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Tony Schwartz’s Principles For Fiercely Complex Times
Tony Schwartz offers “Ten Principles For Living in Fiercely Complex Times” that you can “rely on to make choices that reflect openness, integrity and authenticity.” Here are the top three for me: “Emotions are contagious, so it pays to know what you’re feeling.” Tony Schwartz One of the balancing acts of entrepreneurship is control vs.
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Narrative Rationality: Be Mindful Of Your Self-Description
Pay attention to self-description: the story you tell yourself and about yourself. Cultivate productive habits that don’t require conscious decisions. “It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise
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It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC
It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC From Hillel Cooperman‘s “Bootstrapped vs. VC Funded–Who is Likely to Make the Most Money?” I bet that founders of bootstraps end up earning more money over the long haul out of their businesses than founders of venture-backed firms. The rare IPO may spike the numbers in the other direction, but
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A Simple Sales Schema
A simple sales schema offers a conceptual model that offers an organizing principle for how business buyers evaluate and purchase.
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Reminder: Book Club July 13 Community of Practice
Reminder: Book Club July 13, 2011 Community of Practice The Book Club for Business Impact looks at “Communities of Practice” Wed-Jul-13 from Noon to 1pm PDT. I think the key difference between social networks, communities of interest, and communities of practice is that a community of practice has a focus on shared learning. Entrepreneurs of
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A Nicely Furnished Room In A House That’s Burning Down
Silicon Valley is a nicely furnished room in a house that’s burning down, the state of California.
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What Are Your Stable Browser Tabs?
What are you stable browser tabs: what tabs do you leave open all day as you are working?
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