Take Time to Walk Around The Problem
It’s rare for a new initiative to work the first time, at least when I try. I have to “walk around the problem” to look at it from different perspectives.
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Traveling Hopefully
For my first post of 2011 I commit to traveling hopefully. I was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s observation “to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labor.”
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs–December 2010
You can follow @skmurphy to get these quotes for entrepreneurs hot off the mojo wire or wait until the end of the month when they are collected on the blog. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
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Virtual and On-Line Are As Superfluous As Horseless and Electric
Virtual and On-Line Are As Superfluous As Horseless and Electric I think “virtual team” is rapidly becoming redundant: just as “horseless carriage” became car I think “virtual team” will become just team. Most project teams will have a virtual component (e.g. on-line workspace, chat histories) and geographically remote members, if only to involve suppliers, partners,
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The Snow Lay Round About, Deep and Crisp and Even
Luck is like snow, a certain amount falls on everyone. But unlike snow, you can increase your luck.
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Let Men Their Songs Employ
I have been thinking about different kinds of teams and team work. For example a choir has sheet music (“Let Men Their Songs Employ”) that predefines the content and timing of each person’s contribution. In a different way the script for a play outlines the content and sequence of each actor’s part.
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If Money Doesn’t Change Hands, You Can’t Call a User a Customer
Here is another excerpt from my September interview with Gabriel Weinberg. This one focuses on why payment and testimonials are so important to differentiate users from actual customers.
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Customer Development Requires a Willingness to Be Surprised
Customer Development Requires a Willingness to Be Surprised And by “surprised” I mean: able to admit that your assumptions are wrong open to new insights from prospects willing to change your plans for your product or your startup willing begin again with a better frame of reference Inspired by Bob Lewis’ “Holiday Card to the
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Quotes On The Limitations of Cleverness
A couple of quotes for entrepreneurs on the limitations of cleverness. Don’t just be clever, be kind and make things of beauty with care.
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Annie Dillard on the Appreciation of Grace and Beauty
There seems to be such a thing as beauty, a grace wholly gratuitous. About five years ago I saw a mockingbird make a straight vertical descent from a roof gutter of a four-story building. It was an act as careless and spontaneous as the curl of a stem or the kindling of a star. The
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The Venture Lifestyle Business
“Some buildings need air conditioning because they have air conditioning. Because they were designed to be air conditioned, they have no natural ventilation and would be miserable to inhabit without air conditioning.” John Cook in “Maybe You Only Need It Because You Have It“ I wonder if the same thing happens to some fraction of
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Keeping the Ball Rolling With Prospects
Keeping the ball rolling with prospects requires a mix of empathy for their situation and a project management mindset.
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Narrowcast Early Product Announcements
My bias is to “narrowcast” in the beginning. Choose websites, forums, newsgroups that are tightly focused on your target market. You attract less competition, your message cost is normally cheaper per prospect, and you often learn faster by taking part in the conversations in a focused community. It’s not so much about being stealthy as
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Quick Thoughts on Selling For Software Engineers
Some quick thoughts on selling for software engineers. Sell results, not method. Land and Expand. Get clarity on the customer’s view of the problem. Listen.
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Deformation Professionelle Of The Software Entrepreneur
Deformation professionelle is a French phrase that encapsulates the perspective that your view of reality is shaped by your profession.
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Orienting, Observing, Doing Homework, and Paying Dues
Paying dues–putting the time in not only to understand but master a problem or situation–is a critical element of success in many circumstances.
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Building and Managing a Learning Process
If you accept the premise that we are living in an age of accelerating change, then you have to build and manage a learning process for your startup.
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Seven Quotes on Learning and Measurement From Marty Neumeier
In July I posted “Ten Design Thinking Quotes From Marty Neumeier. Mr. Neumeier has continued his drip irrigation of brilliant insights on twitter at @MARTYneumeier so here are seven of his recent ones related to learning and measurement.
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Bootstrapper Breakfasts in December 2010
We have added two Holiday Bootstrapper Breakfasts in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, continuing a tradition started two years ago of running two breakfasts that week at 9am. Any of these December breakfasts are a great opportunity to take some time to not only recap 2010 but also look forward for 2011.
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