Finding A Co-Founder
This is based on both my direct experience and stories folks have shared at the Bootstrappers Breakfast® over the last few years about finding a co-founder.
Finding A Co-Founder Read More »
Treat Social Capital With the Same Care as Cash
Actively Manage Expectations With Clear Communications Always Assume Everything You Do Will Become Public Listen For What Isn’t Being Said Predictable Behavior Inspires Trust Trust Doesn’t Scale, It’s Knit by Aligning Actions With Prior Commitments Related Posts Honesty in Negotiations The Business is Everyone’s Business Conserving Trust in a Downturn Bouncing Back
Treat Social Capital With the Same Care as Cash Read More »
The Half-Life of Wisdom
Excerpts from section 7 “Seek Wisdom, Competence, and Confidence” of “Slow Down to Speed Up” by Ronald J. Stupak and David S. Greisler The half-life of information is six months. The half-life of wisdom is a lifetime. The self is not infinitely elastic. It has potentials and it has limits. If the work we do
The Half-Life of Wisdom Read More »
Are You Generating iPad Fishbowl Leads?
Two years ago we asked the question “Are You Generating iPod Fishbowl Leads” I was reminded of this by a recent post by Simon Favre “You Can’t Give Stuff Away Fast Enough” about his recent experiences at DAC 2010 working in both the Global Foundries (GF) and TSMC booths.
Are You Generating iPad Fishbowl Leads? Read More »
Kurt Keutzer on Engineering Entrepreneurship & EDA
Highlights from an interview with Kurt Keutzer as part of the 2010 Design Automation Conference. He uses Foster’s S-curve from “Innovation: The Attacker’s Advantage” to offer perspective on EDA.
Kurt Keutzer on Engineering Entrepreneurship & EDA Read More »
Beat The Clock
Global teams work 24 hours a day, 7 day a week to “beat the clock.” Here are some tips to increase their effectiveness.
Collecting Unpaid Bills
In 1995 I did some work for one of the early web startups in Palo Alto. They had delivered a number of database driven websites using a proprietary software technology that they had developed, and had sold the technology to several firms. But they had a problem collecting unpaid bills: they had not been paid
Collecting Unpaid Bills Read More »
Tips For Modeling & Managing Cash Flow
There were a number of excellent suggestions from last Tuesday’s Bootstrapper Breakfast with Rick Kadet on managing and modeling your cash flow. Rick Kadet opened with some good points about common mistakes founders make in modeling and managing cash flow: They can focus too much on the current bank balance and burn rate and neglect
Tips For Modeling & Managing Cash Flow Read More »
Simple Client Satisfaction & Process Improvement Survey
Whether it’s a free phone call or a working session, a workshop, or a longer term engagement we normally send the following four question survey to all of the participants: Please help us improve our engagement and service delivery processes. Please take five minutes and answer the following four questions with one or two items
Simple Client Satisfaction & Process Improvement Survey Read More »
Ben Yoskovitz: Start with Passion For Solving a Problem
Ben Yoskovitz stresses the importance of starting with a passion for solving a problem, not evangelizing your solution.
Ben Yoskovitz: Start with Passion For Solving a Problem Read More »
You Must Be Mistaken
It’s easy to tell someone that they are mistaken or wrong. It rarely encourages teamwork or useful dialog.
You Must Be Mistaken Read More »
Cash Management For Bootstrappers
The 2010 Silicon Valley economy continues to test bootstrapping entrepreneurs cash management skills. Here are tips for surviving a downturn.
Cash Management For Bootstrappers Read More »
DAC 2010 Blog Coverage Roundup
Here is my roundup of blog posts about the 2010 Design Automation Conference. You can also follow the #47DAC hashtag on twitter for breaking announcements during the conference. Last year’s roundup is available a DAC 2009 Blog Coverage Roundup. Original intro: If you write a blog post that reviews an event, a day, or DAC
DAC 2010 Blog Coverage Roundup Read More »
How Can I Improve This Blog?
Please use my contact form to let me know “What Should I Do To Improve the SKMurphy Blog?” and enter enter your name and E-mail if you are open to answering my questions about your suggestion. Update June 28: Dave Concannon really made my day with this tweet Sean Murphy’s blog is fantastic, check it
How Can I Improve This Blog? Read More »
A Recent Experience As A Beta User
I check out a few new products every month that I think may be of use in our practice. The following is a true story of a recent experience I had experimenting with a new B2B oriented one that I will call Hotel California. I have changed the name because I signed a license agreement
A Recent Experience As A Beta User Read More »
Please Suggest a Quote For Entrepreneurs
Originally published June 11, 2010 I mentioned last week that my “Startup Wisdom (2009) E-book” was available. I thought I would provide some more background on my interest in quotes and offer an incentive for my readers to “Suggest a Quote for Entrepreneurs” using my contact form. I have been collecting quotes for more than
Please Suggest a Quote For Entrepreneurs Read More »
Innovation Needs Starvation, Pressure, and a New Perspective
Successful innovation results when entrepreneurs manage their own shortcomings, find a problem they care about, and approach it from different angles with small safe-to-fail experiments. Dave Snowden on Culture and Innovation Dave Snowden has a thought provoking post on Culture and Innovation where he identified three necessary, but not sufficient conditions for innovation to take
Innovation Needs Starvation, Pressure, and a New Perspective Read More »
Distant Early Warning Signs of Market Disruption
Disruption is caused by the new business models an innovation enables. A disruptive innovation can be hard to spot because competitors can offer a different value proposition, not necessarily a better one.
Distant Early Warning Signs of Market Disruption Read More »
Six Elements to Extract From Customer Discovery Interviews
Key take-aways from customer discovery interviews: prospect’s description of their situation, needs, vision for a solution, plan to measure solution impact.
Six Elements to Extract From Customer Discovery Interviews Read More »
Deprecating Facebook Part Two
I am deprecating my use of Facebook except for a small group of friends and family. On-line communities do not enable person to person trust to scale.
Deprecating Facebook Part Two Read More »