Jack of All Trades
It’s easier to become very good at two or three things than the best at one specific thing: this “Jack of all Trades” strategy applies both for career and entrepreneurial endeavors.
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Do You Use a Wiki to Deliver Services or Develop Content?
I would be interested in talking with other consulting or professional service firms that are using Central Desktop or other wiki systems to collaborate with clients or deliver services. For example, when we give workshops we also put the text of the relevant workbook into a custom workspace for each attendee. Also, as a part
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Common Mistakes in New Product Introduction Demos
A baker’s dozen of common mistakes that I have seen founders make preparing and delivering new product introduction demos and presentations.
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Building an Expertise Based Startup (Part 2)
Building an Expertise Based Startup (Part 2) I asked two weeks ago in “Are You Building An Expertise Based Startup?” about a model for an expertise driven company that I have been working on for more than year. Have come across two other references that I think provide additional context. From a post by David
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Self-Mastery, Expertise, Connections, and Perseverance
Four keys to success in any career, but especially as an entrepreneur, are: self-mastery, expertise, connections, and perseverance.
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Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Innovation in Medical Care
We see a number of entrepreneurial opportunities for innovation in medical care in practice areas where the patient pays for outcomes.
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Honesty in Negotiations
Two key tasks we help early stage teams with are preparing for and executing successful negotiations. Honesty in negotiation is key to a long term deal.
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Cost Effective Approaches to Trademarks
We had a situation earlier this week where a potential competitor started to use the name of a client’s service for a similar offering. Fortunately the client had registered the trademark it last year and we were able to politely bring this to the incipient competitor’s attention. They have notified us that they will stop
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Be Wary of Relying on a Ramjet For Early Growth
There is something very seductive about a ramjet engine, it has no moving parts, and all you need to do is pour jet fuel into it: the fuel catches fire and generates a tremendous amount of thrust. This is the attraction of the two sided market. Just get enough “users” or “prospects” or “buyers” and
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What Goes On Your Business Card in 2010?
It’s hard to believe that I still walk around handing out pieces of paper to new people that I meet. Of course when you wanted a nice resume in 1980 you had to have it typeset–no laser printers yet–so sometimes things do change. What follows is a list of changes by decade for what has
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Real Business Planning Example: Re-Scheduling a Workshop
An actual situation of a business planning example with decisions that are similar to what many entrepreneurs have to make.
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How Can I Make This Blog More Useful for Entrepreneurs?
This was my 2010 plan for making this blog more useful for entrepreneurs. (I have updated it Apr-8-2023 to reflect my progress thirteen years later.)
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Startup Lessons Learned Conference April 23
Eric Ries has asked me to help out as a mentor for B2B startup teams at the Startup Lessons Learned Conference on Friday April 23 from 8AM to 6:30PM. It’s quite a line-up and even if you don’t plan to travel to San Francisco there will be a number of streaming video sites that will
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Inspiration From Ecclesiastes For Bootstrappers
Three selections from the book of Ecclesiastes using the New Jerusalem Bible translation. Chapter 3 from the Ecclesiastes–popularized in the Byrds version of “Turn! Turn! Turn!“–begins with “There is a season for everything, and a time for every occupation under heaven:” but I think 3:3 A time for tears, a time for laughter, a time
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Are You Building An Expertise Driven Startup?
I have been wrestling with this concept of the expertise driven company for a while now. I welcome any feedback on the model, I believe that it’s an elaboration of the hypothesis set around customer discovery and validation with a small amount of what’s involved in the early stages of founding team formation. The concept
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs – March 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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Killer Instinct Can Blind You to the Value of Partners
A “killer instinct” that allows you to focus and prioritize is helpful, but if it blinds you to win-win outcomes you will not succeed as an entrepreneur. Killer Instinct In “Killer Instinct” Rafael Corrales writes: “There are no plus-minus stats to measure a player’s ruthlessness, his desire to beat his opponent so badly he’ll need
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Solve Real Problems That People Will Pay For Where You Add Unique Value
Tien G. Nguyen suggested three filters for a good business idea: Solve a problem that he has personally. Solve a problem that customers will pay you immediately to solve. Solve a problem that is a real one for customers. What I think he is looking for in #1 is a problem that he has some
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Inventors & IP Management: Bill Meade Interview
I was delighted when Bill Meade, President of Basic IP Management, Inc. agreed to an interview about managing innovation and intellectual property (IP) to maximize profits. Bill served as Intellectual Property Manager and Future Products Manager at Hewlett-Packard, where he “lit the fire” that moved HP from #18 in US patenting to #3. He has
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Moving From Vision to Engagement With Prospects
I had an e-mail exchange with William Pietri (@williampietri) back in October that I am reproducing here with his permission. I believe that it highlights a set of issues around “being in the grip of a vision” in a useful way. William Pietri: I’m wondering how Lean Startup founders handle attacks of vision. Do you
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