Improving The Techdirt Insight Community
I wrote this in 2007 in response to a set of questions posed by Mike Masnick to the Techdirt Insight Community.
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Leveraging Your Social Network to Find Early Customers Monday Feb 11 at SDForum
I will be speaking next Monday at the SDForum Marketing SIG on “Leveraging Your Social Network to Find Early Customers.” Social navigation is networking with a goal. Entrepreneurs will spend social capital navigating their way to getting trusted feedback and early sales. Like Google and web assisted selling tools, social network tools can improve the
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Three Features For A Webinar Or Conference Call
Three features for a webinar or conference call: let someone raise their hand and speak; break a larger group into small groups and then reconvene; automatically manage the “queue for the microphone” during the Q&A segment.
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Advanced Topics Session Added To The March 8 Great Demo! Workshop
Advanced Topics Session Added To The March 8 Great Demo Workshop include presenting to a mixed audience with different needs and vision generation.
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Focus On Your Prospect’s Pain Not The Brilliance of Your Product Idea
Many entrepreneurs find themselves in the grip of an idea, captivated by its seeming brilliance. But success comes from understanding a prospect’s pain.
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Three Tips for Minimizing Misunderstandings Among Co-Founders
Here are three tips for minimizing misunderstandings among co-founders: get clarity on the problem before arguing over solutions, maintain full transparency about spending, and work from a one-page operating plan.
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HP’s Early Customers Came From Fred Terman’s Social Network
HP produced its first brochure and sent it to a list of about 25 potential customers provided by Fred Terman. Orders soon came in from early customers.
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Lunch & Learn: Using Wikis for Projects
Outline from my talk on Using Wikis for Projects at People On the Go Jan-24-2008. Talk includes benefits we have experienced in our practice.
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Steve Blank on Customer Development Process for Startups
I was an early fan of Steve Blank’s customer development model. This post was written when “Four Steps to the Epiphany” was only available on Cafe Press and documents the early set of principles he espoused.
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Idea to Revenue Workshop on Jan-19-08 is Sold Out
The Idea to Revenue Workshop scheduled for January 19 is now sold out and no walk-ins will be accepted. We had added this in December in response to the overflow demand for the December 6 one and are now considering adding a third. Please contact us and let us know if you are interested or
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We Sign NDA’s
We get asked “Will you sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement?” fairly often, to the point that we are proactive, suggesting that a prospect take a look at our Mutual NDA [PDF] and sign it if it would increase their comfort level. A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) allows us to have a deeper and more useful discussion. We
Hello 2008
Let’s say hello to 2008 and hope the year finds us all healthy, surrounded by loved ones, and living up to our potential.
CINA Holiday Mixer
The 2007 CINA Holiday Mixer had a nice turnout: it was networking followed by a traditional twelve course Chinese lunch.
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Seeing The Elephant: The Entrepreneur’s Challenge of Integrating Advice
To “see the elephant” entrepreneurs must work toward a holistic perspective by integrating advice and conflicting views from a variety of sources.
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Entrepreneurs, Luck, and Silicon Valley
2003 reflections on the dotcom crash–the year I started SKMurphy, Inc., and 4 rules of thumb from Richard Wiseman on making you own luck.
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How To Ask An Expert For Help
Entrepreneurs often have to ask an expert for help. Here is some common mistakes to avoid and suggestions for how to make a positive response more likely.
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CINA Holiday Mixer Sat-Dec-15
CINA Holiday Mixer Set for Sat-Dec-15-2007 I have been invited to emcee this year’s CINA Holiday mixer, it will be held at Fenwick on Saturday December 15, from 10am to 1pm. It will start with networking followed by a traditional twelve course Chinese lunch. It should be a lot of fun whether you are new
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One Name or Two for Product and Company
Athol Foden was a guest speaker at today’s Bootstrapper Breakfast and he brought his passion for naming and deep knowledge of the issues that around it. One question that came up this morning–and comes up with a lot of very early stage teams–is whether or not to name the company the same as the product
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21 Great Questions for Developing New Products
Here are 21 great questions for developing new products, the checklist is from “Breakthrough Thinking From Inside the Box” by Coyne, Clifford, and Dye; the commentary is mine.
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Entrepreneurial Innovation Comes More From Borrowing & Combining Than Invention
I came across a good quote on innovation and invention in a 2004 article in Fortune Magazine by Harold Evans called “What Drives America’s Greatest Innovators“ (emphasis added) [The] defining characteristic of the innovator: a determination to bring a brainwave into the bustle of the marketplace. […] More innovations come from borrowing and combining than
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