Is it Prudence or Procrastination?
Is it prudence or procrastination? Some simple tests for determining whether you need to gather more information or act now based on what you already know.
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Checklist
The Phoenix Checklist for Framing a Problem and Its Solution
In “Thinkertoys,” Michael Michalko (@MichaelMichalko) describes “The Phoenix Checklist” as a rich set of questions developed by the CIA designed to help agents look at a challenge from many different angles.
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Innovation is the first reduction to practice of an idea in a culture
Entrepreneurs need to focus on innovation or the first reduction to practice of an idea in a culture because this is the critical precursor to customer value.
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Daniel Kahneman’s Reasoned Rule Approach to Reducing Case Management Errors
A reasoned rule approach is a good first step to managing decisions that fall into common patterns or cases. You identify six to eight variables that are distinct and obviously impact the outcome of the case and normalize them into standard scores that can then be added or averaged to create a summary score.
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Brent Beshore: 5 Habits To Cultivate That Enable Success
Brent Beshore recently shared an email he had sent to a college seniors that outlined five habits to cultivate for success. In a nutshell they are industry, humility, kindness, learning continually, and taking notes.
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Developing a New Product? Key Questions to Ask
An infographic with some key questions to consider when developing a new product. Originally suggested in “Breakthrough Thinking From Inside the Box” by Coyne, Clifford, and Dye in HBR December 2007.
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More Unsolicited Advice From David Cain
David Cain has many thoughtful and carefully observed posts on his blog “Raptitude: Getting Better at Being Human.” Here are excerpts from three posts that offer practical advice for entrepreneurs.
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Stephanie Shateria: How To Look and Feel Authentic On Camera
Key takeaways from a talk today by Stephanie Shaterian on at Women in Consulting event on “How To Look and Feel Authentic On Camera”
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Key Questions to Answer Before Adding A Feature to Niche Software
A niche software supplier provides expertise and functionality that individual firms in an industry would find more expensive to develop on their own. Managing the feature content and evolution of the feature set requires that a reasonable fraction (for example at least 30-40%) of the customer base needs the feature so that they feel they
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Extracting Insights From A Competitor’s Software Demo
Edited remarks from a presentation at the Silicon Valley Society for Competitive Analysis on Tue-May-24 on “Extracting Insights From A Competitor’s Software Demo.”
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Am I Making A Fool Of Myself?
One of the most common questions I hear in conversations with entrepreneurs at a Bootstrapper Breakfasts, in Office Hours calls, or with clients–and not infrequently from myself when comparing notes with peers–is, “Am I making a fool of myself?” Here are some questions you can use to clarify your situation when you are starting to feel like a
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Delegation Needed For Growth
As entrepreneurs we need to pay attention to the details that matter but to achieve even modest growth or scaling we also need to use delegation. We need to allow other team members to contribute their own strengths, experiences, and insights to the project at hand.
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How To Test Your Leap To A Solution
In your early customer discovery conversations to assess demand for a new offering a wide range of customer needs and symptoms can trigger a leap to a solution, which just happens to be yours. Guard against this by probing to understand the root problem–have at least three questions that allow you to dig out the
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Scott Robertson Offers Five Tips on Content Marketing
Scott Robertson had a great post up last month on how to make content marketing work: be relevant, be different, be real, be useful, and be consistent. Here are some excerpts along with additional thoughts and commentary.
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Risk Mitigation: If You Predict Rain Build an Ark
Two critical aspects of any plan are risk identification and assessment, but if a team stops there and does not modify the plan to mitigate as much of the risk as possible then it’s pointless. Risk mitigation is what allows you to build a sustainable and enduring business.
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Tips For Entrepreneurs On Surviving The Holidays
Surviving the holidays can be hard for entrepreneurs. If you visit family or see old friends few if any may understand what you are doing or going through. You may face a variety of suggestions that essentially treat you as unemployed–strictly speaking it’s an accurate assessment for many early stage bootstrappers–and possibly unemployable–again, strictly speaking, it’s
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Making Tea
In the last decade I have switched to drinking tea from coffee. I came across a neat process description for making tea by George Orwell in “A Nice Cup Of Tea” that mirrored what I do–except for adding milk or cream to my tea. I was struck by how often we think we have come
Q: Can I Be My First Customer?
It’s OK to solve your own problem first, to be the first customer. This at a minimum gets the idea out of your head and reduced to practice where it can be tested. The trick is to use this basic product to spark further discussions about the problem you solved, no your solution.
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Good and Bad Reasons to Pivot
Much has been written about a startup making a pivot in direction after Eric Ries first coined the term in a 2009 blog post “Pivot don’t Jump to a New Vision.” The word pivot has attracted almost as much wordplay as the word lean. What follows is a short list of good and bad reasons to
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Q: How To Evaluate Acquiring a Small Software Firm
We recently helped a client frame the exploration of an opportunity for acquiring a small software firm. Here are some questions to consider if you are contemplating the sale or acquisition of small software company.
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