Professional services innovation requires deepening your understanding of customer needs and emerging problem areas, deepening expertise, and incorporating technology and specialized tools into service delivery.
Professional Services Innovation: Customer Insight, Expertise, and Technology Read More »
It’s useful to explore several paths in parallel and have a default list of pivots ready of your first few efforts don’t bear fruit.
Q: How Do I Plan for Pivots or Even Shutting Down My Startup? Read More »
David Brooks offers a metaphor for college graduation as a transition from traveling station to station to navigating a borderless sea. The same can be said for making the transition from employee to entrepreneur.
College Graduation: From Traveling Station to Station to Navigating a Borderless Sea Read More »
In February 2010 Derek Sivers gave a great talk on “How to Start a Movement” that offered some important tips for leaders and but offered the surprising conclusion that concluded that the most important and underappreciated key to a successful movement was the follower’s courage to follow and ability to show others how to follow.
Derek Sivers: How to Start a Movement Read More »
Key points from Mary Sorber’s presentation on “Qualitative Research: Problem Exploration for Lean Startups” at Lean Culture July-31-2018.
Qualitative Research: Problem Exploration for Lean Startups Read More »
The October 2018 Great Demo! Workshop at Embassy Suites by Hilton in Milpitas that past attendees have stayed at and enjoyed. A list of other nearby hotels.
Hotels near October 2018 Great Demo! Workshop Read More »
A Bootstrappers Breakfast is “counter-cultural” to the VC ecosystem focus at many events for entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Here are seven ways that we take a very different approach to facilitating events for entrepreneurs compared to most others in Silicon Valley.
What to Expect at a Bootstrappers Breakfast Read More »
In the same way that we must share cherries with robins if we want them to nest in our neighborhood, we can only capture a part of the value that our software creates for our customers.
The Robin and the Cherries: Sharing Value You Co-Create With Customers Read More »
Suhail Doshi, founder of Mixpanel, shared a candid assessment of mistakes he made in the first 18 months of the six startups he has founded in “The first 18 months of starting a company: it’s life or death.” Here are 7 key pieces of advice that highlight mistakes first founders typically make.
Suhail Doshi: Avoid These Seven Temptations as a First Time Founder Read More »
Exploration and discovery constitute significant activities for entrepreneurs. There are various metaphors–for example entrepreneur as researcher, entrepreneur as scientist, entrepreneur as journalist–this post uses entrepreneur as detective as a metaphor.
Entrepreneur as Detective Read More »
Three tips for selling in an early market, with a particular focus on selling IoT devices in 2017: find early adopters, start with a pilot, and identify partners who understand how to foster change.
Selling IoT Devices and Networks Read More »
Whether you are interviewing potential employees or potential customers, don’t explore Thoughtland with a focus on predictions and beliefs. Instead, explore actual behavior and prior experience.
Don’t Explore Thoughtland In Interviews Read More »
Pete Tormey’s ebook “Startup Guide to Intellectual Property: Early Stage Protection of IP” is a great resource for founders on startup intellectual property. This blog post includes excerpts from the “Protecting IP Early” chapter that focus on protecting startup secrets early in its existence.
In the Beginning was the Doodle: Protecting Startup Secrets Read More »
When someone on your team says, “Google Thinks Our Name Is a Typo” you are at a disadvantage. Even worse if it suggests a competitor as the correct spelling it makes it look like you are typosquatting. Unless you have a strong reason for doing so it’s probably not a good idea.
Q: Google Thinks Our Name Is a Typo and Suggests a Competitor Read More »
It’s not uncommon for a startup’s offering to evolve from service to system integration to product. Here is an explanation for the reasons and benefits.
A Common MVP Evolution: Service to System Integration to Product Read More »
The difference between scouting a new market and scouting a promising market is that the former may not exist–or come into existence–while the latter clearly exists because it’s already occupied.
Scouting a Promising Market: Sending Spies Into Canaan Read More »
Mark Hanzo, CTO of Hanzo Archives, was interviewed by SimpleWeb as part of a series on validating startup ideas. I found his remarks on very practical and insightful and have added some observations of my own.
Mark Williamson, CTO of Hanzo Archives, on Validating Startup Ideas Read More »
Key product management lessons learned extracted from two blog posts by John P. Cutler: “50 Things I’ve Learned About Product Management” and “Feedback Loops and Done.“
John Cutler on Product Management Lessons Learned Read More »
Chip Conley shares how he was able to look at AirBNB’s operation with newcomer’s eye when he chose to reconceive bewilderment as curiosity.
Chip Conley: Reconceive Bewilderment As Curiosity Read More »
Customer development–discovery driven sales–requires that you first understand the customer’s problem then present a vision of a solution. If that is acceptable you can proceed to a demonstration that provides technical proof of value.
