Competition is inevitable, that is why it’s wise to prepare for it and immunize yourself with difficult to copy differentiation where possible. A pure focus on implementing new features as fast as possible in an effort to outrun the competition is unlikely by itself to be enough. Here are some barriers you can erect that […]
Erecting Barriers to Competition That Are Difficult to Duplicate Read More »
Amazon’s S3 and AWS platforms, and similar on demand storage and computing services, are becoming increasing popular as core infrastructure for software startups. There is a tendency, because the costs are well defined, to base your price on adding a margin to these services. There are three problems with that.
Tangible Costs, Time, and Pricing to Value Read More »
Buster Benson lists “A few rules that I try to live by” on his “Cultivate the Core” blog post. Here are my top six picks from his list of 17 (the bold wording is Buster’s) with some commentary
Six From “A Few Rules That I Try To Live By” by Buster Benson Read More »
Rehearsal is key to making a successful presentation. If you can do at least two rehearsals of an important presentation it will pay huge dividends.
Tony Schwartz offers “Ten Principles For Living in Fiercely Complex Times” that you can “rely on to make choices that reflect openness, integrity and authenticity.” Here are the top three for me: “Emotions are contagious, so it pays to know what you’re feeling.” Tony Schwartz One of the balancing acts of entrepreneurship is control vs.
Tony Schwartz’s Principles For Fiercely Complex Times Read More »
What situation is your team training for: the key to effective and rapid execution is appropriate shared rehearsal and training.
What Situation Is Your Team Training For? Read More »
This is my first day off in about three weeks. A client has been preparing a proposal and presentation for a significant opportunity that they have been invited to compete for and between that and existing obligations it’s been hectic. It’s more clear than ever that focus needs buffers: letting administrative tasks pile up too
Focus Needs Buffers and Free Time Read More »
Here are a couple of rules of thumb you may find helpful in thinking about price, value, and your prospect’s perception of risk.
Price, Value, and Your Prospect’s Perception of Risk Read More »
Tips for using a wiki to organize customer interviews for customer discovery and to assess perspectives on their offering after purchase.
We Use a Wiki to Organize Customer Interviews Read More »
Tom Van Vleck has a great collection of software engineering stories on his site. One particularly good article is “Three Questions For Each Bug That You Find” which offers the following key observation: The key idea behind these questions is that every bug is a symptom of an underlying process. You have to treat the
Tom Van Vleck’s “3 Questions” Complement Root Cause Analysis Read More »
I recently took part in a small reunion of folks who worked on the “router software release” team at Cisco in the early years and I took it as an opportunity to jot down some rules of thumb I learned, mostly the hard way, about managing software releases. There is always a strong reason to
Making the Trains Run on Time: Software Release Read More »
A guest post by Edith Harbaugh that offers a number of practical tips and suggestions for managing email conversations with customers.
Managing Email Conversations With Customers Read More »
Intelligently reacting to new competitors requires you to give them the benefit of the doubt but if your prospects or customers are not asking about them then focus on what they are asking you.
Evaluating and Reacting to New Competitors Read More »
The essence of entrepreneurship is a free exchange of value–what the Romans called “quid pro quo”–that leaves all parties better off: no one loses.
Zero Sum vs. Quid Pro Quo Read More »
I mentioned in “Uncertain Times” that we are in the midst of economic and technology transitions that have vastly increased the turbulence of our environment. I have found two rules of thumb useful guides: “It may looks like a crisis but it’s only the end of an illusion.” Gerald Weinberg in Secrets of Consulting “Innovation
To See Ourselves As Others See Us And would some Power the small gift give us To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, Robert Burns “To a Louse“ It can be very difficult to understand how we appear to others. When I was rehearsing the “2011 New
To See Ourselves As Others See Us Read More »
Jeroen Bakker sent in a great list of suggestions as a follow up to last week’s “Drifting” post.
David L. Akin is the Director, SpaceSystems Laboratory at the University of Maryland. He is also the author of “Akin’s Laws of Spacecraft Design.” He lists more than 40 laws, here are ten that I thought were directly applicable to software entrepreneurship, but the whole list is very funny and worth reading.
Applying Akin’s Laws of Spacecraft Design To Startups Read More »
“Always trust your client—and cut the cards.” Weinberg’s Sixth Rule of Trust Always be collecting data. Always be collecting multiple perspectives. “Always Be Collecting Data” The rule of ABCD “In God We Trust, All Others Bring Data” attributed to W. Edwards Deming Possibly a riff on “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” In
It’s useful to think very deeply about a situation but beyond a certain level of effort or length of time you need to do some drifting and recharge. I think you need a mental circuit breaker for detecting an impasse and triggering activities that can lead to a change in perspective.
