Eric Berne on Winners and Losers
Winners and losers: winners fulfills their contract with the world and themselves, losers fail to meet their commitments.
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Rules of Thumb
Some Unsolicited Advice From David Cain
David Cain wrote a thought provoking, practical, and inspiring blog post today on “67 short pieces of advice you didn’t ask for.” Here are seven pieces of unsolicited advice that I took away, I have preserved his original numbering and added a few comments to particularize them for entrepreneurs.
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Brooke Allen’s Hiring Process
Ask yourself this question, “What do employers owe the people they do not hire?” Brooke Allen’s answer from “How my life was changed when I began caring about the people I did not hire” offers three great suggestions for the startup hiring process.
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Freedom
The desire for economic freedom and autonomy drives many entrepreneurs. Bootstrappers would rather work for customers than investors, choosing the discipline of the competitive marketplace over the wisdom and caprice of the boardroom. “Life is too short to work at a job you hate, but everyone has to do something someone else is willing to
Crafting a Value Proposition
Q: I struggle with the value proposition for our product. Either I am too abstract “we offer a positive return on time invested” or too vague “help increase your ability to manage critical challenges.” Do you have any suggestions for how to frame or formulate a value proposition? Here a few questions that a value
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Entrepreneurial Passion: Good Servant, Poor Master
Entrepreneurial passion has to be based on a desire to create value, to be of service to a set of target customers. There may be many things you are interested in learning and room enough in your life for several hobbies, but pursuing a passion without regard to your ability to provide value in a
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Lessons Learned Blogging: 1400 Posts in 8 years
This post is a retrospective look at my inaugural post in 2006 and lessons learned blogging 1400 posts over the 8 years since.
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Diving In Over Your Head
One of the hallmarks of the entrepreneurial journey is diving in over your head. At some point you have to commit fully to a new venture and at a later point you realize that, despite all of your careful preparation, you are testing the depth of water with both feet–or perhaps even head first. This
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Guidelines For An Online Community of Entrepreneurs
Here are some suggestion guidelines that help set newcomers expectations for what constitute valuable content and comments in an online community.
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Nine Tips For Expert Public Speaking
Conor Neill has a great post up today on “a 9 Step Cheatsheet for Becoming a Public Speaking Expert” courtesy of the London Speakers Bureau. I am not usually a fan of infographics but this is exceptionally well done. Expert public speaking requires deliberate practice the same as any other skill. Here are some key
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Five Mistakes To Avoid In a Nurturing E-Mail
I signed up for a free trial of a lean project management tool (I have changed the name of the tool to <LeanTool>). A few days later I got the following nurturing E-Mail. Subject: Are you afraid to manage your project in a lean way? We’ve noticed that you haven’t been signing into <LeanTool> for a
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Customer Interviews: Spend an Hour to Save a Minute
For customer interviews we have a rule of thumb that if an hour or research saves a minute early in the conversation it’s a good investment. When you look at the list of questions you have prepared to learn about the prospect’s business and their needs, it’s easy to say to yourself, “I am really
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Q: Side Payment Requested In Negotiation
It’s best to act as if everything that you do in a negotiation will become fully know to all of the parties involved or affected by your actions.
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Arun Kumar: 9 Lessons Learned Bootstrapping Kerika
Arun Kumar shares 9 lessons learned from bootstrapping Kerika since 2002. He believes in watching user behavior and getting details right.
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Ten Mistakes Early Stage Bootstrappers Often Make
In the last eight years I have moderated several hundred Bootstrappers Breakfasts. After doing a hundred or so and working with many clients who were bootstrapping I came up with a checklist for common mistakes bootstrappers and bootstrapping teams make in their first year or so.
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Matt Wensing On Making the Transition to Growth
Matt Wensing On Making the Transition to Growth Stormpulse has gone from an idea bootstrapped on founder savings and credit cards, to a project funded by friends and family rounds, to a small business strengthened by angel money, to a company that’s raised “meaningful” capital (our last round was just over $2 million). Here’s what
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Brad Pierce: Preserve Context in Writing to Manage Interruptions
Manage interruptions by writing down enough context to continue later: organized notes must detail status and next steps. Brad Pierce: Preserve Context in Writing to Manage Interruptions On longer time scales, when you must drop something for a while, it’s important, before doing so, to leave behind enough context for yourself to swap it back
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Tony Schwartz: Notice the Good, Cultivate Good Habits, Slow Down, and Do the Right Thing
Tony Schwartz wrote a great post on “Turning 60: The Twelve Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned So Far.” Here are my top four from his list (original numbering preserved).
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Q: Pricing Professional Services
Q: I am starting a service business that will help clients with advertising and search engine marketing but I am not sure how to price my services. Do you have any suggestions for how to look at pricing professional services?
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Jerome K. Jerome’s View on Groundhog Day (Replaying Your Life)
Jerome K. Jerome’s “On The Disadvantage Of Not Getting What One Wants” offers a somewhat grim view the wish for replaying your life. On The Disadvantage Of Not Getting What One Wants “Ah, me!” said the good old gentleman, “if only I could live my life again in the light of experience.” Now as he
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