7 Tips for Entrepreneurs from “Lessons Learned in 80 Years” by Byron Wien. The best is “Don’t try to be better than your competitors, try to be different.”
Byron Wien’s Lessons Learned in 80 Years: Seven for Entrepreneurs Read More »
The four day 4th of July weekend is a good excuse to take a break from the day to day pressures of bootstrapping, reflect on your goals for the year and what you have accomplished and learned so far…and perhaps make some “adjustments at the half.”
Making Adjustments at the Half for 2013 Read More »
We did some work recently advising a client on a possible acquisition a small service business and came up with a checklist of items to review: key employees – plan for retention and role in merged entity financials check register – all checks in last two years bank statements income sheet and balance statement contracts
Due Diligence Checklist For Evaluating A Service Business for Acquisition Read More »
A story from my engineering days at Cisco about how a lack of trust led to a default assumption that “they screwed up.”
They Screwed Up: They Followed Our Specification Read More »
A talk I enjoyed by Simon Sinek (@simonsinek) on “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action Some great insights from Apple, Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Wright Brothers: Why -> How -> What Start with Why Why is not “to make a profit” that’s a result.. Why is your purpose, your
Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action Read More »
Here are six tips or writing an E-Mail to a prospect or potential partner: the Hollywood approach, the schoolboy approach, add a middleman, quit typing, begin at the end, and sketch a picture.
Six Tips For Writing An E-Mail To A Prospect or Potential Partner Read More »
Advice from a lucky entrepreneur tends to be very specific and suggest a “copy exactly” model. Better advice will offer principles and several perspectives.
The Lucky And The Wise Read More »
When a little boy sees or hears a bird he appreciates it without having to label or identify it. It’s useful for entrepreneurs to engage in direct observation and thoughtful reflection without having to classify or characterize.
Eric Berne: A Little Boy Sees And Hears Birds With Delight Read More »
You have to be able to weather rejection when you are introducing a new product. It’s hard. What can be harder is being unprepared the first time a prospect says “This sounds great! How do we get started?” I can remember working with a team that had gone to many prospecting meetings that had ended
Prepare Your “Getting Started” Plan Before A Prospect Asks For It Read More »
Your startup is only one of many obligations: don’t wait to reconnect with folks who have made a difference in your life. Your Startup Is Only One of Many Obligations “Fifty years of experience have taught me that admission to an academic hospital is not restful. I have stopped counting the patients who want to
Your Startup Is Only One of Many Obligations Read More »
“Subsidizing the markers of status doesn’t produce the character traits that result in that status; it undermines them.” Reynold’s Law In the same way that free range animals are healthier than those that are caged, people learn how to become effective entrepreneurs when the have the freedom to experiment and they are focused on pleasing
Subsidizing Startups Does Not Produce Entrepreneurs Read More »
Our collaborative writing approach has no backstage: clients see our ugly early first drafts, but this “wiki style” collaboration allows rapid iteration.
The Benefits of Collaborative Writing, Interviewing, and Improvisation Read More »
Cardwell’s Law (named for British historian Donald Cardwell): every society, when left on its own, will be technologically creative for only short periods. I explore the implications for Silicon Valley and for entrepreneurs.
Joel Mokyr on Creative Forces and Cardwell’s Law Read More »
Howard Tullman writes the Perspiration Principles blog in Inc. His recent post “Who Said Failure was Fashionable? Frankly, It Sucks” made four great points: Mistakes vs. Failures Somehow, it has become cool to brag about how your last business failed–and what a wonderful learning experience it all was. But that’s a crock. You only fail
Howard Tullman on Distinguishing Mistakes From Failure Read More »
In May of this year I was invited to take part in a month long group discussion on CPSquare where my consulting practice was the focus. This is the introductory statement I posted to explain a little bit about my background and what I do. Intro I worked in Electronic Design Automation on board, chip,
“Sharing My Practice” Discussion with CPSquare: Intro Read More »
Slides and Audio From “Forming Leading A Team of Experts” at Project Management Institute of Silicon Valley on Sep-17-2012. Audio includes a lively discussion.
Slides and Audio From “Leading A Team of Experts” at PMI-SV Sep-17-12 Read More »
Insights from De Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” chapter on “How Americans Combat Individualism by the Principle of Self-Interest Rightly Understood”
De Tocqueville on Concept of “Self-Interest Rightly Understood” Read More »
Don’t congratulate people for raising money. That was never the goal. The goal is building a successful and meaningful business. When people raise money, instead of congratulating them, wish them luck. Their work is just getting started. Congratulating people for financing perpetuates a problem that has plagued the startup world. The problem is that that
Ben Kaufman on “What Raising Money Means” Read More »
Scott Sambucci of Sales Qualia recently self-published a great book on selling entitled “Startup Selling: How to Sell If You Really, Really Have to and Don’t Know How…” It’s a slim volume chock full of practical advice for entrepreneurs new to selling to businesses. Unlike many business books that have 20 pages of useful content
Scott Sambucci: Seven Tips For Selling as a Startup Founder Read More »
You can fail to live up to your espoused beliefs due to hypocrisy or because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. The difference is an important distinction and one with implications for the example you set in establishing the culture in a startup. Is there one set of rules that everyone strives
Neal Stephenson on Distinguishing Different Motives for Hypocrisy Read More »
