A link to the Valve Employee Handbook made it to front page of Hacker News recently and I can see why, it makes for very interesting reading.
Four Excerpts from the Valve Employee Handbook That Belong In Yours Read More »
Here is our Startup Stages Overview video, it explains our startup stages model and the risk reducing milestones that separate each stage.
Startup Stages Overview Video Read More »
Your startup is a work in progress. When most entrepreneurs evaluate where they are it’s difficult not to include the promising future they foresee naturally ensuing from current efforts (or on bad days the certain doom no matter what they do). If you are not getting traction, if you don’t have the ability to reliably
Zoom In For Traction, Zoom Out For Impact Read More »
Lenny Greenberg, Founder and CTO of Assistyx, e-mailed me a long and thoughtful response to my “Learning from Netflix” post.
Learning From Netflix: Lenny Greenberg’s Response Read More »
Three variations on the idea that “successful entrepreneurship is an ongoing self-improvement” project, program, or process.
Successful Entrepreneurship Is Ongoing Self-Improvement Read More »
Refine and curate your thoughts by reworking the first draft of your answers in an email or in response to a question from a customer or an audience member at a talk.
Refine and Curate Your Thoughts as FAQs, Articles, and Talks Read More »
It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC From Hillel Cooperman‘s “Bootstrapped vs. VC Funded–Who is Likely to Make the Most Money?” I bet that founders of bootstraps end up earning more money over the long haul out of their businesses than founders of venture-backed firms. The rare IPO may spike the numbers in the other direction, but
It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC 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 »
[Note this post was written in 2011]. The recent troubles at Cisco have prompted a lot of commentary on the Cisco alumni e-mail list. One of the more thoughtful analyses was posted by Larry Lang (@llang629), who spent more than a decade at Cisco in a variety of positions. His last was as VP and
Larry Lang on Managing Incentives 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 »
To ensure that conversations and requests for help were productive, Anthony Scampavia kept a question at the top of his whiteboard in his various offices at Cisco for more than a dozen years: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Here are three problems we have identified and capabilities we plan to develop
New Capabilities We Plan To Develop in 2011 Read More »
Here are four movies to renew your gumption, I watch one when I need to refill my gumption or recover my sisu: The Verdict, Apollo 13, The Dish, and The World’s Fastest Indian.
Four Movies To Renew Your Gumption Read More »
A summary of tips for modeling and managing cash flow at a recent bootstrappers breakfast briefing by Rick Kadet.
Tips For Modeling & Managing Cash Flow Read More »
Disruption is caused by the new business models an innovation enables. A disruptive innovation can be hard to spot because competitors can offer a different value proposition, not necessarily a better one.
Distant Early Warning Signs of Market Disruption Read More »
To grow the business founders must assess the task relevant maturity of each employee’s experience with a particular task to manage them effectively.
The Business is Everyone’s Business (Part 2) Read More »
Startups face time pressure and resource scarcity, they need to cultivate effective collaboration among everyone on the team to compensate. They need to act as if the business is everyone’s business. Jack Stack’s “The Great Game of Business” offers some useful models for fostering a shared understanding of the current challenges to enable effective joint
The Business is Everyone’s Business Read More »
An interview with Matt Perez on how Nearsoft leverages Yammer and other collaboration tools to enable them to keep distributed teams providing development services and ongoing support in sync.
Matt Perez on How Nearsoft Leverages Yammer Read More »
Bootstrappers are well served to focus on recurring revenue and charging early: sustaining is more important than starting.
Sustaining Is More Important Than Starting Read More »
Do not pay to pitch investors. Reputable early stage investors will charge at most a nominal fee to allow you to pitch their members.
Do Not Pay to Pitch Investors Read More »
Good content is the basis for good marketing: your messaging must explain your knowledge of customer problems and how you can help.
Good Marketing is Good Content Read More »
