Pete Tormey and I did a short podcast on a delegation checklist. We wanted to help bootstrapping entrepreneurs decide what tasks it made the most sense to delegate in an early stage startup.
Podcast with Pete Tormey: Bootstrapper’s Delegation Checklist Read More »
A conversation with Pete Tormey on forming a team, dividing equity, and gaining early traction in a startup.
Podcast with Pete Tormey on Forming a Team, Dividing Equity, and Gaining Early Traction Read More »
The Field of Dreams model–build it and they will come–is a variation on “build a better mousetrap,” a self-limiting belief that dooms many startups.
Vision Is Critical But Avoid The “Field of Dreams” Read More »
An exploration of some of the implications of Arie P. de Geus insight that “The ability to learn faster than competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”
Startups Where “We Are All In This Together” Learn Faster Read More »
Just a heads up that the early bird rates for our next “Engineering Your Sales Process®” Workshop close Sun-Jan-28. This is the same workshop that Scott Sambucci and Sean Murphy offered at the Lean Startup Conference in December 2012 but we are limiting the attendance to 12 entrepreneurs to allow it to be even more
Engineering Your Sales Process Workshop Feb-8 Early Bird Closes This Weekend Read More »
What follows is a sequence of E-mails with an entrepreneur bootstrapping an EdTech startup around the challenges of doing customer interviews that have been recast as a conversation, with the original content edited for length and clarity. Entrepreneur (E): I am working with a couple of friends–we all have day jobs–on an idea for helping
A Conversation With A Bootstrapping EdTech Startup On Customer Interviews 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 »
Entrepreneurship gets a lot of hype but it’s not for everyone: here is a brief discussion of some of practical realities of what it’s like to work at a startup.
Q: Should I Get A Normal Job Or Work At A Startup? Read More »
For the third year in a row I will moderate a panel of startup founders sharing lesson learned bootstrapping a technology startup at Silicon Valley Code Camp. This “Working for Equity” session will be on Sunday Oct 7 at 9:15am. Here is the announcement Many of us in Silicon Valley seek to found or be
Startup Founders Announced for Working For Equity Panel at SVCC 2012 Read More »
Bootstrappers prosper by closing deals with customers and partners. Here are twelve tips if you are new to crafting deals.
Crafting Deals with Customers and Partners Read More »
When you are trying to choose from a range of opportunities, a key step is to consider what’s changed that makes this a compelling opportunity for you.
Consider What’s Changed And What You Bring To An Opportunity Read More »
George Gilder address the mental and spiritual elements of entrepreneurship in “Unleash the Mind” defining entrepreneurship as the launching of surprises.
George Gilder: Entrepreneurship is the Launching of Surprises Read More »
An exploration of Neal Stephenson’s suggestion that “whenever serious and competent people need to get things done in the real world, all considerations of tradition and protocol fly out the window.”
Serious and Competent People Read More »
Avoid “vendor speak” where you use words like innovative, seamless, robust, disruptive, or patented. These are not words a customer would use to describe your product.
Innovative, Robust, Seamless, Disruptive, and Patented Read More »
The last question in”The First Seven Questions Any Product Plan Should Answer” is What Are You Replacing? Every Product Has Competition But after careful experimentation we learned that most entrepreneurs would instinctively cast themselves in the role of the early bird who gets the worm and say “Nothing. We are brand new!” So we re-phrased
The Early Bird Already Has The Worm Read More »
Building the “wrong product” is not a waste of time you learn about the market and technical feasibility. Right and wrong are both gray, not black or white. Customer development and technical development typically require a sequence of prototypes that are “less wrong” over time under they become good enough.
Q: Is Building The Wrong Product A Waste Of Time? Read More »
Entrepreneurs need a community of practice to improve their skills, not a movement they can join as a fad. I don’t consider myself a disciple or part of a movement. I consider myself a practitioner. I am a huge fan of Saras Sarasvathy, Clayton Christensen, Peter Drucker, Gary Klein, and Gerald Weinberg.
Entrepreneurs Need a Community of Practice Not a Movement Read More »
Entrepreneurs must learn that managing rejection is a requirement from the moment they commit to getting started. I could argue that you have not started until you have been rejected.
Getting Started and Managing Rejection Read More »
I remember once talking to my high-school physics teacher, who had been one of the leading teachers in our district for decades. “Don’t you get tired teaching physics?” I asked him one day. “I don’t teach physics,” he replied. “I teach students.” The same wisdom applies to securing financing for startups: investors don’t fund technologies,
The Technology is Nothing Without the Team Read More »
This is Sean Murphy for SKMurphy, Inc. I want to talk to you about our startup stages model and understanding that risk reducing milestones that separate each stage. We break the startup journey into five stages. In each stage you will explore different options and converge on a key risk reducing milestone. Starting from idea
Startup Stages Overview Video Read More »
