EDA Business Climate: A Retrospective
A look back over the last seven years to provide a context for an assessment of the EDA business climate and prospects for the future.
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How I Avoid Sending Email I Regret
I have several rules of thumb I follow to avoid sending and email I regret. I don’t hit send after 8pm, or when I am angry, or when the other person is angry, or when a phone call is called for.
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History of Silicon Valley: It’s 100 Years Old
The history of Silicon Valley is properly anchored by the founding of Federal Telegraph in 1909 by Cyril Elwell, marked by California Historical Marker 836.
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Early Bird Pricing Ends at Noon for Thursday’s IEEE Management Talk
I blogged about Sean’s talk last month but now the talk is this week and the early bird pricing runs out today. Sean is speaking Thursday November 6 at the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the IEEE Technological Management Council on “Ten Business Books in One Hour for the Busy High-Tech Executive.” The recent downturn
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Scott Sambucci on “An Entrepreneur’s Lessons Learned”
I met Scott Sambucci when I spoke at TVC in July of 2007 in Menlo Park as a part of their “Entering the Entrepreneurial World” seminar. He was kind enough to blog about his takeaway from the talk in “Definition: Entrepreneurship” where he concluded that even though it was a noun it should be defined
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Using the Downturn to Launch Your Consulting Career
The last six weeks or so I have encountered a number of folks who have decided to use the downturn to launch their consulting career. Typically they have been encouraged in this by their former employer who has given them a large check a lot of free time. But some have chafed at cubicle life
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How To Measure Your Lead Generation Effectiveness
Many start-up founders believe that the sales process should be this straightforward: Get the phone to ring (or e-mail inbox or skype or web contact form) Tell your prospect about your offering Take the order Alas it is normally not this simple, especially if you are selling to businesses. We do encounter some startups that
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Getting Your Startup Through the Downturn is a Marathon Not a Sprint
Surviving a downturn in a marathon not a sprint, some tips for persevering in the face of uncertainty and a difficult business environment
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Quotes For Entrepreneurs – October 2008
In April of this year I started to post quotes for entrepreneurs on @skmurphy. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
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Why NDA Is Not On the Startup Maturity Checklist
Some startups ask for an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) before sharing any details about their product. This is a recipe for disaster.
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Entrepreneurial Focus: Right Layer, Right Problem, Right Time
Entrepreneurial focus means answering three related questions: what are we good at, how can we tell and how do we measure it, who wants it and how do they value it?
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Customer Development for a Consulting Practice in a Downturn
What follows are some real questions I have answered either face to face or in e-mail over the last 90 days in response to the current downturn in Silicon Valley. Customer Development for a Consultants in a Downturn Q: I just completed my first two years of consulting–which were spectacular–after 20+ years of full time
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Norm Brodsky’s Guidelines For Entrepreneurs
The October 2008 issue of Inc. magazine made it to the top of my reading pile today and I was delighted to read another great “Street Smarts” column by Norm Brodsky “Secrets of the $110 Million Dollar Man” which offers ten guidelines for starting a successful business.
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Comments From Today’s “Idea to Revenue” Class at CINA
Some comments from our “Idea to Revenue” class at CINA included praise for class discussion and the need for more detail in certain sections.
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Non-Customers Are Where Important Changes Often Start
There is a risk of complacency for start-ups (and even larger firms) who have achieved a level of security in their first niche. Markets change, consumer needs change, and you need to continue to explore opportunities to sell your offering to new customers–non-customers–even though it’s a much harder sales process than a renewal, upgrade, or
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Signed Up For Convergence08
Signed Up For Convergence08 John Smart, the prime mover behind the old Accelerating Change conferences, sent an e-mail reminder about Convergence08 unconference November 15-16 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. It has a broad focus on some emerging technology areas that I hope will make for an eclectic and thought-provoking mix: synthetic biology
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Two Professional Groups for Consultants
Two professional groups for consultants are the Professional and Technical Consultants Association (PATCA) and Women in Consulting (WIC).
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EDA Bloggers’ BoF at ICCAD 2008
Ed Lee and I have been pulling together another EDA Bloggers’ Birds of a Feather, this one at the 2008 ICCAD Conference. It will be on Wednesday November 12, 4-6pm in the Fir Ballroom. It’s listed in the ICCAD program as an additional meeting: EDA Bloggers’ Birds-of-a-Feather sponsored by IEEE CEDA and organized by Juan-Antonio
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3 Tips for Developing User Community Sites
After blogging about how “User Communities are Critical for Complex Products” two days ago I thought I would offer some quick tips on how to get started: Be clear on the benefits to the members. So many social networking groups are very clear on how members bring benefit to a user site, but not very
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Please Be Healthy
I sent the following E-Mail after a series of conversations and E-Mail exchanges with a founder struggling with entrepreneurial burnout. I encourage him to “please be healthy.” I thought it was apropos the current angst in Silicon Valley.