Some quotes from William Feather’s 1949 book, “The Business of Life.” It’s a collection of short notes, letters, newspaper columns magazine articles. Very insightful, and something like reading a blog from the 1930’s and 40’s. The way to get things done is to have a good assistant. In closing a deal, what you don’t say […]
William Feather’s “The Business of Life” Read More »
Everyone has advice for you about how to run your company! Even if it’s in the form of question like “When are you going to Get a Job?” Friends and relatives who have only been employees may have your best interest at heart but not have the background or temperament to help you get your
Evaluating Business Advice Read More »
Hugh MacLeod posted “Random Thoughts on Being an Entrepreneur” earlier this week. I’ve picked the best five and added some of my own comments 4. Once you become an entrepreneur, you find the company of non-entrepreneurs a lot harder to be around. You’ve seen things they haven’t; the wavelengths alter, it’s that simple. There are different perspectives
Hugh MacLeod’s Thoughts on Being an Entrepreneur Read More »
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on thinking about your business goals for 2007, it’s also worthwhile to look at your own motivations and needs. In an extending interview in Fast Company “Are You Deciding On Purpose,” Richard Leider advises that you ask yourself two key questions: What do you want? How will you know
Thinking About Your Business Goals for 2007, Part 2 Read More »
Thinking About Your Business Goals We went through a brief planning exercise with our clients, and some prospective clients, that several found useful. Since it’s not not too late to do some planning for 2007, here are a few questions that should answer on a single piece of paper (perhaps even a 3×5 card you can carry with you)
Thinking About Your Business Goals for 2007 Read More »
Here are three ways for building credibility. Referrals A referral is an introduction to a prospect with an endorsement. A referral allows you to borrow credibility from a trusted third party. They spring from shared success with your customers or former co-workers, someone who knows your potential and can vouch for you or your team’s
3 Ways to Build Credibility with Prospects Read More »
Ser Hou Kuang & Sean Murphy Granted US Patent #7162706 B2 for “Method for Analyzing and Validating Clock Integration Properties in Circuit Systems” on January 9, 2007. Abstract: A method for analyzing and validating clock integration properties in a circuit design is disclosed. A database of timing points that are clocked cell elements of the
Ser Hou Kuang & Sean Murphy Granted US Patent 7162706 B2 Read More »
Here’s a good blog post on website content. How Can 10 Simple Articles Change Your Life? In his post Chris Pearson, recounts a story about a friend who creates a website (nothing fancy) but has wonderful content (10 articles). He kills his competition with his content. If you are selling your expertise, try promoting yourself
Power of Website Content Read More »
We did an end of year de-briefing session an concluded that that the following changes had a things that had a positive effect on our business in 2006. Adding a logo to Business Cards Backgrounder (now in about SKMurphy, Inc. page) Improving Our Website Blogging LinkedIn Contacts Bootstrapper’s Breakfast “12 Books for the Busy CEO” Talk
Making Our Business More Credible in 2006 Read More »
Last night, I attended the January Silicon Valley New Tech Meetup. For those of you who do not know the format of these gatherings, it is very simple. Each group of presenters is allowed five minutes to pitch their offering and then the crowd is allocated five minutes to ask questions. The first presenters were the founders
January’s Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup Read More »
Eight quotes by Paul Saffo on how technology is re-shaping organization design and strategic thinking in both commercial and military realms.
Paul Saffo “Best Strategy is Ready, Fire, Steer” Read More »
This was a principle for systems design suggested in a talk I heard 15-20 years ago. I can no longer remember the speaker’s name but I remember that he was in the disk drive business. Google has proven unavailing in sourcing it so it was probably an original insight with this engineer that hasn’t gained wider
People Manage People, Tools Manage Data Read More »
Jon Winokur has published a number of good books, including “The Portable Curmudgeon” and “Advice to Writers,” and was interviewed September 2006 by Guy Kawasaki, which prompted me to add his most recent, “Encyclopedia Neurotica” to my Amazon cart (where books can linger for months or years). I was frankly a little disappointed, but found
Six From Encyclopedia Neurotica Read More »
Here are our 2007 New Year’s resolutions. Theresa plans to improve her public speaking, Francis wants to develop a better understanding of theories of entrepreneurship, and Sean hopes to develop a more positive outlook.
Our 2007 New Year’s Resolutions Read More »
I had the good fortune to attend the SVASE CXO Forum Dec-6-06 where Peter Bakonyvari, Vice President of Sales at JPMorgan SymPro, explored some of the practical realities in building a sales team. In particular what is involved in hiring and firing a sales person. First 90 days Is Critical Bakonyvari’s made the point that the first 90 days
Tips for Hiring (and Firing) a Sales Person Read More »
Michael Sippey’s original title for his August 2, 2006 talk at SVPMA was “Iterating Towards Bethlehem” was changed to a less cryptic Making the Shift From Being a Packaged Software Person to Being a Hosted Services Person. The original title was a riff on Yeats’ Slouching Towards Bethlehem (not the Joan Didion book or the
Iterating Towards Bethlehem: Michael Sippey at SVPMA 8/2/2006 Read More »
Gone are the days of annual release cycle. For many companies, weekly releases are the new standard. Picking the best software release cycle impacts your customers, team, and management. At this roundtable discussion we will exchange tips and gotchas. Provide a look at the impact on business models, teams and product development. Tuesday October 30
SaaS Roundtable: Managing Rapid Release Cycles Read More »
Finding More Customers Every business owner asks “How do I Find More Customers? How can I get the phone to ring?” Is your New Year’s Resolution to develop a plan to grow your business? Now is the time to get started. SKMurphy offers a three hour Getting More Customers workshop where you develop a one-page
SKMurphy: Getting More Customers Workshop Read More »
I was interviewed in June 2006 by Barbara Cass, Volunteer Director for the SDForum, the final text appeared in the July/August 2006 newsletter (see page 15 of the PDF version). I have updated it here to add links for many of the referenced works and the quotes. KV Rao and I did a one year
June 2006 SDForum Interview Read More »
Theresa heard a radio interview with Barry Moltz in 2003 and suggested that I get his book. In December 2003 I purchased a copy of You Need to Be a Little Crazy and when it arrived from Amazon I put it on my to-be-read pile where it languished until early this morning when I read
You Need to Be a Little Crazy Read More »
