I interviewed Carl Angotti of Angotti Product Development on the topic of how much to charge for your services. Carl has spoken on this topic regularly and brings more than two decades of independent consulting experience to bear in his answer. […]
I want to commemorate the 18th anniversary of 9-11 by focusing on people who stayed at their post or rushed in to help. I was inspired by the closing lines of Leonard Cohen’s “On That Day,” a song I heard yesterday for the first time. […]
A summary of my personal experience and our firm’s perspective on what practical steps early stage startups should take for competitive intelligence. […]
My August 2019 collection of quotes for entrepreneurs has a focus on ambition, awe, and facing the reality of a situation, reflecting the mix of my emotions facing a birthday this month. […]
Birds of a feather flock together: in addition to asking for referrals, entrepreneurs exploring a new market are well advised to ask early prospects what groups or communities they belong to. Here are some techniques we have found useful for getting oriented to a subculture or community of practice. [...]
The venture capital ecosystem evaluates a large number of startups, makes investments in few percent, and counts on one in ten of those to become a huge success. The Bootstrappers Breakfast welcomes any entrepreneur who is bootstrapping a business and strives to help every entrepreneur who attends to succeed. [...]
An SKMurphy Mastermind Group is an ongoing series of facilitated conversations among serious entrepreneurs. It enables collaboration on problems and opportunities and fosters joint accountability around effective ongoing action. […]
Is it prudence or procrastination? Some simple tests for determining whether you need to gather more information or act now based on what you already know. […]
I came across a list of 21 “Things I wish I knew in my twenties” by Michael Wade and was impressed by the insights he offered. Here are my top eight. […]
Expertise in a complex skill, like the skill of entrepreneurship, requires mastery of a constellation of techniques and methods. I use an essay by Ursula K. Le Guin “Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?” as a point of departure to explore the “continuous cultivation of a disposition, leading to [...]
Serge Toarca offers three good reasons to consider starting in a smaller market in “Why the hell am I building a product with a tiny market?” I offer another ten. […]
In uncertain and evolving situations it’s best to share only what you are certain of. Repeating second hand information only spreads fear and doubt and cases more problems than it solves. […]
An interview with Tim Lombard on a tool he has developed called PCBevo. PCBevo helps design engineers and layout designers track the co-evolution of the design specification and the layout of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). […]
Octavia Butler rejects inspiration, talent, and imagination as essential to creative pursuits and suggests that habits that enable persistence and learning are the essential element. […]
In “Thinkertoys,” Michael Michalko describes “The Phoenix Checklist” as a rich set of questions developed by the CIA designed to help agents look at a challenge from many different angles. […]
I had a birthday this week which triggered from reflections on my life. I prepared a short list of lessons learned for my party. I hope you find them helpful. […]
David Jeske divides the agile principles into high level, individual empowerment, and contract development. He embraces the first two, rejects the third. […]
In “The Dance of the Possible,” Scott Berkun outlines four tests for understanding the real work involved to translate observations and creative insight into a solution. […]
Some thoughts on things we do to make it easier for teams who speak English as a second language to understand us. […]
Entrepreneurs need to focus on innovation or the first reduction to practice of an idea in a culture because this is the critical precursor to customer value. […]