I have started to reserve Sundays to write on spirituality, charity, and a higher moral purpose to our life as entrepreneurs. I was struck by the quote that Stephenson puts in Juanita’s mouth in Snow Crash and have concluded that he is performing a similar ministry in his science fiction writing. There is a sense […]
Neal Stephenson on Christianity, Grace, Sincerity, and Seeing Things as They Are Read More »
Product-market fit is not a ratchet: competitive response, new entrants, changes in technology and customer preference require ongoing customer development. You will need to continue to do customer development–and customer discovery for that matter–even after you have a first prototype, an MVP, early customers, and an established niche. Markets and competitors don’t stand still, no
Q: We Already Have a Prototype, Can We Still Do Customer Development? Read More »
John Gardner outlines how leaders detect and act on weak signals of the future by looking beyond the horizon and planning for renewal.
John Gardner: Leaders Detect and Act on the Weak Signals of the Future Read More »
Tony Schwartz wrote a great post on “Turning 60: The Twelve Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned So Far.” Here are my top four from his list (original numbering preserved).
Tony Schwartz: Notice the Good, Cultivate Good Habits, Slow Down, and Do the Right Thing Read More »
Steve DiBartolomeo is co-founder of Artwork Conversion Software, Inc., an EDA software firm headquartered in Santa Cruz CA with a development office in Manhattan Beach, CA. Founded in 1989, the company develops CAD translation programs, CAD viewers, plotting software and IC packaging software. Artwork has over 5000 customers worldwide including Alcatel, AMD, Applied Materials, Agere,
Founder Story: Steve DiBartolomeo of Artwork Conversion Software Read More »
Q: I am starting a service business that will help clients with advertising and search engine marketing but I am not sure how to price my services. Do you have any suggestions for how to look at pricing professional services?
Q: Pricing Professional Services Read More »
I believe that Patrick Steyaert’s Discovery Kanban offers a critical perspective on how large organizations can cultivate lean innovation methods for product delivery beyond isolated spike efforts or innovation colonies.
Discovery Kanban Allows Firms to Balance Delivery and Discovery Read More »
Excerpts from Kurt Vonnegut’s commencement speech at Agnes Scott College, May 5, 1999. He suggests we replace the Code of Hammurabi with forgiveness.
Kurt Vonnegut: Replace the Code of Hammurabi with the Sermon on the Mount Read More »
We work with several teams who have launched or are launching an application that makes a team or group more productive. Here are a couple of suggestions for things to consider. Be compatible with the status quo if at all possible Collaboration or workflow applications that require at least two people to adopt in order
A Simple Checklist for Introducing a Collaboration Application Read More »
If you want to be a succeed as a bootstrapper, start with what you’ve got: you have an insight into an opportunity, a marketing edge, a particular problem where you’re going to bring distinctive value.
Successful Bootstrappers Are Trustworthy Salespeople Committed to Customer Satisfaction Read More »
Early trials allow you to tune your message, adjust your view and selection criteria for a target customer, and refine your feature set.
Q: How To Speed Up Early Trials, Adoption, and Sales Read More »
? While there are many challenges to master in building a new business, technology entrepreneurs have to balance three primary aspects: Team: can you assemble the talent required and keep them together and moving forward? Technology development: can you build a working product? Customer development: can you solve a problem that people will pay for?
We Help You Design Experiments That Move Your Business Forward Read More »
Managing key commitments to customers is essential to closing deals and preventing churn. Getting a customer the correct answer to a question is a critical sales and support skill: the first step is to write down the question when you don’t know the answer.
Write Down Key Commitments And Questions That Need Answers Read More »
Dan Scheinman (@dscheinm) graduated from Duke Law School in 1988 and went to work as an associate at DLA Piper before joining the Cisco legal department. Once inside he worked his way up to General Counsel, then ran corporate development which included managing minority investments and acquisitions, and finally was general manager for Cisco’s Media Solutions
Dan Scheinman’s Blue Ocean Venture Strategy: Target Entrepreneurs Over 35 Read More »
Jerome K. Jerome’s “On The Disadvantage Of Not Getting What One Wants” offers a somewhat grim view the wish for replaying your life. On The Disadvantage Of Not Getting What One Wants “Ah, me!” said the good old gentleman, “if only I could live my life again in the light of experience.” Now as he
Jerome K. Jerome’s View on Groundhog Day (Replaying Your Life) Read More »
Don’t waste time painting Tom Sawyer’s fence: proving someone wrong is actually a poor source of motivation. It’s OK to ignore conventional wisdom, but don’t get trapped into doing someone else’s work (or building their platform) just to prove them wrong. Build something instead of trying to win an argument.
Don’t Waste Time Painting Tom Sawyer’s Fence: Proving Someone Wrong Is A Poor Motivator Read More »
Happy 4th of July from all of us at SKMurphy! Here are some quotes to reflect on as you watch the fireworks.
The first Friday in July falls on the 4th so we are going to hold our “First Friday Palo Alto Bootstrapper Breakfast” at 8am at Hobees. We are meeting on July 4 (we have done it twice in the last 7 years) but we are pushing the start time back to 8am if you want to
Join Us For An Independence Day 2014 Bootstrapper Breakfast In Palo Alto Read More »
Q: I have worked on large enterprise software systems but am now struggling working at a startup creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). I am a big believer in BDD and TDD, so I’ve developed an automated testing suite for the MVP that has high coverage and great specifications describing and asserting its behaviors in
Q: How Much Effort Should I Invest in Automated Testing For An MVP? Read More »
Shared trust and integrity form the basis for the key resource in a bootstrapping startup: morale. Founders must foster actions and behaviors that build trust in the early days if they hope to create a startup with a culture that will enable it to prosper.
Ten Principles for Trust and Integrity from Adventures in Missions Read More »
