“Do things that don’t scale.” -Paul Graham Worse. Advice. Ever… Depending on the stage and size of your business, this mentality could spell disaster. The further along your business is, the less this applies to you. Yet, it’s something ALL entrepreneurs struggle with. We’re ADD. We focus on the things we like doing, or worse yet,...
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, at least not in the cutthroat world of venture capital. VCs (and most angel investors) are in the business of making money work, big time ROIs. And if you take outside funding, you’re obligated to deliver. But still, free money… it’s so tempting, especially if a VC-backed...
“There’s nothing new under the sun.” We’ve all heard it… but what then is creativity, what is inspiration? Is it the artist or entrepreneur creating something completely unique, or combining previously separate things in new and innovative ways? Does it matter? Whoever said creativity was the key to success? The starving artist is a trope for...
Two things matter when building a business: 1) acquiring customers, and 2) retaining them (and/or your dominant position). Everything else is icing on the cake. Today we’re discussing both, and how to build your business from the beginning for a flywheel of success. In a word: Authenticity Authentic…? Seem counterintuitive? It is. The thing is,...
Guess who was in the pet emergency room Thanksgiving morning… this guy. Turns out, raisins can be deadly to dogs — something about liver failure. So, a slice of cinnamon raisin bread later, a race to the clinic, hearts pounding. (And if I sound a little cynical, it wasn’t my dog, and I don’t think she was...
Designing addictive products Three-to-four-million people buy Starbucks coffee every day. And in the US alone, there are more than 250M cups of coffee (of any brand) purchased on a daily basis. That’s a lot of freaking caffeine. And it doesn’t even include homebrew… But it wasn’t always so. Habits are hard to build and harder...
When was the last time you donated money to charity? If you are like the average person, it has been a while. There is good news though, it isn’t entirely your fault. Charities are an outdated and ineffective model in today’s world, and not for the reasons you may think. It isn’t the bureaucracy, it...
The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 3: The Killer Startup Pitch Deck VCs Can’t Ignore! Welcome back to Part 3 of our Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising. If you missed the previous posts, I highly recommend you read through those first before continuing. The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 1: Understanding Investors 101:...
Facebook, Linkedin, Zynga… they all had it easy. They all grew on the backs of existing services, spamming users with mass invites and notifications until a loyal following was suckered into using the product. And thanks to the inherent network effects, for every new user, the product was incrementally better for you as well… and...
Growing up, I played sports… lots of them. I loved basketball and soccer, and my dad always coached our teams. It was the best… At the same time, it didn’t last. I quickly reached a level (and age) where his expertise and knowledge were outclassed by the players he was coaching. I’d reached the ‘ceiling’...