Starting a Business

Help Me Answer This Deep Question From a Young Entrepreneur

May 24, 2012

What would you say to this question? I think it’s too deep for me to answer by myself. Please join me in the comments, with your answer.  Here’s the question:  I have an idea that I am hopelessly passionate about, but I question the wisdom of trying to execute at this point in my life. [...]

Read the full article →

Quick Funny Disruptive Game Changing Paradigm Shift Video

May 22, 2012

In my post here yesterday I questioned the value of the phrases “game changing” and “disruptive” for what every startup promises investors and few really offer. Right after posting I caught Sramana Mitra’s fun video cartoon here, a quick riff on the similar phrase “paradigm shift.” Aside from the fun video, I’ve mentioned Sramana before [...]

Read the full article →

Do You Have What Investors Want?

May 21, 2012

What do investors want? I’ve read more than 100 business plans in the last two months. Entrepreneurs are overwhelmingly predictable on this point. Investors want disruptive. Investors want game changing.  But not just saying it. Being able to believe it. Two of every three plans says it. Only a very few make it actually believable.  [...]

Read the full article →

3 Essential Truths About Startups and Investment

May 11, 2012

Today I’m answering, with this post, a lot of similar questions I get often in email, where somebody is asking me how to get connected to or hooked up with or recommended properly for angel investment. Here are some unpleasant and unpopular facts about startups and investment. Only friends and family believe in you and [...]

Read the full article →

On Building a Business Because the World Needs It

April 9, 2012

I’ve posted about Arcimoto on Up and Running almost two years ago. It’s a local (Eugene OR) business based on building cool, fun, and economically accessible electric cars, like the one shown here. It was a startup then, one with a believable team and a vision to build on. Two years later, it’s still a [...]

Read the full article →

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs: Trick or Trend

March 12, 2012

  Thanks to the Wall Street Journal’s 8 Monday Morning Must Reads I discovered USA Today’s Older entrepreneurs find new niche in startups. This doesn’t surprise me at all, but it was good to see it in print. The quick summary: Over the past decade, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55 to [...]

Read the full article →

Could This Be You? One Great YouTube Launches a Startup

March 9, 2012

CNET’s Rafe Needleman posted about DollarShaveClub.com yesterday and I picked it up this morning. It seems that the key to a successful launch was one extremely-well-done one-minute video on YouTube, which I’ve embedded here: I find this inspirational. It’s fascinating how this one big hit can be so effective. How much would a couple of [...]

Read the full article →

True Story: Begin With a Job at a Startup, Then Start Your Own

March 8, 2012

The title of this post is taken from Martin Zwilling’s Begin With a Job at a Startup, Then Start Your Own on the Gust blog. In that post, Martin starts with this: For those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of a new venture, but haven’t yet worked up the nerve [...]

Read the full article →

Is The Very Idea of Designing Tech Products for Women Insulting?

March 5, 2012

(note: I posted this on the Huffington Post first, just about 10 minutes ago) Maybe it’s because I’m father to four daughters, maybe because of simple fair play, but if you read my stuff I’ve been a chronic complainer about the relatively low numbers of women in high tech and tech in general. And I [...]

Read the full article →

The Joy of Startups, Revisited

March 2, 2012

Getting really into a new startup, when it goes well, is exciting like a clear mountain morning, like a warm spring rain, like falling in love. Cheesy? Sure. But I’m doing it again, and loving it. I’m not just saying what people always say; I’ve been there, and I’m there again right now. If you’re [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries