I had an emotionally intense conversation with a startup CEO today about the benefits and costs of regular, transparent communication with company investors and close advisors. My point of view — which I articulated forcefully if not very effectively — was that transparency within this limited set of insiders was incredibly valuable and created far continue…
I found myself ranting again in a meeting today, a sure sign that another blog post was brewing… The topic of the conversation was startup accelerators and the do’s and don’ts for starting one. Setting aside for a minute the broader question of whether the world needs yet another accelerator, here is a short but continue…
There are so many examples to choose among in the collected works that I might have to turn this into a series, but the one that’s been rattling around in my head this week is the following (from Hamlet, Act III, Scene II): Hamlet. Madam, how like you this play?Queen. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. continue…
I’ve had too many conversations recently like this one: ENTREPRENEUR: “We’re raising [insert amount of money here]. As soon as our raise is complete, we plan to [insert one or more of the following: quit our day jobs; stop outsourcing and hire a real dev team; start building our product; etc.]” ME: “So, you’re asking continue…
“Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi I am not religious, but I am guilty of evangelism. I spent the first seven years of my professional life careening from one unsatisfying corporate job to another, working my way down the ladder from a continue…
Entrepreneurship and schizophrenia have a lot in common. Every entrepreneur lives the Stockdale Paradox — constantly toggling between the urgent daily realities of survival and their lofty dreams of massive success and cultural impact. But entrepreneurs who take outside funding — and especially those who raise “institutional” money — have another dual life to live: continue…