I just jammed through Rework, the latest startup manifesto from 37Signals co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeir Hansson. It’s a very fast read – a few dozen “chapters”, most just a page or two long – and anyone already familiar with lean startups, GTD and Seth Godin’s writing on authentic marketing won’t find much new in it, continue…
AppStoreHQ is a Founder’s Co-op portfolio company that helps smartphone owners (i.e, iPhone / iPad / Android / mobile web) discover the best new apps, with real-time rankings based on the velocity and relative authority of discussion about them on blogs and social platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The company has built an incredible position continue…
Web analytics provider Quantcast has just released their 2009 Mobile Web Trends Report, a fascinating snapshot of the explosive growth in smartphone adoption and use worldwide. The Apple iPhone phenomenon isn’t exactly news, but the report will help you visualize just how mind-blowing their 30-month rise from zero to 60% global share of mobile web continue…
Funny timing. Two weeks ago I wrote a piece about how “platform thinking” – using your business to help others succeed – can create massive value for your own company. A week later two of the most-admired platform companies in tech – Apple and Twitter – independently acted in ways that enraged their core developer continue…
This idea now feels so obvious to me that I almost didn’t bother to write it down. But I keep having conversations with entrepreneurs who aren’t yet using the pattern and their eyes always light up when they see a way to apply it to their own business, so if this post turns on the continue…
I’m not yet sure what to make of the iPad, and have been asking my journalist, developer, marketer and investor friends what they think of the device to try to get my head wrapped around it. The thesis that keeps popping into my head looks something like this: The iPad is designed to be the continue…
Andy has a long post up today on how TechStars came to Seattle, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. TechStars is a fantastic program for early-stage software entrepreneurs who want to radically accelerate their progress and multiply their odds of success. The program has had a big impact on the early stage scene in continue…
One of the best parts of being an early-stage investor is having a regular excuse to meet with entrepreneurs and learn about what they’re up to. I also love reconnecting with teams I’ve met with previously to hear how things have changed (which they always have). This afternoon I sat down with a very smart continue…
Sean Ellis has a great post up called “The Startup Pyramid” riffing on Marc Andreesen’s excellent and widely-circulated post on Product-Market Fit. Sean frames achieving Product-Market Fit as the foundation of startup success, and argues convincingly that it doesn’t make sense to try to scale or monetize until a minimum level of fit is achieved: continue…
I really enjoyed Mark Suster’s post earlier this week, What’s it Like Being a VC?, in which he details the pluses (many) and minuses (few) of “crossing over to the dark side” from entrepreneur to VC. Having made the same switch – albeit on a <cough> somewhat smaller scale* – his description of both the continue…