ArchiveJanuary 2014

A hidden cause of Inequality

Income inequality has finally floated to the surface of the news.  It’s nice to see this issue being talked about, but much of what I’m seeing is focused on the symptoms, with solutions like “just pay the workers more”.  What I’d prefer are some opinions on the root causes, purposefully plural as this is not a simple issue. I believe I have uncovered one such hidden cause.  It lies down in the...

Investing without Zombies

The results of an investment (in an early-stage startup) depend not only on the success of that startup, but also on the form of the investment. A sophisticated investor is going to be nodding right now, thinking about liquidation preferences and other common add-on’s to equity investments. But at the same time, those sophisticated investors likely have a majority of their investments in a state...

From idea to startup

After a decade and a half starting and building startups, I woke up one morning with the desire to help other entrepreneurs.  I thought it might be possible for them not to repeat all the mistakes I’ve made myself, and seen my friends make.  I thought they might like to have a serial entrepreneur to call upon for advice. This epiphany came to me before the latest wave of entrepreneurial...

Assuming Kickstarter at the SEC

Speaking about assumptions, there is a long-held belief by the regulators in Washington D.C. and all 50 States that the masses can’t be trusted with investments.  An assumption dating back from the 1929 stock market crash.  An event now 85 years old, from an era when my grandparents were children. Meanwhile, back in 2009, a small startup in Brooklyn took a small step toward breaking this...

Assuming Assumptions

The most interesting ideas come about by questioning assumptions. In science, Copernicus questioned the assumption that the Earth was fixed in the center of the universe.  Newton questioned the assumption that an apply falling and the moon orbiting were related. In government, Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, and friends questioned whether a government needed a king. In business, Henry Ford...

The purpose of business

Practice makes better.  The Ignite format looks simple, 20 slides, auto-forwarding every 15 seconds, making for an exactly 5 minute talk.  Hitting the timing of the slide transitions comes down to two strategies.  Either practice, practice, and practice, not skipping or adding any words to the script, or don’t even try, making the slides pure images that don’t need to be in sync with...

Inspire me, but make it quick!

One of the great benefits of the Web is the ease at which we can share ideas.  A decade ago, talks at a conference would be seen by a few dozen to a few thousand people, then never seen again.  Now we can watch and share great ideas from TED and elsewhere, from the comfort of our own homes. One consequence of all this great content is the raising of the bar of quality in the presentations.  The...

Startup != “tech”

I spent the first twenty years of my career as a software entrepreneur.  I started my first software company at age 22, way back in 1992.  That was a few years before the “tech” bubble began brewing, back when the only significant software company in Seattle was Microsoft, and it was still small enough to fit into its first 10 buildings, all on one campus. A lot has changed in the 24 years since...

The “I’s” have it

Just who am I?  To answer that question, like most Americans, I need to start the answer with an explanation of what I do for a living.  As of two years ago, I spend my time helping entrepreneurs with their ideas and startups.  That is all I do. When you look at it through the lens of a job, for example on my LinkedIn profile, it appears not as a single entry, but a half dozen.  From my daily...

The purpose of “purpose”

Does the world really need yet-another blog on business and entrepreneurship?  Don’t Fred Wilson, Brad Feld, Mark Suster, and others do a good enough job on their blog?  Those are wonderful sources of advice for entrepreneurs, but what is missing from that whole circle of thought is purpose. What is missing from most every business, and the whole of business media is purpose. That is, a purpose...

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