I don’t know if Chris Brogan started the meme or not, but every year he publishes 3 words that will serve as his guiding pillars for the year ahead. Last year I didn’t publish 3 words; instead I stuck with one: Freedom. Looking back at that post from the beginning of 2010 I can reasonably […]
Check out Localmind
Localmind hasn’t quite launched yet, but it will quite soon (at least in closed beta/testing). In the meantime, you can sign up to get an invite and learn more. The current tagline is “Know what’s happening. Anywhere. Anytime” which should give you some idea of what Lenny is up to with the project. Lenny is […]
The Secret to Successful Job Referrals
Lots of companies are entering the job referral space. It’s heating up like crazy. They’re looking at someone’s social graph and trying to figure out how to convince and incentivize that person to recommend friends for jobs. And from what I’ve seen, they don’t work. I don’t know of a single recruitment company or startup […]
We Must Kill Zombie Companies
There are too many zombie companies. It’s quite prevalent in Montreal, and I’m certain it exists elsewhere as well. A zombie company is one that can essentially run forever but never really gains any traction. The company may be leveraging tax credits (which some argue is doing more harm than good) or other financial incentives […]
You Have to Jump First
Startups are founded by people that make the leap before anyone else. If you don’t leap first, you don’t stand a chance of winning. Jump. It’s up to you. No one else can jump for you or before you. If you’re waiting for some form of validation from existing co-workers, family or even worse, investors, […]
Bashing the Competition
When pitching investors, don’t bash the competition. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend bashing the competition under any circumstances – when meeting with prospects, clients, or even internally. It sends the wrong message and positions the conversation around others and not you. Bashing the competition also makes you look petty and foolish. Jason Cohen expresses this […]
Year One Labs Needs Tech Startup Founders with Python Experience
At Year One Labs we’re not waiting around for startup opportunities to come to us — we’re actively out there looking for them. In some cases that means attracting individual people, putting them together, and creating new teams & startups. That’s what we’re doing right now with a project that we’d like to see emerge […]
The Death of the Business Founder
The commonly accepted structure for startup teams is one business founder and one technical founder. Theoretically it makes sense: one guy builds the product and the other sells it. But it’s not that simple. Some time ago I wrote that founders can’t live in silos. If the business guy doesn’t get the tech side and […]
Year One Labs Invests in Ken and Garry Seto (and Endloop X)
Year One Labs is the early stage seed accelerator that I started with three Montreal-based entrepreneurs – Raymond Luk, Alistair Croll and Ian Rae. We announced Year One Labs in early September. Since then we’ve been busy recruiting the best people we can find to join. It’s quite the experience, and something I hope to […]
Do Investors Invest in Ideas, People or Markets?
Investors often say that they invest in people first, then the market and lastly, the idea. I’d say that’s generally true, but it’s also very difficult not to triage and make judgement calls in reverse. When an investor asks for a pitch, they don’t say, “Tell me why you’ve got what it takes to be […]
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