I’ve tried willing my startups into success. Turns out, it doesn’t work. You can’t will things into reality (as far as I know at least.) And that sounds obvious, but I guarantee you when you’re right in the middle of your startup, somewhere between the post-launch euphoria and the wiggles of false hope (as described […]
This Much I Know is True
I’m a big believer in intellectual honesty. We emphasized it at Year One Labs by pushing teams through a lean startup methodology. And when I reflect back on my failures, there were clearly times when I was lying too much to myself. Having said that, I also think founders need to be capable of lying […]
A Week in the Life of a Parent-Entrepreneur
In 2007 I wrote a post about what it was like raising a family and starting a company at the same time. Back then my second son, Quinn, had just been born, and I was starting Standout Jobs. I distinctly remember having fundraising conversations with investors while pacing outside the Children’s Hospital where my son […]
Schoolwork, Dating or Hacking Side Projects: Pick Two out of Three
My history with hiring university students and recent graduates for technical positions has not been a good one. In my first company (~15 years ago) we tried hiring recent university and technical college graduates for junior developer positions. I was struck by the near carbon copy similarities between most of the resumes. Very few of […]
Kids and Computers
I got into computers fairly early because of my father. He went back to university in 1986 in his early 40s and did a BSc. in Computer Science. I was 11 years old. Our first computer was a PC of some kind; I don’t remember what it was, but I remember it was expensive, $7,000+ […]
Imagination and Practicality
Watching my two kids play, it’s striking how different they are. My younger son (4) turns everything into a make-believe game. Give him two sticks and suddenly they’re space ships. Give him a handmade car (which we built recently at the Halifax Art Gallery; it’s meant to be Jeff Gorvette from Cars 2) and he’s […]
Change
I’m just starting the process of changing a great deal in my life. It starts with my professional life, where I’ve taken on a role as VP Product with GoInstant. That’s the catalyst for a lot of other change as well. Most of the moves I’ve made in my professional life have been fairly drastic. […]
A New Challenge and a New Opportunity: Joining GoInstant
Recently I announced that Year One Labs was mostly complete; at least our active incubation phase. Instead of rehashing that, I’ll just re-publish this part of that post: Year One Labs was the perfect antidote to my experiences just prior to starting it (which involved trying to build a company in the recruitment space during […]
How to Have Startup Swagger Without Being a Complete Asshole
You need a sizeable ego to succeed in the world of startups and venture capital. Without that ego propelling you forward it’s going to be hard to wake up every morning, take the risks you need to take, and aggressively go after what you want. You won’t be able to negotiate from a position of […]
Lying to Yourself is a Leading Cause of Startup Failure
Although I did complete a Psychology degree at university, I’m no psychologist. And I’m no self-help guru either. But the more I think about startups and entrepreneurs, the more I think that one of the leading causes of startup failure is lying. Not lying to other people, but lying to oneself. People lie to themselves […]
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