Here’s a sampling of some great startup lessons worth reading about. Your Pitch Sucks. Patrick Lor lays it on the line very succinctly with his post about bad VC pitches. He must have seem some really awful pitches, cause he’s normally quite a “nice guy” blogger. Regardless, every point he makes is correct; they’re not […]
5 Things That Keep Me Awake At Night
Experienced entrepreneurs (who have “been there, done that”) often ask the question, “So, what keeps you up at night?” Short answer: My kids. And more specifically, my younger son, Quinn Alexander Yoskovitz, who recently turned 1 year old. He’s been a bit under the weather, teething like a werewolf and grumpy like a seriously-constipated old […]
Technology to Sales: The Evolution of a Software Startup
Software startups always start out very heavily focused on technology. They have to be; they’re building some kind of software application and most of their time has to go into doing that properly. Most software startup teams are made up entirely of developers or weighted in that direction. Have a team of 4? I bet […]
StartupIndex: A Great Resource for Canadian Startups
The guys behind StartupNorth and a number of other initiatives, have recently launched StartupIndex, which they describe as, “…a free, community-based index of technology startups and investors in Canada.” It’s similar to CrunchBase and TraveVibes. This is a much-needed addition to the startup scene in Canada. It’s great for Canadian startups but also for others, […]
Data: A Startup’s Secret Money-Making Asset
The pervading approach to launching a startup is to do it quickly, iterate constantly and make as much noise as possible throughout the process. It’s not a bad way of doing things, and given the lower cost of startup operations, and the nature of consumer web startups in particular, and it’s completely doable. But be […]
The Challenge of Staying Focused in a Startup
Startups have a hard time staying focused. It’s the nature of the beast. The enthusiasm founders have for their startups can very quickly lead to chasing too many opportunities. The big risk? Running in every direction, chasing every lead, idea and opportunity only to realize at the end that you’ve made very little progress. And […]
How To Launch a Startup: Ideas, Acceleration, Raising Capital and More
I was very glad to see that someone recorded the recent Blitzweekend presentations. Stephane Daury did a great job recording everything, and I’ve enjoyed watching the presentations I didn’t see. I gave a presentation at Blitzweekend about starting a company. It was a mixture of a few things including: how Standout Jobs started from within […]
Keeping a 20,000 Foot View One Day at a Time
How do you maintain a 20,000 foot strategic view of your startup and business, while frantically managing the day-to-day efforts? I’ve been thinking about this a lot, because it’s something I’m dealing with now. Immediately after launching Standout Jobs, things accelerated incredibly. And that should be the goal of every startup. Prior to launching you’re […]
Is a Lack of Experience Really Such a Bad Thing?
Young entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of experience. That’s a given. And in many cases this is rarely brought up as an issue. But in certain industries (especially in “older industries” or B2B-related industries) that lack of experience will be a sticking point. At least for many people inside the industry. It’s certainly been a […]
The Importance of Advisory Boards for Startup CEOs
When a startup receives financing it will need to setup a Board of Directors. The Board probably existed beforehand, but was made up only of the founders. Once funding takes place, the angels or VCs will want a seat at the table. There’s no surprise there. But there’s another kind of board that’s equally important. […]
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