Whether your startup succeeds or fails you’re bound to learn a ton. If you don’t learn a ton, you did something wrong (unless you sold the company for millions and millions, and then who am I to argue with that, right?) The guys at Xobni, a San Francisco-based startup, published some great lessons learned from […]

The best startups succeed in large part because of a strong company culture. A strong, meaningful company culture is the foundation off which startups can do great things. It’s critical when you first start a business to think about company culture and decide with your partners what type of culture you’d like to build. But […]

In tennis the best way to win points is through an ace. It’s fast and effective. The perfect first shot. Professional tennis players must be trying to hit an ace every time they do a first serve. But they don’t. In fact they rarely hit an ace. The best tennis players in the world hit […]

You should work at a startup. It’s a great experience. Lots of upside. Lots of emotion. Lots of learning. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worthwhile. Many people’s reaction to that statement is this: “Startups are too risky. You never know if they’ll be around for long…” Webomatica echoed that exact sentiment on my post […]

Do you really want to work at a startup? Evan Prodromou has dire warnings for anyone entertaining the thought. “Employees end up working 80-hour weeks, typically for low or no pay and worthless stock options that never pay out. Guilty that living the “startup lifestyle” (work from home, come in late, have fun) has caused […]

Joining a startup company is a no-brainer. The pros far outweigh the cons. Whether you’re just graduating, or you’ve done your time “working for the man” now is the perfect time to make the jump. Go work for a startup company. Here are 10 reasons why: More influence. With a smaller team, each person at […]

I’m just north of 30 (I’m 32) and I just started a business. So being 30 can’t be too old, right? Valleywag examined the age of some superstar entrepreneurs and found that most of them were under 30. But this is a relatively small sampling. Fred Wilson looked at the companies in his venture capital […]

What’s the best way to present financials to venture capitalists? You don’t want to pitch VCs with full-blown financial models. Venture capitalists assume your financials are pulled from your backside, totally fabricated, and based on wild assumptions. On top of that, you’ll probably tell them that your financial projections are “extremely conservative” which they’ve heard […]

Going out to get funding isn’t easy. You have to be a salesperson, dreamer, visionary, technologist, operations manager and relationship guru. And that’s just the beginning. By the time you’re done pitching VCs for money you’ll be a PowerPoint wizard and an Excel master. And that doesn’t guarantee anyone will write you a check. But […]