…until you’ve actually done it. If you’re running a startup, or thinking about it, or have an inclination that some day you want to, or you work at one, go read Paul Graham’s latest essay, What Startups Are Really Like. For me it reads like my “startup autobiography”. He’s publishing a list of “surprises” that […]
YourVersion Sign-Up Process Works
YourVersion is a newly launched web application from the Techcrunch50 conference. YourVersion is a discovery engine that looks to provide you with good content from all over (blogs, multimedia sites, social sites, Twitter, etc.) in an easy-to-use, aggregated way. It also has a toolbar for bookmarking (and categorizing) content, plus sharing. Tracking all the content […]
Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees
Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. His company had just closed an early round of funding and he wanted to cement the employee relationships. I gave him similar numbers to what I had been given when I was hiring the first few employees for […]
How to Get the Most Value out of Twitter Links
I’m not Fred Wilson (who posts ideas and sees them built almost instantaneously) but I’m going to post about something I’d like to see as a Twitter application and maybe, just maybe … someone will build it. Fred (and many others) are certainly right — the value of Twitter is in the links. We’re seeing […]
The Definition of Us
Startups change. It’s the nature of the beast. Ideas change. Plans change. Teams change. The one constant for startups is change. But how can a startup handle and excel through so much change? Some companies have a very strong system of corporate values in place. They use it as a definitive guide for everything they […]
Who Let the Dogs Out?
Cheesy, I know, but it’s early in the morning and I’m still shaking out the cobwebs. Extreme Venture Partners, a small Toronto-based venture firm focused on early stage startups, just announced ExtremeU, a 12-week summer program for 4 lucky startups. This looks similar to Y Combinator, Techstars and other similar seed fund incubators. Kudos to […]
CEO Paralysis: the Microscope and the Telescope
Check out this tweet from @exectweets (I believe originally from Tom Stewart): CEO paralysis caused by trying to look simultaneously through a microscope at every cost & a telescope at the future It was too long to re-tweet effectively without having to edit it, so I decided to write a blog post instead. To say […]
The Art and Science of the Small Exit
Is the “era of the small exit” upon us? I haven’t looked at any data to determine if smaller exits are becoming more common – I would venture to guess that they’re becoming more public by virtue of the publicity surrounding Web-based startups. But regardless of the past, opportunities are growing for smaller exits, and […]
Is the Venture Capital Model Broken?
Lots of people are asking this question: Is the VC model broken? It’s an important question, regardless of what you believe, because it creates debate and change. Few things ever stay the same, and the VC model is no different. And without a doubt, I believe the VC model and startup investment in general will […]
Startup Reality: Survive or Die Quickly
The simple and painful reality for startups in this economy goes like this: Survive until things pick up, or die quickly and start over. Mark Peter Davis at DFJ Gotham makes this point in his recent post, The State of Venture: The Ugly, The Bad And The Good. In this new economic environment, access to […]
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