There are a lot of markets that should be disrupted. Big, juicy, billion+ dollar markets that deserve disruption. But there’s a big difference between a market that should be disrupted and one that’s ready to be disrupted. And the distinction is important. Take the HR / Recruitment space. It should be disrupted. It’s huge, there’s […]
Paying Yourself is Not a Reason to Raise Early Stage Funding
If you want to earn a market value salary, you need to get a job. Paying yourself isn’t a good enough reason to justify raising early stage funding. I realize that sounds harsh, but it’s not intended to be. Here’s a fairly common scenario for startup founders: Two or three people decide to start a […]
How to Balance Between Loving Your Startup Idea and Taking Feedback
Although we’ve just started meeting entrepreneurs for Year One Labs some clear patterns are emerging. As I listen to entrepreneurs pitch their startups I think about all the pitches and meetings I’ve done with investors, customers, partners, etc. It’s not easy. One of the toughest things for entrepreneurs to do is take feedback. But investors […]
Shrinking the Table – How Investors and Startups Are Getting Closer
Too often, investors and entrepreneurs think of themselves as being, “on opposites sides of the table.” Raising capital is a negotiation that regularly pits investors against entrepreneurs (and vice versa). This adversarial relationship is quite common, and the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs (many people describe it as a marriage) regularly falls apart. Sure, when […]
Launching Year One Labs – An Early Stage Seed Accelerator
Today is a big day. After 6 or so months, I’ve launched my new startup: Year One Labs. Year One Labs is an early stage seed accelerator that will help fund and build startups, primarily in the web and mobile spaces. Although we’ll be in the business of helping others launch their startups, Year One […]
Startup Funding Doesn’t Always Create the Right Type of Acceleration
In a recent conversation with a friend (and fellow entrepreneur) we were discussing a couple of his bootstrapped initiatives. He’s struggling with the pace at which things are going, partially because he has to “pay the bills” through consulting. That time away from his startup and startup projects is hugely distracting. I know the feeling, […]
Scratching Your Own Itch May be Detrimental to Your Startup’s Health
A lot of startups come into existence when the founders work to solve their own problems. They “scratch their own itch” and (hopefully!) find that lots of other people are itchy too. But there are significant risks as well. These days a lot of startups are launched quickly with a couple of technical co-founders. That […]
It Doesn’t Matter How Much Money You’re Raising, It’s Still Hard
Things certainly feel frothier these days. More and more companies are raising money, and valuations seem to be skyrocketing. But even in stronger economic times (we hope!) and bubblier eagerness to put venture and angel capital to work it’s still extremely hard to raise financing. And in many cases the amount of money you’re looking […]
Riding a Mega-Trend Isn’t the Same as Solving a Real Problem
Mega-trends are good. Investors like mega-trends. There are lots of opportunities that exist as a result of mega-trends. For example: The population of old people is going to massively overshadow the population of younger people that can replace them in the workforce. That sure looks like a huge opportunity in the recruitment space! But be […]
A Systematic Strategy for Sourcing Startup Talent
Companies with the best record and most success at hiring top people don’t sit around and wait for those people to show up. They go out and grab them by the throats. OK, it’s fair to say that grabbing someone by the throat and dragging them to your office for a job isn’t going to […]
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