Lessons Learned
Did you have to re-read that headline a few times? I admit, it might seem a bit confusing coming from a venture capitalist. But here’s the truth: there are plenty of expansion stage...
This is the third post in a Friday series on “raising VC money”. For the list of topics we are covering, click here. In this post, we’ll focus on “how to handle the 1st VC...
During a Sunday afternoon last year, I came across an article about how to quickly and cheaply launch a business. I had been wanting to start a side project to get more familiar with...
Without dating myself or even just admitting I like classic rock and folk music, one of the best stories told through a song is “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin. For those of you...
You’re an early stage entrepreneur building a Web-based subscription business. You have your board meeting coming up soon, or you’re sitting down with your close...
The idea is working… you have great investors, you have hired exceptional people, your core product is built, your customers are happy and they want to know what is coming...
Teachers and students have a mutual goal: to learn. The best teachers constantly adapt their plans - sometimes at a moment's notice - to ensure that they meet the needs...
In the fall of 2010 I laid out reasons why all the tech “bubble” chatter was really more the hallmark of a reasonably sustained boom, and then revisited the topic almost one year ago to the...
One of many famous credos of the late, great Coach John Wooden. Everybody talks about moving at web speed. As it applies to making decisions about All Things People...
I have been involved in many environments in which mentoring is a core part of the value proposition. Seedcamp or TechStars succeed almost exclusively on the quality of their...
A couple of months ago Mark Stephens wrote a guest post on OnStartups about the benefits of gaining experience at a large company. Having worked at a large company, and having...
Every entrepreneur has heard of the importance of his/her "elevator pitch"... the succinct description of your business you're supposed to have at the ready when a VC says "so, what's your...
There’s something magical happening in Boston right now, and it’s going to make history. Like many Startup scenes, Boston’s is truly exploding, vibrant with...
An entrepreneur I really admire asked me for advice on how to handle associate cold calls from VC firms. I thought the best way to answer that question is to share what happens...
I’ve noticed a growing amount of advice for business entrepreneurs on how to find a technical co-founder. The advice seems to be “don’t delay if you can’t find one; learn to code.” It’s really...
I’ve been getting this question often: “What positions do you fill first when building early stage marketing teams?” Well. Here’s the deal. I’ve been fortunate enough to work at several...
"There are moments in a company's life where you have to jump..." - Mike Baker. Towards the end of last year, Silicon Valley Bank...
How do you grow a software business? What does growth look like? This is what growth looks like. It starts slow, almost linear, from zero, and then (we hope) accelerates. The horizontal...
Welcome to the latest installment of Octane! Today, we are featuring the CEO & Co-Founder of CampusLIVE in Boston... Boris Revsin!!! CampusLIVE is a high growth startup...
You see the future... you have the technology... however, the market and mass consumer...
Need capital to start or build your business? Ever try to figure out who the best fit VC is for you? In my view, the absolute best way for you to get the capital to build your business...
Most product demos are disastrous. I’ve gone through more trainwrecks than I would care to have, and thought I’d share some of my scars and random learnings on the topic...
As many fellow non-technical folks know, it’s not easy selling an engineer on building a product that’s not their own. To remedy this situation, many people (including myself) have...
I recently had coffee with a friend and former colleague whom I met working at Google. We’ll call him Jake. Jake now works in education, at a premier music and arts school outside...
We’ve been developing Smarterer for the better part of a year now, quietly building a platform that uses crowd-sourced questions to validate peoples’ social and professional skills. Like many...
Welcome to the latest installment of Octane, our Q&A series with local entrepreneurs. Today, we have Joe Cronin, the President & Founder...
As I recently hit the second half of my 30s, I must admit that my views towards entrepreneurship have changed since I launched my first company at 22. Entrepreneurs like myself are...
Five years ago this week, I was part of a small team (me, Sean, Devin and Gerard) that launched MyPunchbowl.com (now Punchbowl.com). The site...
Checking references is a normal part of the hiring process. Although they are meaningful, it is unlikely that a candidate is going to give you a set of references that don’t speak...
One of the most clichéd interview questions is “what are your strengths and weaknesses.” Most of us have heard it so many times that we’ve prepared for it extensively. Often we...