Startup Advice
This is the fifth and last blog post in a series on trust. I’ve written in the past about trust between a VC and an entrepreneur (“When Entrepreneurs and VCs Break Up”), between...
This is the fourth post in a blog series on trust. I previously wrote about how trust is critical in the VC-entrepreneur relationship (“When Entrepreneurs and...
TripAdvisor may be one of the most fascinating companies I know and so I was excited to dig into their business model as part of my series on scaling. This is a company that took $4 million...
I have been thinking lately about how hard it is to scale start-ups. The Lean Start-Up movement, as exemplified in Eric Ries' book The Lean Start-Up, has appropriately focused a great deal...
This is the second post in a blog series on trust. Last week, I wrote that VC is a “trust business” and I highlighted why trust between an entrepreneur and a VC is important...
So you’ve decided to raise capital and have figured out what your ideal partner would look like – great! If you’re still toying with theidea of raising or trying to figure out...
Between us, my long-time friend (and fellow blogger) Andy Palmer and I have started a lot of companies. We also advise many other companies and look at even more pitches from...
In Part 1 of this post, I laid out a portfolio company case study that lays out the considerations a CEO should take into account when deciding between capital efficiency and revenue...
A lot of ink has been spilled about the challenges of building large scale consumer internet companies in Boston. Here’s a recent example that is quite thoughtful although misses...
A lot of growing businesses face a common issue as they advance past the early stages of their development: How can they accelerate growth while concurrently improving distribution...
A few weeks ago, a very good friend who works at a growing startup emailed me with the following question (in which I’ve masked just a few of the identifying details)...
I hang out in a university where new ideas are everywhere. In fact, the product of the CSAIL lab at M.I.T. is arguably new ideas. I am asked routinely “What constitutes...
Instagram created a better way for people to share photographs. Their innovation was worth $1B to Facebook (even without revenue). Why couldn’t Facebook...
New entrepreneurs show a lot of confusion on the subject of advisory boards and corporate boards of directors. It’s justified; there is some conceptual overlap. But they...
Summary: Illustrates graphically why churn is a huge problem a SaaS company gets larger. It also looks at a very surprising factor that can massively accelerate SaaS...
In my 15+ years in technology I have had the privilege of working as a product manager who reported to various department heads. In some cases I reported to engineering...
I sent a tweet out last week that resulted in some healthy debate: “three years ago, I was telling everyone I met to start companies. These days, I’m telling everyone to think twice...
I read a fascinating article in the Harvard Business Review about teamwork. One of the sentences that caught my eye was this, “Team members are more likely to want to...
When you look up the phrase “the elephant in the room” in Wikipedia you get: “Elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is being...
I have long had a theory that (for companies with up rounds) the greatest valuation increases occurs between the A and B rounds. So, I recently had opportunity to do some...
The most important financial decision you will ever make as an entrepreneur is when to sell your company. What amount of money to raise at what price from whom pales in comparison...
I could build Instagram in a week. How many times have you heard someone say "I could build [insert hot startup name here] in a week"? I hear it all the time. But, I have yet...
This is the final part in a three part series about how to launch your startup on a shoestring budget. In the first post, we looked at back office and operational tools that enable...
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...
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...
What can we learn about innovation and growth from the most successful growth companies? Global competition and a weak economy have made growth more challenging...
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...
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...
Note: This is intended be a light-hearted piece that hits just close enough on some counts to (hopefully) be funny. Please don't take it too seriously. (Oh, and for the record, I've actually...