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Why Incubators Make You Practice the Pitch: Founder First Impressions Send the Loudest Message

Tuesday, 16 September 2025 by
With the fall season of cohorts starting, I’m reminded that most founders will be asking of advisors why there is so much emphasis on practicing the elevator pitch. In every cohort I’ve mentored, a founder invariably raises their hand and asks why so much time is spent on the 60 seconds, with a look in
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“I’ll See It When I Believe It,” Entrepreneurs and Startup Investors Put Conviction Before Cash Flow

Thursday, 11 September 2025 by
That tired phrase has been responsible for more missed fortunes than bad timing or bad luck. It’s the refrain of cautious uncles, small-town bankers, and risk-averse executives who prefer their innovation the way they prefer their wine: aged, tested, bottled, and priced at a predictable markup. But in the world of entrepreneurship, that order of
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19 Comments

Predicting Startup Success with Personality Data

Tuesday, 19 August 2025 by
Entrepreneurial DNA: The Science in Startup Success The mythology of entrepreneurship has always been convenient for investors and romantic for founders: anyone with grit, an idea, and caffeine can succeed. But data is increasingly cutting through the myth. A growing body of research confirms that personality traits, psychological wiring, and the composition of the founding
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22 Comments

Why and How a Venture Determines It Is “Uniquely Better”

Thursday, 14 August 2025 by
In business strategy and marketing, “Uniquely Better” is more than a slogan, it’s the distillation of why a venture deserves to exist. The term sits alongside other well-known ideas such as competitive advantage, differentiation, and “moat,” but with a crucial twist: it forces you to define why customers should choose you over all other options.
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Why Nobody Understands Startup Growth

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 by
Startups don’t grow like businesses. Not in the traditional sense. They don’t scale by adding headcount, expanding inventory, or renting more retail space. They grow by discovering, and then systematically proving, a revenue-generating system that works before it collapses. And yet, here we are, in 2025, with startup advisors, development organizations, investors, and even policymakers
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34 Comments

You Don’t Want to Be an Entrepreneur, You Want What It Represents

Friday, 25 July 2025 by
If you’re asking why you want to be an entrepreneur, you probably already shouldn’t be. That’s not snark (well, not only snark), it’s insight. I wanted to write this because becoming an entrepreneur, taking entrepreneurship studies, or questions about how to be one, are prolific topics in modern society. The things, entrepreneurs, real ones, aren’t
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17 Comments

The GTM Slide is Broken: Here’s How to Fix It

Wednesday, 23 July 2025 by
The Go To Market Slide (GTM), is the most misunderstood, misused, and mangled slide in the entire startup pitch deck. It’s like the appendix of a pitch; everyone includes it, nobody knows exactly why, and when it bursts, the whole body of your presentation goes septic. Every founder knows they need one. Almost no one
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