How the “Bootstrap Culture” of a Place like Austin Changes Entrepreneurship From an “Equity Culture” of a Place Like Silicon Valley
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Bootstrap or VC? It’s a question on so many minds as entrepreneurship flourishes beyond Silicon Valley, in cities where venture capital seems inaccessible. It’s a question that not a day goes by in which it doesn’t come up for me, based in Austin, TX, having professional roots along Sand Hill Road. What strikes me as
- Published in Insights / Research, Regional Development, Startups
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Startup Founders’ Mental Health
Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Inspired by changes in professional sports, where a growing number of high-profile athletes have gone public with their mental health and psychological struggles, Felicis founder Aydin Senkut and partner Dasha Maggio, announced in September that Felicis Ventures will commit 1%, on top of every check the firm writes, in non-dilutive capital earmarked for “founder development”
- Published in Insights / Research, Featured, Startups
How a Struggling Startup turns into a Successful Business
Tuesday, 04 September 2018
You’re here meaning you’re in the great majority of founders who struggle. According to my last “study” *ahem* of the startup economy, that’s roughly 100% of us. Imagine that. Yep, we all struggle. It might be said that the very definition of being an entrepreneur is epitomized in the one who struggles. It’s our job
- Published in Startups, Insights / Research
Your Startup, a CMO, and that Elusive Question of Equity
Tuesday, 28 August 2018
First let’s establish as fact, a couple of assumptions. This is a key role in your organization, at a distinct stage in a specific type of new company; and as a team member so critical, we need to be on the same page as to our context in working through this question. Early stage =
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
The Cracks of an Entrepreneur
Friday, 24 August 2018
In a New York Times interview with David Gelles, James B. Stewart, Jessica Silver-Greenberg, and Kate Kelly, the Times journalists noted that Elon Musk, “choked up multiple times, noting that he nearly missed his brother’s wedding this summer and spent his birthday holed up in Tesla’s offices as the company raced to meet elusive production targets on a crucial new
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
From Cambridge to Coffee Barista, How University has been Sold to Us
Thursday, 23 August 2018
CNBC’s Courtney Connley reported recently that Google, Apple and 13 other companies that no longer require employees to have a college degree, spurring some consideration of the implication on jobs and education. The amateur economist in me read the headline on the surface of it and thought, “great! More affirmation that $100,000 in debt to
- Published in Insights / Research
Venture Capital in Texas
Thursday, 26 July 2018
The last time I had an opportunity to do this at such a scale was during Amazon’s Startup Day. What is the state of the Texas venture capital ecosystem? Interestingly, personally, since speaking for Amazon, Austin has been hemming and hawing about HQ2 and while the merit of that happening or not, is fodder for
- Published in Startups, Insights / Research