Startups: Marketing Yourself or Hiring a Professional
Monday, 10 June 2019
Marketing is the first, foremost, and most important thing a business does. No market for your idea… nothing for you to do, no? You are doing that, yes? There is no customer, no investor, no partner, no desire, no demand, no co-founder, no support for what you want to do. You keep going? No, if
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
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Justifying Analytics – How Every Business Knows What to Do
Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Not long ago, I shared a tweet that went a bit viral, noting that in our exuberance of things like “Big data” and “Machine Learning,” and through our Education system’s increasing focus on STEM, we’d do well in society to ensure merely that everyone has a basic understand of the data that’s available thanks to
- Published in Advertising, Analytics, Insights / Research
Does a University like Stanford Produce more Successful Startups? This Might be Why
Friday, 05 April 2019
Culture. It all, always, comes down to the culture of community. Why does Silicon Valley produce startups differently than elsewhere? Why does Hollywood have a style and way about their films that really isn’t replicated elsewhere? Why is Arizona State University a “party school” that produces highly social people? As entrepreneurs, we like to THINK
- Published in Austin, Insights / Research, Startups
The Rookie Mistake Investors Make Getting into Venture Capital
Tuesday, 02 April 2019
Venture capital investing is the riskier version of gambling in Las Vegas. Truly. 90% of startups fail. FEW are experienced with discerning any difference between those likely to fail and those not. What’s the rookie mistake in venture capital investing? Being a rookie. Without experience in startups, your odds are against you as much as
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
How Silicon Valley Really Got Its Start: In Fashion Tech
Friday, 21 December 2018
It was in 1848, that a carpenter by the name of James Marshall spotted gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, Calif. Soon hopeful prospectors flooded the Golden State in search of their fortunes. Today’s gold rush is, of course, the venture capital discovered in them thar hills; with entrepreneurs flooding the Valley in search of their
- Published in Industry, Insights / Research
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, Startups
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 Featured, Insights / Research, Startups