Perfect Startup Founding Team: The Butcher, The Baker, and The Candlestick Maker
Friday, 10 April 2015
The question of the perfect team is timeless and yet the answer seems obvious as most successful startups are renown with their famous duo, or sole founder. Larry Page and Sergey Brin come to mind. Mark Zuckerberg seems to have done it alone, no? That media fervor for the unicorn startups and their celebrity founders lead
- Published in Startups
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The Tale of Two Founders
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Yesterday, famed New York Times cartoonist Kaamran Hafeez featured a sketch that has garnered quite a bit of attention in the startup community. Implied by one “faction” (a term I’m using not to be critical but to distinguish) to offer a tongue-in-cheek jab at founders and investors who arguably embrace market share and scalability over
- Published in Startups
The Pitch Deck Slide That Can Make you Look Like a Moron
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Okay so perhaps implying that you might be a moron is a bit harsh but let’s be realistic, as a startup in need of funding, if you fail to secure that funding simply because you haven’t done your homework or your failure to communicate effectively, you’re a moron. I’ve explored in the past, quite a
- Published in Raising Capital, Startups
Why Startups Fail – Bosses vs. Founders
Monday, 19 January 2015
Almost every list of reasons startups fail, point out near the top that they run out of capital. Lists created by founders abound and it’s not unreasonable to conclude that they’ll cite that they ran out money. It’s not wrong, startups most often succeed through perseverance, tenacity, and patience, but I’m intrigued by what you probably
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
What Stickers on Laptops Say About Your Startup Community
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Think about the last time you spent in a coffee shop working. Perhaps you had a quick meeting with a friend or potential partner, perhaps you haven’t made the leap to coworking and call Starbucks your office; regardless of why you were there, picture the laptops around you. When I arrived in Austin, TX, I
The Three Most Important Startups of 2014
Tuesday, 06 January 2015
Blah blah, great intro about how cool 2014 was for innovation. Let’s get to why you’re here: Slack’s team communication in one place, everywhere. Admit it, workplace collaboration, messaging, intranet, project management, etc. sucks. They all do. I haven’t been satisfied with internal communication since I worked at Yahoo, more than a dozen years ago when
- Published in Insights / Research, Mobile, Startups
When Raising Capital, What is a Broker-Dealer Registered with the SEC?
Friday, 19 December 2014
With the advent of crowdfunding and the ongoing changes to how startups might raise capital, prompted by the JOBS Act, entrepreneurs are frequently asking about the role of a broker-dealer. Why? Let’s start from the beginning with an understanding of what exactly is a broker-dealer An individual, company, or organization that trades securities (a catch-all term
- Published in Raising Capital, Startup Ecosystems