Startups Archives - Page 8 of 34

Startups: Market Timing is Misleading

Monday, 27 June 2022 by Paul O'Brien

It’s never too early to work on something toward which you’re truly passionate. Too many founders start out focused on building the business they want or expecting when and how to make money. Bless them for playing, but that’s not how startups work. Those are the people who fail not because they’re wrong, they fail

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

15 Comments

‘I Recently Left an Agency to Join a Startup…’

Monday, 21 March 2022 by Paul O'Brien

“Now I have to think in terms of scale and process, not just marketing, which is a new paradigm for me. What are your best learning resources (book, webinars, podcasts, etc.) to start thinking in terms of scale and process?” Great question, but one that also left me with a weight of concern, disappointment, and

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

23 Comments

Raising Capital: The Process is a Flywheel

Wednesday, 26 January 2022 by Paul O'Brien

Our year has started with a flood of curiosity about Venture Capital not just in how to raise funding but in consideration of how funds work, what it takes to get a job at a venture capital firm, and whether or not VC is broken or needs to change. Certain of 2022, given the recent years of

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Published in Raising Capital

21 Comments

Wisdom of Life in Work

Friday, 17 December 2021 by Paul O'Brien

My Dad sent me a thought about Life, and lately, I can’t help but be fixated on notions that life lessons parallel entrepreneurship more than we realize or put into practice. The notion, for example, of finding cofounders is frequently explored through consideration of Dating and Marriage. Experiences in life informing what it means to

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

14 Comments

How Funding Startups is Like Betting on Horses

Monday, 09 August 2021 by Paul O'Brien

Last week, a bit of a controversial, but thought-provoking, perspective about Venture Capital caught the attention of a lot of my readers and followers. There has been a horrific rash of *VC Bad* propaganda and misinformation lately, sparking my thought that people are being misled about the what Venture Capital is and does. That, entrepreneurs are frustrated

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Startups

15 Comments

“Venture Capital Destroys Value” – What??

Wednesday, 04 August 2021 by Paul O'Brien

The conversation recently had started, “Why do venture capitalists invest in startups if many of them are losing money and destroying value?” and I had to pause when I heard the point of view because I couldn’t even rationalize how someone thinks that way. Then of course it dawned on me that lately there has

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Published in Industry, Startups

31 Comments

Entrepreneurs Struggle Beyond Startup

Tuesday, 08 June 2021 by Paul O'Brien

Highly risk tolerant and constantly fixated on doing things better, entrepreneurs tend not to be found running companies. That’s not remotely a knock against entrepreneurs. Operating a company is a management skillset, it’s operational, it’s project based, it’s plan and execute…. and these are skillsets that, while valuable to a founder, are not typically consistent

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Published in Startups

38 Comments