Milestone Group Interviews Brad Feld

Milestone Group:

Milestone: What two to three key pieces of advice would you give an entrepreneur starting a company today?

Feld: Every entrepreneur that I have ever worked with, including myself when I was starting companies as an entrepreneur, was doing something you are incredibly passionate about. If you are really excited about the domain and the thing that you are working on, your probability or chance of success is dramatically higher than "well I am just starting a company because it seemed interesting or important." Look for something you are really passionate about because it is going to consume you and it should consume you. Secondly, surround yourself with awesome people. It sounds trite but that is the biggest, driver of success, especially early in the life of a company. If you are an experienced entrepreneur you have been through that cycle, you have a collection of people. If you are not experienced, if this is the first time you are doing it, go find people that are experienced. Check them out carefully because you are going to have to live with them for a while. Make sure that you get the best possible people on your team early on.

Technorati tags: interview, startup, entrepeneurship, funding, vc

Lying Is Good For You

Lacey Rose (via Bill Keaggy):

If I told you lying was good for you, you probably wouldn’t believe me. But trust me--I’m not lying.

Simply put, we lie because it works. When we do it well, we get what we want.

Technorati tags: communication, honesty, lying

Sales Lessons For Tongue-Tied Techies

Brett Nelson (via Brian Plexico):

Many [tech startups] don’t have the resources to hire a shiny-shoed sales force nor a comprehensive training program. Here, then, are some hard lessons--gratis--from the front lines.

Technorati tags: startup, sales, entrepreneurship, technology

Can Paid Online Services Compete?

Peter Caputa:

I am starting to realize that anything that touches the consumer has to be free. If you want to launch and run a consumer facing service (the more obvious applications to write for any developer or company that relies on advertising as their revenue source), you have to give it away.

Technorati tags: marketing, web, competition

Where’s The Ambition?

Russell Beattie:

All these startups in my feeds lately are killing me! There are tons of them, but none seem to be doing anything particularly special. I mean, it’s nice that there’s a sort of rebirth of small startups, but there’s absolutely no sort of wow factor that I’ve seen. And no, this isn’t an anti-Web 2.0 style backlash: I really believe in the idea of the web as a platform. Amazon and eBay’s web services are perfect examples of platforms which have created huge value for both companies, as well as the developers using their APIs. That’s not the problem. It’s all these Flickr-wannabes, flip-it-quick companies that are bugging me.

Technorati tags: startup, trends, web2.0, business

To Beta or Not to Beta

Jon Burke:

While many startups still operate in "stealth" mode, a growing number instead bring out public "beta" versions of their software.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, strategy, marketing, marcom

Six Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Business Name

Patricia Schaefer (via Dane Carlson):

No matter how great a business is, an inappropriate or poorly-chosen name can have a negative impact on its success -- especially when first starting out. On the other hand, a business name that is appealing and memorable can do wonders for a business's bottom line.

Technorati tags: business, naming, startup, mistakes

Attenuation And The Suck Threshold

Kathy Sierra:

How long do your users spend in the "I suck" (or "this product sucks") zone? Once they've crossed the suck threshold, how long does it take before they start to feel like they kick ass? Both of those thresholds are key milestones on a users path to passion, and it's often the case that he-who-gets-his-users-there-first wins.

Technorati tags: software, design, learning

Don't Let Ego Kill the Startup

Karen E. Klein (via Cobalt Paladin):

For nearly two decades, Jonathan Hirshon has nurtured startup entrepreneurs as a Silicon Valley marketing and communications consultant. Along the way, Hirshon has observed both sorry failures and stunning successes, and he became an entrepreneur himself -- founding Horizon Communications, a Santa Clara (Calif.)-based consultancy, in 1995. Though it takes plenty of moxie to start a company, Hirshon says, it's the outsized entrepreneurial ego that most often brings down startups.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, youth, ego

Finding Your Calling

Fred Gratzon:

When I tell someone the secret to success is to do what he or she feels passionately about, they frequently ask me how they can identify the passion that will bring them the greatest success.

Here is what I answer...

Technorati tags: passion, entrepreneurship

Frame your storyboard

Patti Digh:

Watching his mom get her chemotherapy treatment one day, Brian Fies began drawing her and realized that her journey through metastatic lung cancer was to be documented, with her help, in the way he knew how—as a graphic novel. Mom’s Cancer, as one reviewer put it, leaves readers "shocked by the level of honesty that was put into the work. This is not a story that sugar-coats the emotions and thoughts of the storyteller, they're all there for the reader to experience. This is brave, compelling storytelling..."

Technorati tags: life, cancer, comics

How to Start a Business without Money

Fred Gratzon:

Several decades ago, before I got interested in starting businesses, I met a friend who went from being penniless to becoming quite wealthy in a breathtakingly short amount of time. I asked him what the secret of getting rich was.

Technorati tags: bootstrapping, entrepreneurship, startup

Roll Your Own Business

Keith Robinson:

As an entrepreneur that’s right in the middle of bootstrapping my own business together, I’ve got a bit of experience and I’m learning more and more every day. I thought it might be interesting to share some tips and some of the lessons I’ve learned so far.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, startup

Top 10 Most Practical Blogs for Entrepreneurs

Scott Allen:

With more and more people jumping on the business blogging bandwagon, it's getting to the point that there is far more out there than you could ever hope to read on a regular basis. To help you filter that infoglut down to a more manageable level, here is my list of the ten most practical blogs for entrepreneurs.

His picks are:

• Small Business Trends
• Just for Small Business
• WorkHappy.net
• Duct Tape Marketing
• Home Office Voice
• Sacred Cow Dung
• The Entrepreneurial Mind
• Escape Velocity
• BizzBangBuzz
• Business Opportunities Weblog

Congratulations all!

Now, back to the regular infoglut.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, startup, bloggers

On Starting a Long-Term Company

Stephen Wolfram:

Well, this was 1986. And it was right at the time when personal computers were starting to get fairly powerful.

I'd been used to using all sorts of separate programs--and custom software--for things I wanted to do. But I had the idea that perhaps I could make one really general computational system that I could just use forever.

And that lots of other people would find useful too.

Well, that was what launched me on building Mathematica. I was pretty definite and determined about it.

And I knew I needed to start a company.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, science, software, mathematics

The Science of Opportunity

Karen E. Klein (via New Dog Old Trick):

There's a lot to be said for careful planning and cautious review when starting a small business. But there's another side to the story, say some entrepreneurs, and that's following up a good opportunity and seizing it.

Technorati tags: opportunity, business, entrepreneurship, startup

The Best Way To Make Decisions

Bob Parsons:

I have always been known for making very quick decisions. I seldom spend a prolonged amount of time agonizing or pouring through voluminous amounts of information. Quite often after being apprised of the salient information relevant to any business decision — I usually know what to do.

Technorati tags: leadership, decisions, business

Beyond Outsourcing, India as an Innovator

Om Malik:

Cisco Systems, the San Jose, Calif.-based router maker, has made a billion dollar bet on India. With that one giant poker chip, the company has shifted the focus from India as outsourcer to India as an innovator. It is also a realization that India is a big market, perhaps not as big as China, but equally lucrative in the long run. The company plans to triple its staffing, start a $100 million venture fund and at the same time fund a $10 million rural broadband project. Rest of the money is going towards a R&D center.

Technorati tags: outsourcing, india, innovation, opportunity

The Power of a Note

David V. Lorenzo:

I decided to try a little experiment. I went through a couple of weeks of local periodicals and I picked out people that were featured in articles and I send them each a handwritten congratulations note. I said something to the effect – “I saw the article on your business in XYZ Magazine. Congratulations on your success. I’d love to speak with you some time to hear the story of how you got to where you are.” I sent twenty of these notes.

Technorati tags: networking

How to Stop Talking About the Future

Kevin Hale:

The talk about the future received its name about a year and a half ago and like a stray dog recently adopted, the people can’t stop saying its name—hoping to both own it and save it at the same time. The idea, christened by an editor/publisher/developer named Dale Dougherty, came out during an O’reilly conference planning session—clever and inspiring. If you know anything about math, then you might understand what I mean when I say that it was like a vector, describing both magnitude and direction. In the name there was hope. There was promise. There was a path. The fate of the interaction between the work of the titans (Amazon , Ebay, Google, Yahoo) and the work of the people (you, me, and every other promising developer and entrepreneur)—this was the talk about the future. This was supposed to be Web 2.0.

Technorati tags: web2.0, startup, software, technology, programming

Startup School - An Inspiring Room Full of Hackers

Chris Sacca:

Many people working for a relatively large corporation might bristle at the prospect of speaking face to face with 500 hackers with an average age of 22. I had exactly that opportunity this past Saturday as an invitee to Paul Graham's YCombinator Startup School held in Harvard's Science Center. Hands down, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my career.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, ycombinator, paul graham, startup school

7 Signs of an Entrepreneur

Joseph Anthony:

How do you know if you have what it takes to start a business? There's really no way to know for sure. But I do find things in common among the emotional and family fabric of people ready to consider an entrepreneurial venture.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, startup

Rupert Murdoch & Last-Mover Advantage

Paul Kedrosky:

First-mover advantage, in all but the rarest circumstances, is a myth. For every example of someone winning a market by being first, there are ten (twenty?) examples of people failing and being supplanted by a late-comer, whether in technology (Google) or elsewhere. It is something about which all venture capitalists should remind themselves once a week or so.

Technorati tags: marketing, competition, strategy, business

Defending Flippers

alarm:clock:

There has been a surprising amount of noise since the Web 2.0 conference from people who are opposed to the Built-to-flip startup model. Commentators seem to view flippers as detrimental to the Web ecology and as modern snake-oil salesmen. There are also sighs that we saw this in Web 1.0 and it was the flippers who were responsible for bringing the house of cards down. One blogger went so far as to accuse Business 2.0 of being a mouthpiece for the flipper agenda.

We think that the built-to-flip mindset is natural and healthy for the following reasons...

Technorati tags: startup, exit, strategy

SWOT Early, SWOT Often.

Bob Walsh:

As a micro-ISV you have to wear a stack of hats: developer, tech support person, marketing, sales, etc. But the hat most micro-ISVs forget to wear is CEO. A very good CEO spends most of their time worrying about their organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. (A very bad CEO should be worrying if they’ll end up in a cell after the trial with Tiny, the 300-pound biker, but that’s another story.)

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, startup, analysis, ideas, swot

VC Fundraising Still Strong

Jeff Cornwall:

Venture capital fundraising for the first three quarters of 2005 is already ahead of total fundraising for all of 2004 according to a new study released by the National Venture Capital Association.

Technorati tags: vc, economics

Is It in the Details?

Robert May:

Detail-oriented. That's what almost everyone says they are, in a job interview. The devil is in the details. Everyone is concerned about overlooking important details. Now, Michael Levine is arguing that details don't get the attention they deserve.

Technorati tags: details, service, customers, control, management

Meeting Richard Branson

Anita Campbell:

Eventually someone prodded me to go up and ask Richard Branson a question. So I sidled my way up to the front with the press, and managed to squeeze in one question. Now, I know you are dying to know: given her one shot to ask Richard Branson a question, what profound entrepreneurship insight did she ask about? Well, the journalists ahead of me had asked some great questions, and as I did not want to repeat them I asked something a little unusual about current culture, since he seems to be such a clued-in guy. I simply asked him if he'd ever read blogs. With a kind of half-chuckle he laughed and said, "No, I don't believe I have."

Technorati tags: blogging, msm

Only Three Things Matter

Naveed Ahmed to Evan Williams:

I think to be a successful entrepreneur only 3 things matter:

1] A clear vision of where your company is going.
2] Genuine desire and passion to create amazingly great products/services.
3] Strong conviction that your product/service is going to make a positive difference in your customer's life.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, web2.0

Sociology of Online Shoppers Worldwide

Joi Ito:

Got an early exclusive look at a fascinating survey by ACNielsen about online shopping worldwide.

The study of 21,000 web users in 38 countries, to be made public later today, found that online shopping habits vary radically by country.

Technorati tags: web, shopping, statistics

First, Best, or Different

D. Keith Robinson:

When it comes to building a product or brand you want to be:

* The first.
* The best.
* Different.

The isn’t much room for anything else.

Technorati tags: marketing, strategy, business, innovation, ideas, startup, entrepreneurship

Changes in the Works

Since the early summer, this blog has been obsessively focused on entrepreneurship. As I've conducted my own research into starting a business, I've shared links to the articles that I've found most interesting, in the hopes that you, too, might find some of them useful.

It's been a blast.

But it's not what I ever really intended this blog to be. It was supposed to be about sharing ideas, participating in conversations, getting more involved in the world, and meeting interesting people. It's been too long since I've written on a topic where I have some expertise. That's something I'd like to get back to.

Still, I really enjoy doing the whole entrepreneurial news thing, and I'm not ready to give up on it just yet.

So... I'm thinking of making some changes. Here's what I'm thinking.

The entrepreneurial material will move to a new blog: Startup Fever, a blog dedicated to entrepreneurial news.

The Meme Deflector will revert back to what I meant it to be before I started posting links to articles about marketing, competition, and startups: a place to share my ideas and experiences (some of which will likely have an entrepreneurial flavour). I hope some of you will stick around for it.

If not, you will still find all the entrepreneurial news and articles that you've come to expect at its new home, Startup Fever. If you use an RSS aggregator, like Bloglines or NewsGator, you can already subscribe to the new feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/startupfever), though you aren't likely to find anything to read there for a while yet. The site is far from ready to go live.

I hope to post some more reminders before (and after) the move. In the meantime, it's business as usual. Continue enjoying the usual entrepreneurial stuff here on the Meme Deflector.

Technorati tags: administrivia, notice, startup fever

Followup/Distraction

Paul Ford (via Merlin Mann):

Distraction is necessary. Minds need to wander to get anything done. But the Internet is sort of the mental equivalent of the snack aisle at a convenience store, filled with satisfying fatty chips and tasty cream-filled cakes. God knows I've spent enough time with both the Internet and cream-filled cakes to see the similarities. And I now know that what I want, mentally, is a well-cooked meal. A book gives me that, a well-written, carefully-edited book.

Technorati tags: distraction, focus, web, productivity, philosophy, happiness, knowledge

Is Your Business Idea Feasible?

Timothy Faley:

Making a critical evaluation of your business concept at an early stage will allow you to discover, address and correct any fatal flaws before investing time in preparing your business plan.

Technorati tags: marketing, competition, planning, startup

The Proximity Effect

Seth Godin:

Imagine a book publisher being upset because her company's books were being shelved right next to competitive books on the same topic...

Technorati tags: marketing, competition, clusters, strategy

Not Gaming, But Exer-Gaming

Paul Kedrosky:

I’ve been saying this was coming for years, so it’s good to see that the confluence of exercise and gaming is finally starting to happen (even if the WSJ writer isn’t fond of the idea)...

Technorati tags: gaming, software, exercise, ideas

Gag me with a "lifestyle business"

Jason Fried:

If I hear "lifestyle business" one more time I’m going to hurl.

Technorati tags: lifestylepreneur, entrepreneurship, startup, business

Kill the television, keep the shows

Kathy Sierra:

Television is bad for your brain. But television shows can be good for your brain. Until now, that's been the struggle—if you kill your TV (the cause that's dearest to me), you kill your chance of watching the shows until/unless they come out on DVD.

Technorati tags: television, life, media, brain, psychology, health, tv, advice

Health Care Crisis for Small Business

Jeff Cornwall:

Health insurance costs are consistently ranked among the most important issues faced by small business owners. This is not a surprise since the cost of offering health insurance is much higher for the smallest employers as seen in a recent study released by the SBA.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, healthcare

Ideas for Startups

Paul Graham (via Larry Borsato:

How do you get good ideas for startups? That's probably the number one question people ask me.

I'd like to reply with another question: why do people think it's hard to come up with ideas for startups?

That might seem a stupid thing to ask. Why do they think it's hard? If people can't do it, then it is hard, at least for them. Right?

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, ideas, paul graham

The Life

John Gruber (via Ash Mishra):

I suspect that many Mac users — as well as some aspiring developers — have only a half-conceived notion of the economics involved with becoming a successful indie Mac developer.

The basic idea is that a developer comes up with an idea for an app, implements it, ships it, and starts selling software licenses for, typically, around $20-40 a pop. If he can sell 1,000 licenses in a year, that’s a nice hobby. Sell 2,000, and he’s getting close; at around 3,000 licenses per year, revenue is probably in the ballpark range of a full-time salary. (Keep in mind, however, that, say, $80,000 in software license revenue results in much less personal income than a job with an $80,000 salary; salaried jobs tend to come with things like health insurance.)

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, software, startup

A quiz for wannabe entrepreneurs

Arun Natarajan:

Business Week has a cute little quiz to help wannabe entrepreneurs find out if they have the stuff.

Technorati tags: startup, quiz

This Is Tough

Jared Cosulich:

I really had no idea how lonely it would be to try and start a company by myself... I am very passionate about this project, dedicating every waking free moment I have to it, and I know that it would never work out if I tried to partner with someone who didn't have the same passion for the idea. I also think that it would tough to start a company with someone who had significantly more years behind them and experience than I did as it would be difficult to see eye to eye on controversial decisions.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, solopreneur

My Dirty Little Marketing Research Secret

John Jantsch:

Look, this post is hard for me to write. I like to think of myself as an NPR kind of smart guy, but I have to tell you that the one place I turn to keep myself rooted in how the world thinks and buys, you know, marketing research, is PEOPLE magazine.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, marketing, research

The Web 2.0 Entrepreneur Bubble

Peter Rip (via alarm:clock):

I think there is a real Entrepreneur Bubble these days in Internet software. Step A is seductively easy – buy some servers, write some code. Just understand that 10-100 other teams around the world are doing the exact same thing. How will you sustainably differentiate yourself? What will you do when 15 other similar sites appear in the next 12 months?

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, startup, marketing, competition

2006 Winter Founders Program

2006 Winter Founders Program:

Y Combinator is now accepting applications for the 2006 Winter Founders Program. The WFP is like our Summer Founders Program, but takes place in California. It will run from January through March 2006.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, software, funding, ycombinator

Startup Wiki

Startup Wiki:

This is the Startup Wiki for discussing and collaborating on all aspects of the startup life.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, wiki, resources

Kevin Hale's Notes from Startup School

Greg Yardley:

Kevin Hale of the ever-excellent ParticleTree is at Paul Graham’s Startup School in Cambridge, and taking very extensive notes. Kevin, thanks for this.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, ycombinator, paul graham, startup school

75 Reasons to Be Glad You're an American Entrepreneur Right Now

Michael S. Hopkins:

Let's compare notes. Here's our tally of the diverse ways the culture, the economy, and entrepreneurship's own history are combining to make this a great time--the best time, in fact--to be building a business.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship

The Language of Venture Capital

3i (via alarm:clock):

The international venture capital and private equity industry has a language all of its own. To help beginners we have created a guide to the jargon.

Technorati tags: funding, resource, startup, entrepreneurship, vc

Great Companies Aren't Born. They're Grown

Jason Fried:

Apple started in a garage. Dell started in a dorm room. Starbucks started with a single store. Nike started out of a car trunk.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, growth

Why People Avoid Starting a Business

Frank Ross (via Dane Carlson):

There are lots of reasons in favor of going into business for yourself (be your own boss, work your own hours, etc). But there are also a variety of reasons why people don't go into business for themselves. Some common obstacles are...

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, fear

The Five Ways to Accelerate Revenue

Paul McNamara (via Anthony Cerminaro):

Entrepreneurs in early stage companies can spend many months, and sometimes years, developing a new product. For many, the moment when the product is finally ready to go to market fosters feelings of great accomplishment and great anxiety. Can I make my sales projections? Will the company scale? Do we have what it takes to be successful?

Ultimately, these questions boil down to one: how to accelerate revenue formation. In this article, I want to share with you five proven revenue accelerators.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, promotion, marcom, design

How the JetBlue Shuttle to Boston is Like Dell's Move Into Servers

Joel Spolsky:

JetBlue launching a shuttle between New York and Boston is a brilliant move, for subtle reasons. It's not really that they need a share of the NY-Boston market, although that would be nice. It's not that they want to strengthen their JFK hub by feeding in passengers from Boston, although that would be nice, too.

Here's my theory. They're launching this because Delta and USAir consistently make huge profits from the Boston shuttle ... profits which subsidize their other loss-making routes. By forcing down prices in the shuttle market, eliminating those excess profits for their competitors, they're going to make it harder for those airlines to accept losses on other routes elsewhere which compete with JetBlue.

Technorati tags: business, competition, marketing, strategy

Your Idea Isn't Good Enough To Keep Secret

Ramit Sethi (via Dane Carlson):

One of the most rookie mistakes young entrepreneurs make is keeping their ideas secret. It goes something like this:

You: "So what are you working on?"
Rookie: "Oh, sorry. I can't really talk about it."

Really! Your idea is so grand that you can't share it with even your close friend? Wow, I want to invest in you right now!!!

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, ideas, marcom

Reflections on Kelo

Samuel Gregg:

Since the 1960s, judicial activism has long exercised the patience of many Americans with their judges. Normally this is associated with concerns about courts identifying and promoting various “rights”—such as an alleged constitutional right to privacy—that even some of their most passionate supporters freely concede cannot be derived from the American Constitution.

Judicial activism, however, took a new step on June 23, 2005, when the United States Supreme Court decided in Kelo v. City of New London to expand the definition of what is known as “eminent domain.”

Via Jeff Cornwall, who writes:

Over time, Kelo will become known as the sharpest blow to free enterprise and entrepreneurship since this country was founded.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, law, economics, kelo

Stealth Mode Considered

David Beisel:

I think that there are a number of good reasons why a startup would find the need to be covert about its plans. Alternatively, there are many motivations why a startup would pursue a clear, articulate, and open communication policy to their strategy and intentions.

Technorati tags: startup, marcom, strategy

100 Ways to Be a Better Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur.com:

Need help reenergizing your business? Out of creative ideas for reaching your business goals? We've compiled a list of the top 100 tips to improve your business. Consider it your checklist for maintaining a successful business.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, business, advice

What I Did this Summer

Paul Graham:

The first Summer Founders Program has just finished. We were surprised how well it went. Overall only about 10% of startups succeed, but if I had to guess now, I'd predict three or four of the eight startups we funded will make it.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, software, web, ycombinator, funding, investing

7 Steps to Going Solo While Holding a Job

Ellen McGirt, Janet Paskin and Donna Rosato (via Dane Carlson):

If you dream of launching your own private enterprise, a stealth plan can be the key to freedom.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, startup, solopreneur

Set Your Priorities

Joel Spolsky:

By the time we were ready to start development, we had enough ideas for improvement to occupy 1700 programmers for a few decades. Unfortunately, all we have is three programmers, and we wanted to be shipping next fall, so there had to be some prioritization.

Technorati tags: software, planning, requirments, programming, shrinkwrap

Angels Fund More Deals in '05

Red Herring (via Jeff Cornwall):

Angel investors are funding more early-stage startups this year than at any point since the Internet boom, a sign this informal breed of venture capitalists may be stepping in to fill a role traditionally played by venture capital firms.

Technorati tags: angel, funding, vc, startup, entrepreneurship

Learning The Lessons of Entrepreneurship

D. Keith Robinson:

Before we got started I did quite a bit of research. I talked to people who’d done something similar and asked for advice. I read books, articles and blog posts on the topics of small business, entrepreneurship, taxes, LLCs, LLPs, etc.

I tried to prepare myself as best I could. In the main, this stuff helped, but there is so much you just have to experience (and hopefully learn from) on your own

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, startup, lessons

Small Teams. Big Things.

D. Keith Robinson:

I imagine many of you have heard about the whole "doing big things with small teams" idea. The first time I'd heard of it was during Jason Fried's presentation at SXSW. It's a concept that we at Blue Flavor are behind 100%.

However, we're finding that, at times anyway, it can be much easier said then done. Especially when it comes to getting our business up and running.

Technorati tags: startup, entrepreneurship, founders, team

Flipping - A Model That's Easy to Get

Greg Yardley:

Well, yes - there were a rather lot of businesses there whose main hope for a liquidity event seemed to be ’sell to a larger business’. But I can’t really blame people, since this is a model that’s easy to intellectually grasp:

1. Build something cool.
2. Talk it up with the right people.
3. Wait for Google / Yahoo / Amazon / eBay / AOL / Microsoft to notice.
4. Hope like hell they’d rather buy it than build it.

See, easy - even I understand it.

Technorati tags: startup, software, web2.0, business, flip

How Much is Your Blog Worth?

Dane Carlson:

Inspired by Tristan Louis’s research into the value of each link to Weblogs Inc, I’ve created this little applet which computes and displays your blog’s worth using the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal.

My blog is worth $26,533.38.
How much is your blog worth?

Technorati tags: blogging, valuation, web2.0, applet, fun

Viral Marketing with Blogs

Peter Caputa:

Here's my primer for viral marketing for blogs:

1. Start a blog.
2. Start conversations through your blog or behind the scenes with other bloggers.
3. Find out what their goals and aspirations are.
4. Help them get there.
5. They'll return the favor.

Technorati tags: viral, marketing, blogging, networking

Web 2.0 - Building Features or Value?

Brad Feld:

The overwhelming attempt at pattern matching from 2001 (Bubble this, bubble that) completely misses the point. There were a number of very successful companies founded between 1999 and 2001 that didn’t implode when the bubble popped, with entrepreneurs who kept their heads down, built real businesses, and then started to reap the gains in 2003 and 2004 when the markets became more receptive to younger tech companies, especially ones that had built business engines that generated real positive cash flow (e.g. long term economic value).

Technorati tags: web2.0, hype, entrepreneurship, vc

Entrepreneur Exchange

Entrepreneur Exchange - Entrepreneur Exchange (via Brad Feld):

A renewable resource for those working with fewer resources.

Technorati tags: wiki, startup, entrepreneurship, resources

Less As A Competitive Advantage

Jason Fried:

I was invited to present a 10 minute “High Order Bit” at the Web 2.0 Conference. I decided to talk about the concept of less as a competitive advantage. Here’s the rough text (from memory) of my presentation.

Technorati tags: design, entrepreneurship, marketing

Ganging Up On The Big Guy

Peter Caputa:

You know what they say: 3 micro-breweries in one town: better business for everyone. Especially, if they work together.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, cluster, marketing

What Competition?

Jeff Cornwall:

Those who read business plans on a regular basis begin to see certain patterns that immediately send up red flags. One of the most common that I see is a when the entrepreneur downplays, or even dismisses their competition. Sometimes it is due to lack of careful research, sometimes it is due to tunnel vision, sometimes it is arrogance, and sometimes it is due to denial. But whatever the cause, ignoring the competition is most often deadly for a new business.

Technorati tags: entrepreneurship, competition, marketing

Your New Idea Stinks and It’s Old

David V. Lorenzo:

Most successful entrepreneurs are great re-arrangers. They take something that has been useful somewhere else and rig it so that it is groundbreaking and disruptive to a completely different industry.

Technorati tags: remarkable, marketing, entrepreneurship, cross fertilization

Dependent Relationships

Jeff Cornwall:

A risky business model is one that is one that is based on a dependent relationship with just a handful or even just one main customer. Inc.com has a good case in point from the auto industry in which GM is looking to cut its costs on the backs of its suppliers. Many of these companies are small businesses that are completely dependent on GM for their survival.

Technorati tags: dependency, entrepreneurship, customers, margin

Is Many A Special Case For One?

Brad Feld:

At dinner last night with Scott Moody (the founder of Throw - which was acquired by Excite in 1998), we began talking about the difference on the web between groups and individuals. While we slurped down our intensely spicy Vietnamese soup, Scott suggested that much of the current generation of web software has a conceptual design flaw – namely that it has been created for individuals (one) rather than groups (many) even though it is used by many (and the great utility of most of the software is when it is used by many).

Technorati tags: software, design, social, group, individual

Web 2.0 is a Bunch of ****

Ian Landsman:

I’m so sick of “Web 2.0″ I could puke. It’s just a bunch of bored technologists who don’t have jobs and have nothing better to do than make up new phrases and have a reason to go give talks and hear themselves speak. I remember last year Web 2.0 was web services. Now all the sudden Web 2.0 is AJAX and RSS. Please people get a frickin grip!!!!

Technorati tags: web2.0, software

The top 10 things that aren't Web 2.0

Jason Fried:

There’s a lot of smart people asking ‘What is Web 2.0?’.
I’ll tell you what it isn’t.

Technorati tags: web2.0