Category: entrepreneurship
-
How Startups Get Customers | Justin Mares Interview
Traction is what every entrepreneur wants these days. Whether it’s your revenue, acquisition funnel, or engagement numbers, every venture investor demands strong growth rates before writing a check. It’s no longer enough to just build a widget and let the world come to you. The most successful new companies are approaching traction with the same…
-
The next big thing for those who already have it all: vanity companies
Franco Faraudo is a good friend and real estate/angel investor. A few months ago we had a highly entertaining conversation over dinner that I knew you guys would want to eavesdrop on. So I invited Franco to write a post on the topic of our chat: vanity companies. Without further ado, here’s Franco: Many great…
-
Unconventional Wisdom
This article was published two weeks ago on StartUp San Diego‘s blog. I figured you guys might enjoy so I’m reposting it here. Sunshine and Navy SEALs. Craft beer and mobile chipsets. Biotech and retirement homes. Surfer mecca and research haven. San Diego is a city packed with contradiction. As it happens, these contrasts are…
-
How to build a corporate culture
Suspension creaks beneath you, softening the bone-crunching impacts as wheels thump over rocks and through gullies in the sun-scorched deserts of northern Baja. Dune buggies are are unique vehicles. They excel in extreme conditions. They are built to be reliable no matter what. They see obstacles as challenges. When you buy a dune buggy you’re…
-
Mozaik raises Series B investment from Foundry Group
The hottest new startup! For those of you who haven’t already heard the big news, world-leading venture capital firm Foundry Group just announced their Series B investment in Mozaik:“Sometimes we come across a company that we know is going to change the world. They’ve got something magic in the tank that’s simply inevitable. It’s like they’re travelling back…
-
The heart of the start
What’s going on inside the heads of top tech CEOs? Leading venture investor Brad Feld was kind enough to host a guest article of mine on using the power of Startup Fiction to illuminate the inner lives of entrepreneurs. You can read the full story on his blog, here’s a brief excerpt from Brad: It’s…
-
Learn the most important business lessons from… novels?
A couple of weeks ago Brad Feld forwarded me an email from Orr Ben-Zvy. Orr was frustrated because he couldn’t seem to find any business fiction books that explore the internal drama of startups. His email resonated with me because it was the exact problem that I had emailed Brad about a year and a…
-
Should you ever blow the whistle on your CEO?
Jeff Donahue is a good friend and battle-scarred veteran of venture-backed and private equity-backed companies. He has raised over $275M of funding for early and later stage startups and has been CFO of 10 emerging growth businesses. He’s worked across the table from leading investors like GRP (now Upfront Ventures), Invesco, ComVentures (now Fuse Capital), Allegis Capital, Alta-Berkeley, Invision, Steamboat Ventures and many more.…
-
Choose your own destiny
Last month I was talking to a friend about a project he’s involved with at work. He was recently hired into a large company to help them open up a new market. During the recruitment process they specifically described the position as “entrepreneurial” and “a startup within the larger corporate ecosystem.” Knowing how these things sometimes…
-
GroundMetrics Inc. and the new generation of San Diego Startups
Here’s an article on the new generation of companies in America’s finest city that StartUp San Diego published yesterday. They asked me to write a piece on what the new frontier for tech entrepreneurship looks like and I was more than happy to contribute. I’m really excited about what they’re doing to support the community…