In today’s fast-moving world of business startups, learning trumps knowing every time. What established businesses know through experience keeps them from looking for new and innovative ways to do what they do better, cheaper, and faster. I’m convinced that’s why most mature companies are slowing down or buying their innovation through acquisition, rather than building it. In […]
Advice
How a Founder Should Communicate in Crisis
Whoa. I’m dealing with an insane crisis at my startup right now. I’m trying to think of the best way to tell everyone what’s going on, but it feels like I’m stuck somewhere between writing a really poofy press release and crying on stage. What’s the best approach to rally everyone right now?
10 Startup Practices With a Proven Record of Failure
A compilation of what Every Entrepreneur Should Not Do When Running a Business…
8 Brand Models to Attract Your Perfect Fit Customer
Attracting the right customers is the key to success in business, whether you have a new startup or a mature enterprise. In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often see struggling businesses trying to be too many things for too many people, resulting in customer confusion, initiatives executed poorly, and high costs, few customers, and […]
What if the Founder’s Personality is a Startup’s Liability?
What do we do if we suspect our own personalities might be a problem in our startup? How do we know if it’s even something to dig into? And if we do find out we’re the problem, what do we do about it?
9 Keys to Effective Networking, In Person or Virtual
Too many entrepreneurs I meet in my role as a business advisor still seem to believe networking is all about selling and convincing everyone that what you have will change the world. While selling is still key with customers, networking with peers and investors today is still about building relationships, listening to the needs of someone […]
Opportunities in 2020 and beyond: APIs, Genomics, Communities, Video and good old SaaS
2048 Ventures Managing Partner Alex Iskold shares some insights into what he is looking at from an investment standpoint in 2020 and beyond.
10 Strategies For Attracting Investors That Will Fail
Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do when it comes to raising investment for your startup.
6 Keys To Managing Funding From People Close To You
Too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup.
Let’s All Work On The Last Startup We’ll Ever Do
How would we think about our startups if we knew this was the last startup we would ever do? Would we be so rushed? Would we still think killing ourselves to “get to an end game” was justified? What if this was the end game? How much stress would that alleviate?
10 Personal Attributes That Indicate Real Potential
As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” They don’t know that most experts agree the person is more important than the idea, yet I’ve never been asked, “I […]