The IPO Alternative No One is Talking About By David Frankel, In a world where IPOs are an unlikely outcome and traditional M&A exits are difficult to manufacture, there is a new alternative for liquidity starved founders and investors — The PE exit. It’s an invisible ecosystem to most, but when you see a headline about a PE firm […]
"What matters isn't so much who's on your team, but rather how the team works together." The best companies are made up of great teams. You see, even a company full of A-players won't succeed if those individuals don't have the ability to work well together. That's why not too long ago, Google set out […]
Transformation Through Technology: A Vision for Embedding Micro-battles We’ve talked to roughly 800 companies about the Founder’s Mentality® and micro-battles. We’ve also been involved in hundreds of micro-battles ourselves. Patterns emerge. We’ve used these blogs to discuss those patterns in detail. Now we want to step back and give you our latest views on how […]
The startup world throws around a lot of jargon. Some of it is fluff, some of it is important. Rather than pretend like you know what people are talking about, I’ve found it’s good to make sure I actually understand the terminology. So, here’s a few essential startup terms you should know. KPI Stands for Key […]
I had the pleasure to interview Arjun Arora. Arjun is currently a Partner at 500Startups — the most active early stage venture firm in the world. He leads the firms efforts for fundraising and investor relations, works closely with the accelerator, does direct investments and assists with the regional 500 funds. Arjun was the Founder of ReTargeter […]
Ask anyone what they think an incubator is and they will most likely envisage newly hatched, fluffy yellow chickens huddling under warm spot-lights in a cardboard box. Ask them what an accelerator is and they will probably think of a pedal which, when pushed flat to the floor, quickly accelerates a car. While these two […]
Often times when I attend a conference or a networking event I am surprised how many people operate at the periphery of the tech industry. Social media gurus, SEO ‘ninjas’, bloggers, etc. It’s a coterie of tech ‘club promoters.’ The hype men of the industry. ‘Hack your way to success.’ ‘Meet the right people.’ ‘Become […]
Silicon Valley is the startup capital of the world. More founders and money flock to the Valley than anywhere else, and for good reason. But in a world of abundance, efficiency and first principles are often overlooked. In a race for growth at all costs, bubbles inevitably build (and pop). Look at the Dotcom crash. […]
“Venture is very much about first and second derivatives, not absolutes. As an investor, growth trumps everything, so it is critical to identify the metric of value creation and then measure traction.” I had the pleasure to interview Alexander Niehenke. Alexander is a Partner at Scale Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused […]
I once heard Michael Jordan’s ability to leap described by a scientist. The idea was that Michael Jordan was able to break a very low layer of gravity allowing him to jump for heights and distances that almost no one else was able to reach. I have no idea of how accurate that idea might […]
There is a lot of positive energy, excitement and hoopla that surrounds new entrepreneurs and startups who have a vision of how to change the world according to their own point of view. Trouble is, nobody cares. Not really. Sure, your parents may care. Your spouse may care. Your startup investors may even care — a little […]
In this article, I am giving away my list of the top ten most valuable and free tools available to startups and small business that will help you grow your business. Because, well everyone loves FREE! CrowdFire is an awesome app that will help you manage and grow and your brand presence on Twitter. The […]
Platforms, Marketplaces and Playing with Fires The internet has changed. The world of the walled garden is here. This creates interesting dynamics, problems and opportunities for startups. It is exciting, and terrifying. Let me explain. My background is ecommerce and Amazon. In 2015 I invested ~$8k in product and managed to scale my “startup” to a […]
Accurately measuring a company's performance and progress for continuous improvement is no easy task and understanding that data and how to use it can be even more difficult. In this article, I want to cover what continuous improvement is, how to implement key performance indicators (KPI’s) as well as how to measure that data in […]
Leadership is all about growing others. It's about your team and its welfare. It's about your direct reports and their performance. Leadership is a tough act. It's a daily balancing act. As a leader, you're expected to use your insight, experience, and rigor to balance the conflicting demands of short- and long-term results. So, what do leaders do? […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — They seem an odd couple. J. D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” his best-selling memoir of growing up in the postindustrial Midwest and his journey of escape. And Steve Case, the billionaire co-founder of America Online. But Mr. Vance joined Mr. Case’s investment firm this year to scour the Midwest for small yet promising […]
How long does it take to become elite at your craft? And what do the people who master their goals do differently than the rest of us? That's what John Hayes, a cognitive psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, wanted to know. For decades, Hayes has been investigating the role of effort, practice, and knowledge […]
Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. An alternate outcome that I also unfortunately observe in some cases are companies who had extreme early success with an initial product adoption but failed in key areas that limited the […]
The combination of leadership and gratitude is extremely powerful. Gratitude helps you feel better and see the good things in life. When combined with a gratitude practice, you will also be able to anchor that positive feeling into your brain and body, thus being able to call on that positive emotional reserve whenever you need to. […]
Influential venture capitalist Bill Gurley says it's time for Silicon Valley's "unicorns" to grow up. Gurley, a partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, spoke in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Friday, following the IPO of Stitch Fix, an e-commerce fashion start-up backed by his firm. Stitch Fix priced shares at $15, below its expected range, […]