The Games Startups Play | Anything's Possible Every startup plays two complementary games–the air game and the ground game. The air game is always more romantic. It is the emotional narrative of how your startup revolutionizes a market. The ground game is much uglier. In the startup world, early-stage companies are largely valued–at least for a while–on the air game, which tends to be way out ahead of the ground game. Though most companies are better at one game than the other, both are necessary for success. Companies that thrive on the ground game, but struggle to build buzz, face an equally uphill battle. The challenge is to be great at the air game–by building huge enthusiasm for the long-term potential–but never oversell the near-term ground game. A version of this post was originally published on Inc.com Like this: Like Loading...
Scala for Java Refugees Part 1: main(String[]) 7 Jan 2008 This article is also available in Spanish and Bulgarian. You know who you are. You’re the developer who picked up Java years ago, maybe as a second language and better alternative to C++, maybe as your first language coming into the industry. You’re comfortable with Java, you know its ins and outs, its moods. You’re starting to to become a bit pragmatic about your language choice though. The good news is that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The only problem you have now is figuring out where to start. Have no fear, ye refugee of Java EE grid iron, all is not lost. Introductions If you’re like me and can identify with the above, then this series is for you. Did I mention Alex’s Scala introduction series? Getting Started Nothing like getting things rolling with a little code. Notice the name of the file in question? Editors Just a brief note on your first few moments with Scala: using the right editor is key. More Hello World Once again, this prints “Hello, World!” Not bad!
The Strategy Trap “They were worried that I would get bogged down in wanting to do things, not just create strategy.”- David Polinchock / @lbbinc One of the topics covered during the #LikeMinds Summit this past weekend was precisely this: The chasm between strategy and execution, especially as businesses struggle to understand how to leverage, integrate and operationalize Social Communications (what you do with social media platforms) in the coming 6-24 months. Unfortunately, because the C-suite tends to look to itself when it comes to “strategic masterminding,” the focus too often shifts from execution at the customer level (the most important thing a business should be focusing on on) to… being the guy who came up with the game-changing strategy that will secure more funding and increase influence within the organization. When this happens, strategy becomes a product, and that’s bad. Any idiot with a powerpoint deck can deliver a “Social” strategy: Um… yeah, except… no. - or another choice - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
75 Startup Tools And Apps new business ideas and startups - So you have a new business or startup idea and based on your analysis and research you have conducted, your confident that there is a market for it. Ok, now what? You need to possibly find a cofounder and team to start planning, seek funding and successfully execute the plan for a pilot or full launch. There are so many resources and tools out there that can assist you in managing and excuting your startup or new business idea more eficiently and effectively. As a result, I have produced a list of my favourite tools and applications covering the various disciplines you will need to undertake in order to successfully execute and launch your startup or new business. Here are just a few tools and applications that I have used over the years in managing and delivering small to large projects. Brainstorming Ideas | Bubbl.us Simple online application that helps you create colorful mind maps that you can print and share with others and it's FREE. MindManager Creately Springpad Evernote Branding | Notebox
Paul Graham on Building Companies for Fast Growth Paul Graham's appetite for small talk is waning. "Are we starting yet? Is this the interview?" he stops midsentence to ask on a hot summer afternoon in June. It's hard to blame Graham, an angel investor known for being brusque, for placing a premium on his time. If there's one thing he values, it's speed. As co-founder of Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley tech accelerator, Graham has made a career of turning half-cooked business ideas into fast-growing companies in a matter of months. Among the 564 companies Y Combinator has funded over the past eight years are many runaway hits, including the cloud storage service Dropbox, the home-sharing start-up Airbnb, and the social-news site Reddit. The accelerator's modest headquarters in Mountain View, California, is furnished with relics from Graham's past, including a desk he bought back in the 1990s after co-founding Viaweb--a company that allowed anyone to build an online store--with Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell. Like what? My God!
The Vietnam of Computer Science (Two years ago, at Microsoft's TechEd in San Diego, I was involved in a conversation at an after-conference event with Harry Pierson and Clemens Vasters, and as is typical when the three of us get together, architectural topics were at the forefront of our discussions. An crowd gathered around us, and it turned into an impromptu birds-of-a-feather session. The subject of object/relational mapping technologies came up, and it was there and then that I first coined the phrase, "Object/relational mapping is the Vietnam of Computer Science". In the intervening time, I've received numerous requests to flesh out the discussion behind that statement, and given Microsoft's recent announcement regarding "entity support" in ADO.NET 3.0 and the acceptance of the Java Persistence API as a replacement for both EJB Entity Beans and JDO, it seemed time to do exactly that.) No armed conflict in US history haunts the American military more than $g(Vietnam). History Johnson's War Nixon's Promise War's End
Startup advice, briefly This is a very short summary with lots left out—here is the long version: You should start with an idea, not a company. When it’s just an idea or project, the stakes are lower and you’re more willing to entertain outlandish-sounding but potentially huge ideas. On the other hand, when you have a “company” that you feel pressure to commit to an idea too quickly. Have at least one technical founder on the team (i.e. someone who can build whatever the company is going to build). In general, prefer a fast-growing market to a large but slow-growing one, especially if you have conviction the fast-growing market is going to be important but others dismiss it as unimportant. The best startup ideas are the ones that seem like bad ideas but are good ideas. Make something people want. Once you’ve shifted from “interesting project” to “company” mode, be decisive and act quickly. Become formidable. Figure out a way to get your product in front of users.
12 Surprising Signs You Could Be an Entrepreneur Almost every article ever written about entrepreneurship suggests that it's not for everyone. And yet the articles go on to list attributes that many successful people possess as the traits commonly associated with great entrepreneurs, such as a strong work ethic, persistence, persuasiveness and discipline. For 25 years, I have studied entrepreneurs and discovered that what contributed to their incredible success was not what society typically considers assets. People like John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Oprah Winfrey didn't achieve greatness by possessing the traits and following the narrow path recommended by management gurus. So, don't believe everything others say about you or how they label you. 1. 2. Related: 6 Tips for Staying Supercharged 3. 4. 5. 6. Related: How to Stop Over Thinking and Get Things Done 7. 8. 9. Related: How to Harness Your Brain's Secret Efficiency 10. 11. 12. The author is an Entrepreneur contributor.
Why Wesabe Lost to Mint - Marc Hedlund's Blog A number of people have asked and speculated about why the company I co-founded, Wesabe, shut down earlier this summer. Some of the claims or guesses about it are just factually wrong; others seem misinformed to me; others seem to have some truth. I thought I’d add my own opinion. In November 2006, Wesabe launched as a site to help people manage their personal finances. We certainly weren’t the first to try to tackle this problem through a web app, but we were the first of a new wave of companies that came out in the months that followed, characterized but what some would call a Web 2.0 approach to the problem. Even before we launched, we heard about other people working on similar ideas, and a slew of companies soon launched in our wake. That’s the history; now, some interpretation, with the completely obvious caveat that I am anything but an unbiased observer. With that in mind, here are what I believe are a number of myths about why Mint won and Wesabe lost: So, yeah.
Charles Bukowski Book Why Startups Fail « vcdave An entrepreneur recently asked me why startups fail. Startups fail because they run out of money. You’re probably thinking, “Tell me something I don’t already know!” This post is based both on my experience as an investor and as entrepreneur (when I’ve boot-strapped and venture-funded). They spend too much on sales and marketing before they’re ready. Other times, this occurs with entrepreneurs who are accustomed to having lots of resources. Sometimes even when the product is great, the sales process itself isn’t understood to a point where it can be scaled: who are you selling to, how much will they really spend, and what profile of sales person does the company need to hire who will succeed at selling that particular product. Spending on the sales and marketing operations means there is no return if customers don’t bite. The market outpaces the startup’s ability to execute. Take Company X (a composite). There is no Entrepreneur. The market takes too long to develop.