Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

A few weeks ago, I heard Nathan Seidle talk at MIT about founding and growing SparkFun Electronics (an on-line supplier of microcontollers and related electronics prototyping and hacking items). He was smart, funny and engaging, and it was very inspiring. … Continue reading →

Well, not really, but with the stream of breakfast meetings, it sure feels that way! I think I’m spending too much time with venture guys. As I’ve written before, the venture business is struggling.  There’s still too much money, funds … Continue reading →

For Internet and mobile applications, the transaction path is like the West Wing floor plan around the Oval Office – power is measured by proximity.   The valuable apps are those closest to influencing a transaction decision.  Google is the strongest … Continue reading →

Any entrepreneur considering angel funding should read today’s NY Times article “Angel’s Flee From Tech Startups“, and some of the followup commentary. Angel investors, unlike most professional investors, control most of their investment portfolio.  If their equity investments drop (say) … Continue reading →

I just read a blog post about a developer with a #1 iPhone app that quit his day job. The “indie developer” market seems alive and well (and not just for iPhone apps).  If you have talent and an SDK, … Continue reading →

This morning, a friend reported that Stowe, VT real estate is doing OK, in part because if you’re on the East coast, and you downgrade your Aspen aspirations a notch — you end up at Stowe.  (I also learned that … Continue reading →

Jeff Bussgang wrote a great post about how VCs manage reserves.  When a VC invests, they allocate (reserve) some additional amount for follow-on financing.  For example, a company may raise $5m for Series A, but the fund will reserve $10m … Continue reading →

I frequently get asked:  what should my investor presentation look like?  There’s no unilateral answer, because every situation is different. In his recent blog post,  “A hierarchy of pitches“, Eric Ries points out each situation warrants a different presentation emphasis, … Continue reading →

Apple’s rejection of the Podcaster app from the iPhone App Store has been widely blogged. Apple rejected the functionality because it “duplicated” functionality in iTunes. This is just the tip of the iceberg for a bunch of messy policy decisions … Continue reading →

It’s still unbelievable how powerful Google continues to be.  If you need to turn on meaningful traffic volume for a Web site, they’re the only game.  And properties that depend on Google for a majority of traffic have a number … Continue reading →