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Add logs, pour fuel (VC money), light match (beta release day)

7, Jul 2010

I often bump into entrepreneurs while they’re in the midst of fundraising. I usually ask “why are you raising money?” and what I often hear is, “because we are running out of money” or “in order to quit my job and so I can hire 3 people” or something like that. The arguments often boil [...]

LeadsCon: a crash course in “show me the money!!”

23, Jun 2010

Any entrepreneur looking for a quick crash course in how to extract money from online, and who learns through immersion, should attend LeadsCon in New York City on July 26 – 27, 2010. (update: see discount links below!)  Whereas at a web 2.0 or Twitter conference you might participate in any number of fascinating discussions about [...]

Unexpected Startup Lesson #3: Why You Can’t Read a VC

10, Jun 2010

This post is the third of a series on “unexpected lessons” learned through my experience as co-founder and CEO of Snapvine, a venture-backed mobile social networking service founded in 2005 and acquired by WhitePages in June of 2008. When I set out raising our first round of financing, I was excited to have the opportunity [...]

Unexpected Startup Lesson #2: Channel your Inner VC to Understand Startup Valuations

27, May 2010

This post is the second of a series on “unexpected lessons” learned through my experience as co-founder and CEO of Snapvine, a venture-backed mobile social networking service founded in 2005 and acquired by WhitePages in June of 2008. Snapvine was my first experience being in the driver’s seat of the fund-raising process, and in the [...]

5 Tips for Conducting Successful Board Meetings

8, Mar 2010

I’m heading up to Vancouver tomorrow for the inaugural board meeting of a startup I recently invested in. It will be the entrepreneur’s first ever board meeting.   It made me think about what I’ve learned about conducting good board meetings. 1) Bring an informed point of view Startups can be thought of as a [...]

Avoid This Startup Mistake: Losing Customer Focus

20, Feb 2010

In 2006 when we launched Snapvine’s first viral widget and phone app for teens, it went viral overnight. We were overwhelmed with success within 3 weeks: our servers were swamped with signups – 1 million of them within the first 7 weeks. This was one of those “good problems to have” — so “good” in fact [...]

Crucial first hire: the "do-it-all office admin"

16, Dec 2009

Back in June of 2006 after having closed a small series A, it was time to move out of our spare rooms, get some basic startup office space and hire a couple of employees so we could move fast and get on with our mission. One of the best decisions we made at the time [...]

The Dental Floss Health Care Plan?

21, Nov 2009

I stopped by Evoworx headquarters last night to say congrats to Aaron Goldfeder and Scott Case on reaching the one-year anniversary of their startup, EnergySavvy.com. On the wall next to feature post-it notes, I noticed the official Evoworx Health Insurance Plan (see photo above).   Very funny!   But this made me think.   Highly accomplished, talented people [...]

How to get 50% off your next slurpee (and a free hot dog)

17, Nov 2009

Most people think of negotiating as something that happens only when major transactions are taking place (buying a car, a new house, forming a business partnership, etc).  That’s a shame, because those situations are rare, and because the other side of the table has more experience, you’re at a significant disadvantage (which could cost you [...]

The positive follow-up to complaints, failures and ideas.

9, Nov 2009

Complaints can be annoying, but when paired with solution ideas are valuable.  Failure by itself is a negative but when it comes with honest learning is the foundation of innovation.  Ideas by themselves can be worthless but when accompanied by follow-through can be worth millions. Therefore, next time someone brings you any of these things [...]


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