Get out of the building. Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur, teacher, and father of the Customer Development methodology is best known for that phrase. Customer Development is not a reason or even an excuse to slow your roll and switch your plans every day; it’s a method to reduce the risk of total failure by […]
Understanding
How to Understand Your Users and Enhance Your UX
Your startup may look great on paper, but ideas are of little consequence if they aren’t paired with a great user experience. Technology gives a product limitless reach and limitless data to improve said reach. Of course, it also means there is more competition than ever. You have to carefully consider all parts of your […]
The First Question To Ask Yourself When Launching A Startup
As it turns out, it’s “really, really hard” to be an entrepreneur. At least, that’s the argument that long-time entrepreneur and founder of Foundation Cap Steve Vassallo makes. The most important thing that anyone who is getting started in a business can do is to understand his or her motivation. “It’s profoundly important for you […]
6 Reasons Why Surrounding Yourself Around Better People Will Increase Your Success Rate
I’m constantly reading books, listening to audiotapes, and always on a search for more knowledge. I never truly understood what Jim Rohn meant when he said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” until today. Now whether you are incredibly successful in your business reaching for the next […]
Entrepreneurs Face Serious Communication Barriers
Many startup mentors say that the single biggest problem they have when dealing with small companies is the lack of open, honest and effective communication, both from the top-down and from the bottom-up. Some entrepreneurs forget that talking is not communicating. Fortunately, these skills can be learned, and the barriers to communication can be overcome […]
Most Startup Founders Spend Too Much Time Talking
When you are not presenting to investors or your team, try to spend more time listening than talking. You can’t learn anything new while you’re talking, yet many entrepreneurs seem to never stop. It’s a sad spiral, since the more you talk, the less people really hear, meaning they don’t learn anything either. If someone […]
Why Recruiters are Useless for Startups
I recently stumbled upon this excellent article by Sam Altman on how to properly hire startup employees, and it rekindled my deep hatred for recruiters and their uselessness. I have created a list of the top reasons why you should never hire one. One thing to quickly note: Nowhere in the article did it ever mention recruiters. […]