992 Posts Found

Marc Andreessen writes about the only thing that matters for a new startup – product/market fit.

Content: Article | Author: Marc Andreessen | Source: LinkedIn | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Brad Feld offers simple but useful advice on hiring for senior leadership positions in a fast-growing startup.

Content: Article | Author: Brad Feld | Source: Feld Thoughts | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Human Resources

It’s natural to expect that many young companies fail, but what’s remarkable is that in an overwhelming number of times, they fail from avoidable mistakes. Of course sometimes events occur that could never have been predicted—such as the loss of a key founder, or an unexpected government action that eliminates the need for the product—but these events are rare in our experience. This is a … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Henry Kressel, Norman Winarsky | Source: ChangeThis | Subject: Entrepreneurship

The Four Steps to the Epiphany launched the Lean Startup approach to new ventures. It was the first book to offer that startups are not smaller versions of large companies and that new ventures are different than existing ones.

Startups search for business models while existing companies execute them. The book offers the practical and proven four-step Customer Development process for search and offers insight … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Steve Blank | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

You should raise money when you need it or when it’s available on good terms. Be careful not to lose your sense of frugality or to start solving problems by throwing money at them. Not having enough money can be bad, but having too much money is almost always bad.

Content: Quotation | Author: Sam Altman | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Competitors are a startup ghost story. First-time founders think they are what kill 99% of startups. But 99% of startups die from suicide, not murder. Worry instead about all of your internal problems. If you fail, it will very likely be because you failed to make a great product and/or failed to make a great company.

99% of the time, you should ignore competitors. Especially ignore … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Sam Altman | Subjects: Competition, Entrepreneurship

Don’t compromise on the quality of people you hire. Everyone knows this, and yet everyone compromises on this at some point during a desperate need. Everyone goes on to regret it, and it sometimes almost kills the company. Good and bad people are both infectious, and if you start with mediocre people, the average does not usually trend up. […] Finally, fire quickly. Everyone knows … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Sam Altman | Subjects: Culture, Entrepreneurship, Management, Organizational Behavior

It’s easier to do something new and hard than something derivative and easy. People will want to help you and join you if it’s the former; they will not if it’s the latter.

Content: Quotation | Author: Sam Altman | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

There are a lot of nuances in a VP of Sales at a startup that are important to be on the lookout for during the interview process. The following are the top 5 attributes to look for when interviewing.

Content: Article | Author: Jordan Wan | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Human Resources, Marketing / Sales

It is incredibly important to understand the incentives of investors when you are raising money. This used to be fairly easy – you raised money from Venture Capitalists who wanted to see a big return on their investment. The best of these investors were incredibly focused on doing the one thing they did well: investing in technology companies.

The world looks different now. There are a … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Aaron Harris | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Running a start-up is profoundly different than running a big company. When you’re small, founders are close to the action and can make sure all the important things happen. But as a start-up scales, founders can’t have their hands in everything: many companies lose focus on the customer; decisions get bogged down; and there are hiring mistakes. We’ve all seen these things happen to good … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Boris Wertz | Source: Venture One | Subjects: Culture, Entrepreneurship | Company: Amazon.com Inc.

It’s a common adage in Silicon Valley that 90% of startups ultimately fail. To understand why that’s the case, a pair of researchers meticulously pored over 193 blog posts—startup postmortems, if you will—written by founders examining what went wrong.

Content: Article | Author: Alice Truong | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Figuring out the right pricing for your startup is a challenging, yet crucial, part of building a successful company. The way you price your product can make or break your startup. So, it’s important to understand the pricing landscape of your market and how your company fits into it to get your startup’s pricing right.

Dreamit recently hosted an educational panel on startup pricing for the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Medium | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Pricing

Many great entrepreneurs I’ve met embody both of these characteristics: unflagging resilience and a clear understanding of their ultimate purpose. They reinforce the other. A strong sense of purpose bolsters the spirit in challenging times, and persistent resilience sustains a founder to ultimately attain their telos.

Content: Quotation | Author: Tomasz Tunguz | Subject: Entrepreneurship

A true marketplace needs natural pull on both the consumer and supplier side of the market. Aggregating suppliers is a necessary, but insufficient step on its own. You must also organically aggregate demand. With each step, it should get easier to acquire the incremental consumer AS WELL AS the incremental supplier. Highly liquid marketplaces naturally “tip” towards becoming a clearinghouse where neither the consumer nor … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Bill Gurley | Subjects: Economics, Entrepreneurship, Strategy

Research at Harvard Business School by Lynda Applegate, Janet Kraus, and Timothy Butler takes a unique approach to understanding behaviors and skills associated with successful entrepreneurs.

Content: Article | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Every entrepreneur can expect their venture investors to bring seven main benefits to the table. If you already have venture investors, you can use this article as-is. If you are currently considering fundraising, reverse it and ask prospective investors if they are able to support you in these key areas. If not, ask yourself if you’re talking to the right people.

Content: Article | Author: Suranga Chandratillake | Source: Techstars | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Just because you’re a startup, doesn’t mean you won’t need it.

Content: Article | Author: Jon Westenberg | Source: Medium | Subject: Entrepreneurship

I believe firmly in capital efficiency in the early days of a startup. It forces innovation. It forces the founder to spend time in front of customers. It forces teams not to expand too quickly. I know it’s easier said than done when capital is floating around and feels like it will ease up everything. I don’t blame you for taking more than you need. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Mark Suster | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

The U.S. venture-capital industry is envied throughout the world as an engine of economic growth. Although the collective imagination romanticizes the industry, separating the popular myths from the current realities is crucial to understanding how this important piece of the U.S. economy operates. For entrepreneurs (and would-be entrepreneurs), such an analysis may prove especially beneficial.

Content: Article | Author: Bob Zider | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Venture Capital