May, 2011

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The Importance of The Narrative

Both Sides of the Table

I went to undergrad at UCSD, which is not a place known for its Greek institutions and my father grew up in South America and had know idea what a fraternity was. So I went to college with no expectation that I would ever join a fraternity let alone aspire to become president one day. Yet being in a fraternity was one of the most transformative experiences I had in college and prepared me better for becoming an entrepreneur than any class that I took.

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Hobbies and Entrepreneurship

This is going to be BIG.

If you're looking to build relationships with VCs, learn from top entrepreneurs or just get deep into the NYC innovation community, I suggest you read a book. I don't mean any particular book about startups--I mean join a book club. Joe Yevoli and Reece Pacheco run a book club of 30 local entrepreneurs that meets monthly. How about riding a bike?

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Help your associates advance their careers.

Berkonomics

We’d all like to retain our best managers and employees forever or at least for as long as possible. But sometimes our corporate wants and needs conflict with what is best for an employee and his or her career development. We cannot legally stand in the way of an employee resigning to pursue a dream, but we can leave a bad taste with that person and chip away at our corporate culture by not cooperating or even helping the employee move on. .

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All Revenue is Not Created Equal: The Keys to the 10X Revenue Club

abovethecrowd.com

[Follow Me on Twitter] “ Don’t you know that you are a shooting star, And all the world will love you just as long, As long as you are.” – Paul Rodgers, Shooting Star With the IPO market now blown wide-open, and the media completely infatuated with frothy trades in the bubbly late stage private market, [.].

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Navigating the Future: Generative AI, Application Analytics, and Data

Generative AI is upending the way product developers & end-users alike are interacting with data. Despite the potential of AI, many are left with questions about the future of product development: How will AI impact my business and contribute to its success? What can product managers and developers expect in the future with the widespread adoption of AI?

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You Need to Win the Battle for Share of Mind

Both Sides of the Table

This article first appeared on TechCrunch. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the proliferation of starutps in the past 2 years. It seems almost incomprehensible that only 2.5 years ago we read the “ RIP Good Times &# presentation from Sequoia. But what does this all mean? Are we headed for a long era of innovation in which startups are the new norm?

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Post Mortem… literally.

This is going to be BIG.

I wrote this last night as the preamble to my weekly NYC innovation events newsletter: Osama Bin Ladin is dead. I’m not sure what to say. It’s 2AM and I’ve been watching coverage of worldwide reaction. In NYC, there is a lot of cheering, countered by the stark reminders of those who lost loved ones in 9/11 and soldiers halfway across the world that this will not bring anyone back.

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Startup Mantra: Hire Fast, Fire Fast

Both Sides of the Table

This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. I have often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. My credo has always been JFDI. It’s the hardest thing to teach people who come out of big companies, out of conservative jobs. At the big consulting firms, investment banks and established large technology companies we’re taught to produce long reports, make sure that every document is perfect quali

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The Parent Trap: A Response to Bill Keller (@nytkeller) on Twitter and Social Media

This is going to be BIG.

The New York Times' Executive Editor, Bill Keller, wrote a piece for New York Magazine entitled " The Twitter Trap " in which he laments the pandora’s box of continuously connected social media he has just opened for his 13 year old daughter by allowing her to have a Facebook account. “I’m not even sure these new instruments are genuinely “social.

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How to approach an investor at a conference like #tcdisrupt

This is going to be BIG.

I've been thinking about bread for the last couple of days. No, not bread. bre.ad , a new startup launching whose founder has perfected the art of the conference pitch. I was sitting at lunch at Techcrunch Disrupt in the middle of a bunch of people. The guy leans in and says, "Hey Charlie, sorry to interrupt, my name is Alan, I'm with bre.ad, I'm going to follow up with an e-mail to you about our startup.

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Your Fractional Finance and Accounting Team

Mighty Financial specializes in supporting the financial aspirations of small businesses and entrepreneurs. With our comprehensive bookkeeping and precise accounting expertise with decades of experience across diverse financial roles, our team offers tailor-made services ranging from essential bookkeeping to strategic fractional CFO support, catered specifically to the unique challenges of technology companies, startups, and SMEs.

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The Co-Founder Mythology

Both Sides of the Table

I spoke at Stanford last year about starting a tech company. They really cleverly chopped the video up into small bite-sized segments. So for anybody who reads my “This Week in VC&# transcripts but doesn’t watch the video – this one’s for you! It’s only 3 minutes, 44 seconds. I covered what I call “the co-founder mythology.&# So embedded is this conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley that it feels like heresy to even question it.

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You are your company’s moral compass.

Berkonomics

Years ago, when I was CEO of my record manufacturing company in Hollywood, I happened to walk around the plant into the press room just as Bobby, one of the employees’ favorite coworkers, was offering stolen merchandise to his fellow pressmen from a bag he was carrying. He halted, and waited for me to react, obviously caught in the act. Everyone loved Bobby, a hard worker and good friend.

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A Summer Plan for Unemployed New Grads

This is going to be BIG.

There's no silver bullet way to get a job these days--or at any time--but what college grads should be optimizing for is a) making sure they're choosing something they're actually interested in, b) casting a wide enough net to find the best path possible in their field and c) making sure they have enough skills and connections to be the right candidate when they do find the job they want.

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Respecting the Craft

This is going to be BIG.

A lot of baseball fans have the knuckleball fantasy--particularly guys like me who are over 30 that realize that this quirky pitch is their last ticket to play in the major leagues. We never developed the 98mph fastball--and it's unlikely that any amount of pounding a vat full of rice is going to get us there. Yet, there's always the possibilty that Charlie Hough or Tom Candiotti randomly moves in next door to us and agrees to soft toss some floaters every night for six months until we pick it u

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Digitalization: 5 Tech Updates That Will Help You Survive The Recession & Thrive

Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.

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A Few Key People Really Can Make a Huge Difference

Both Sides of the Table

This article originally ran on TechCrunch. I’m in Seattle this week. People keep asking me if I’ve “seen anything interesting.&# Of course I have. I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. I really liked BigDoor, MediaPiston, OpsCode, BuddyTV, SEOMoz and much more. Can’t list them all.

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Delegate and empower! Regain control of your time.

Berkonomics

All of us are pressed for time, always attempting to balance the overwhelming demands of business with the basic wants and needs of family. In earlier insights, we have examined the need for and care of your corporate vision, and how to develop and nurture that vision through to creation of a corporate culture, goals, strategies and tactics. Now we get personal.

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You are watched, mostly when decisions are tough.

Berkonomics

If you have been in management or an entrepreneur long enough, you will have experienced the gray area of decision-making where ethics, the law, your needs and expediency all collide. This is the time when you are paid the big bucks, and when others aware of your plight will be watching most carefully. It is also the time when you demonstrate your true courage to your contemporaries.

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The Five Advisors You Meet in the Deadpool

This is going to be BIG.

Advisors, investors and board members come in all shapes and sizes. I'm a strong believer in having a board, even at a seed stage, to report to and set strategy with. The most successful companies have strong boards and so as a good housekeeping practice, why not start acting like a great company as early as possible. Having a board and advisors is usually better than having none at all, but the following characters don't really provide the kind of value add you're looking for.

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PE Mastery: CAPTARGET's Playbook for Quality Lead Flow

CAPTARGET presents a masterclass in M&A deal sourcing. Learn to cast a wide net, embracing seller self-identification. Consistency is the linchpin: keep the origination process steady for a reliable flow of opportunities. Diversify your tactics, employing various tools and vendors. Tech matters! Understand DNS settings, domain authority, and brand presence for optimal outreach.

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Never handle a document twice!

Berkonomics

We are not dealing with personal time management with this series of insights, except when it helps immensely to make a better manager of you and me. All of us have time management tips and tricks to help us get through the day. I have a mantra I try to live by, and it has helped me more than you know over the years. “Never handle a paper twice” may be extended to include reading and acting upon emails, messages, and any written distraction. .

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Spolsky on Software on Both Sides of The Table

Both Sides of the Table

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice. But I loved reading them and so did my team.