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Steven Blank Kills It at Greycroft CEO Summit

Both Sides of the Table

My favorite two quotes of the weekend were: “Never trade your cat for somebody else’s dog” (referring to selling your company for stock to another privately held company – quote was from Alan. I’m going to save that for a future blog post. It is the key to “customer development” that Steve Blank talks about.

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Why experience sharing is key to entrepreneurial growth

Entrepreneurs' Organization

A Forum, which is also often referred to as a Mastermind, is a group of peers who meet regularly, with the goal of helping each member improve personally and professionally. Almost 10 years ago, I had my first experience with a professional Forum when I joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization. In my experience.

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If You Don’t Respect Your Customers You Won’t Be Successful

Both Sides of the Table

Who else is going to tell a VC if he got a bad reference from an entrepreneur or fellow VC? Who else can provide context if your portfolio isn’t growing as quickly as your peer group, if they believe you paid too high a price on a deal, if they question your due diligence in a given situation or whatever critique they might offer?

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Bevy is Emerging as a Leader in Software for Building Virtual Communities???with $15 million to?

Both Sides of the Table

In marketing materials founders often refer to their customer base as a “community”, but there’s a huge gap between having customers and creating a community. 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations , while only 22% of brands are trusted. Bevy is Emerging as a Leader in Software for Building Virtual Communities?—?with

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Why Computer Vision Has Become a Major Investment Theme for Me

Both Sides of the Table

My thesis is that it will become a major I/O computing metaphor or as this field is sometimes referred to HCI ( human-computer interaction ). Today I am so excited to announce our latest investment in the category —  Nanit  — which is a smart baby monitor. The objective behind Nanit is to help parent “sleep more and monitor less.”

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How to Manage a Board

Y Combinator

One of the most common questions we hear from founders is “How do I manage my board?” It’s something that provokes anxiety, because this is the first time the founder/CEO is subject to external supervision, and the board has powers that include the firing of the CEO and the senior management. But first, what’s the purpose of a board?

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Entrepreneurs: Due Diligence on Investors is Smart

Gust

Contact peers you have met through networking, both ones who have used this investor, and ones who haven’t. Ask the investor for “references,” meaning contacts at companies where previous investments were made. Taking on an investor is like getting married – the relationship has to work at all levels. Talk to other investors.