A Smart Bear

AUGUST 22, 2017

Product teams have been repeating the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) mantra for a decade now, without re-evaluating whether it’s the right way to maximize learning while pleasing the customer. Well, it’s not the best system. It’s selfish and it hurts customers. We don’t build MVPs at WP Engine. The motivation behind the MVP is still valid: Build something small, because small things are predictable and inexpensive to test.

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 24, 2017

I don't think there's ever a time when I feel more like I'm raining on parades as when founders tell me how interested other VC firms are in investing. I've seen it time and time again where founders, understandably apprehensive about fundraising, read too much into their engagement with investors--especially non-partners at firms. The founders will say things like the following--and then comes my splash of cold water, which is honest, but also makes me feel like the bad guy, or not enthusiastic

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

Many board meetings are bored meetings. Management teams whisk through slides trying to get through a presentation to share how great things are going and they are eager to get through the meeting so they can get back to their real jobs. This is a shame since the value that the right board could add is immense if you select the right board members and manage them effectively.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 22, 2017

Company retreats come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you opt for luxury accommodations or woodsy lodgings, what’s most important is organizing a variety of activities and workshops that bring out the best in your team. Research retreat ideas and come up with an environment that will work for your organization. Consider consulting with a professional retreat planner.

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Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

strategy

Startup Catalyst

AUGUST 11, 2017

Day 5 started with the teams getting a chance to pitch to Roee Tamari who is CEO at Greenergy Renewable Energy Ltd, Gideon Zusman who is co-founder & Managing Partner at GreenSoil Investments, Yoav Schwalb from the Agrilever Investment Fund, Dan Krasnostein who is a Partner Square Peg VC, Stephane Itzigsohn who is an analyst at Our Crowd VC, Linoy Katzav from Innovation Tech Terminal at Deloitte, and Ilan Cohen who is a Patent Attorney and Senior Partner at Reinhold Cohn & Partners Paten

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Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 12, 2017

“Would you compare a bootstrapped SaaS company to a seeded company? At what point does the bootstrapped company have to raise if it’s profitable, if ever?” One founder asked me this question recently. I hesitate to compare and contrast bootstrapped and venture backed businesses, because I’m a venture capitalist and it’s very easy to dismiss any analysis as biased in favor of venture investment.

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2017

I send out a monthly mailer of deals that I'm investing in that I'm looking for co-investors for. Because I'm investing so early, a lot of times these companies are not only pre-revenue, but they might also be pre-product. I also invest in a really wide range of opportunities, so many of them don't look like you're typical venture deals. Tinkergarten is one such company.

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Health Tech Capital

AUGUST 14, 2017

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 3, 2017

Can an entrepreneur nurture a business and a family? Both demand time, energy and commitment. At times, these two aspects of life can seem mutually exclusive. Still, many entrepreneurs achieve a balance and do both well. How do they do it? We asked Don McDonough, regional executive at Merrill Edge, to share his thoughts on work-life balance. Q: Is work-life balance realistically achievable between the competing demands of a family and a business?

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

There’s a lot of mystique about what happens at board meetings and a lot of imagined board-room drama. I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. The image of boards and of investors vs. founder conflicts has been so at odds with my experiences on dozens of boards over the past 20 years that I thought it was worth sharing what I actually see.

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Close. There is a relationship between time and money that is more complex than most managers think. Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues.

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Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 7, 2017

At some point in the life of most SaaS companies, the business will be faced with the question, when should we move up market? The strategic question might be catalyzed by increasing cost of customer acquisition in the core SMB segment. Alternatively, a surge of large customers paying for the product might trigger the question. Or account executives might raise it.

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 21, 2017

On no sides is genocide an ok thing to promote with your free speech or to organize a group around. On no sides is the Confederacy, the sole purpose of which was to defend the institution of slavery, a thing to be admired. On no sides is the eradication of Nazis and the KKK a slippery slope to the end of free speech in our country. It is perfectly right and acceptable for a society to draw lines--to point to levels of despicable behavior and say "No--in no uncertain terms.

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financing

Gust

AUGUST 15, 2017

So you’ve developed a game-changing product, formed a business with a killer team, quit your job, and are rolling the product out to market. Your business is the next unicorn, and all is good in the world. Fantastic. Now only one thing is inhibiting your company’s growth: you have no money. For many founders of high-growth startups, bootstrapping has limits.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 30, 2017

Whether you lead an entire organization or only a team of people, it’s smart to be aware of the key trends in management and leadership. Knowledge Sharing and Cross Pollination. Rather than keeping workers divided into separate departments of functional expertise, businesses are encouraging employees to understand what is happening across the organization.

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A Smart Bear

AUGUST 29, 2017

Top workplace complaints: 1) The way things are 2) Change. — ?????? ????TT (@akannett) June 1, 2015. This plays out in many important ways: Customers demand an improved UX , but they don’t want to learn a new UX. Team members want consistency but don’t want policies. Developers want to be more efficient but don’t want to change how they work.

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 2, 2017

Well, if you’ve had a computer long enough, it has certainly happened to you. Power surges, power outages, surges upon reinstatement of power, low or high voltage from your utility (brownouts or surges.) I’ve had all of these over the years and lost equipment from motherboards to microcells. And I’ve lost data due to sudden power loss. I have worried over every wind storm or thunderstorm.

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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.

technology

Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 26, 2017

I commuted to my first job on a bicycle. With my parent’s help, I bought a lemon yellow second-hand road bike that I pedaled 20 miles each way from 30th and N streets in Georgetown, Washington DC, over bustling Chain Bridge and the languid Potomac to an office park buried in Tyson’s Corner in Virginia. That was my workout each week. Then I moved to California and retired the bike.

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Startup Catalyst

AUGUST 11, 2017

Startup Catalyst’s purpose is cultural transformation – that means taking people to other startup hotspots to immerse them in the local culture to the extent that the participants view of the world is changed. So it was fitting that on the last full day of our mission (a Friday) we had a complete cultural and historical experience. We boarded a bus and headed to Jerusalem on a guide tour.

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Surdna Foundation

AUGUST 4, 2017

Anchor institutions can play a vital role in strengthening and connecting local economies, and can serve as powerful drivers for building inclusive and equitable communities. A new report issued this week by the Funders’ Network as part of its Anchors Institution Funders’ Group examines the potential these deeply rooted local enterprises hold to create lasting and sustainable change—and illustrates how funders are working with anchor institutions to create healthier, more equitable, and econom

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 16, 2017

Buying an established business has its advantages. For example, when you buy a business, you take over an organization that’s typically already generating revenues. There’s also usually a customer base, an established business reputation and existing operational procedures. However, just like any kind of investment, there are risks as well. It is important to do the necessary research and understand the factors that may affect the success or failure of your venture.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2017

It’s been a tough year globally. Many feel the division in our families and societies. It has been heart-breaking to see progress reversed and social & racial tensions exacerbated unnecessarily. Much of the focus on the public discourse has been how social media and the polarization of information sources has worsened the problem. We seem to be stuck on the narrative that our angst is tied to the arguments we’re having on Facebook, Twitter or the Thanksgiving dinner table.

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2017

Time bankruptcy results from the deliberate over-commitment of core resources. Close. You’d know the symptoms, if not the name. You’re fighting to put out the fires from customer complaints, or incomplete work, or are suffering from an inability to focus upon new development or new customers before cleaning up the mess inside your organization. I created the term “time bankruptcy” almost thirty years ago when the computer software business was young, and I was a software developer building a yo

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Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 10, 2017

Invest Like the Best is one of my favorite podcasts. Hosted by Patrick O’Shaugnessy, Invest Like the Best profiles investors from many different disciplines. Recently, New York seed investor Jerry Neumann spoke on the show and talked about three key ideas on the technology innovation cycle. First, he discussed reading Carlota Perez Technological Surge Cycle.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 10, 2017

Tom Charman is a “studentrepreneur,” an EO Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) finalist in 2016 and co-founder and CEO of KOMPAS , a city exploration application helping people discover amazing but little-known adventures hidden in the world’s urban jungles. He’s been previously featured in Octane , writing about the value of mentorship and apps that can make life easier.

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