Confessions of a Startup Mole in a Dumb Big Company
On September 21st 2015, I walked past the smell of weed and cigarettes at 1455 Market in SF to my new job at Square, an organization that by this time was already over 15X the headcount of my largest previous employer. After a decade of toiling at startups, including the better part of 5 years at one that I had co-founded, an M&A...
From Unfundable to Unstoppable
Last week, Brian Chesky published an open letter to the AirBnB communityabout what it means to him to be a modern company. In it, he lays out what he sees as the defining characteristics of a 21st century company. These, he notes, stand in stark contrast to the prior generations definition; namely, maximizing shareholder value:
Technology has changed a lot in...
20 things founders say and what investors think
I’ve always been told that it’s not what you say that matters most but what people hear. This is something that I find a lot of people don’t generally think about ahead of time, especially founders when they pitch investors. You have a limited amount of time to get your message across, so make sure that you’re clear, consistent...
Turning Crisis Into Opportunity: 5 Ways to Deal With Hardship
Entrepreneurs face obstacles from the moment they wake up in the morning, whether they’re trying to satisfy investors, struggling to meet payroll, dealing with unexpected complications or delivering a new product to market.
Of course, not everyone is cut out for these rough seas. But some individuals stand out as being particularly well-suited for dealing with what investor and advisor...
Why I Never Answer ‘Busy’ When People Ask ‘How Are You?’
Do you know that feeling of being so busy that time flies with a blink of an eye? We’re so busy with all kinds of things — work, friends, going out, holidays, etc. But being busy is not a good thing at all.
The other day, one of my best friends, Antonio, had his birthday.
We know each other since we were 14...
The two laws of building products
1.If you can’t sell it, don’t build it
2.If you can’t build it, don’t sell it
The single necessary and sufficient condition for a business, says MIT’s Bill Aulet, is a paying customer. But that’s not a sufficient requirement for a good business; instead, to use IDEO’s Tim Brown as a guide, we need to apply a ‘design thinking’ approach, finding the...
Why It Is So Important To Travel
The importance of travel.
Travel changes the mind. Expands the soul and connects us to our spirit.
I have a rule that every 6 months I must travel and try to get out of whatever city I am living in. It is so important to reset the energy and get a fresh perspective. Without movement in the everyday mundane-ness of life, one can...
10 Daily Habits That Will Improve Your Life
In the sea of habits that could enhance your life, only a few of them stand out from the rest and give you an edge in life.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. “
— Aristotle
1. Get Continuous Rest
Working in a high capacity for a long period of time can exhaust anyone,...
13 Things You Should Give Up If You Want To Be Successful
”Somebody once told me the definition of hell:
“On your last day on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.” — Anonymous
Sometimes, to become successful and get closer to the person you can become, you don’t need to add more things — you need to give some of them up.
There are certain things that are universal, which will make...
Leave The Office On Time and Don’t Take Your Work Home
Author: Darius Foroux
These two lessons are true for every person who wants a long, happy, and satisfying career.
But it’s very hard to put that advice into practice. It took me the first six years of my career to figure that out. And I still have to remind myself that life is bigger than work.
Almost everywhere that I’ve worked in the...
How to Create a Product and Sell it for $500,000 on Shark Tank
Author: Dave Schools
In a moment of surprise, Robert Herjavec presented Riley with a stunning offer:
“Here’s my offer and it’s a little bit different,” says Herjavec. “Sell it to me. I’ll pay you $500,000 for 100% of RokBlok.”
But that’s not all. His offer also included a six-figure salary for Riley to stay on board for two years, and an additional royalty...
20 Companies That Are *Really* Changing the World.
Author: Timothy Nordvedt
Announcing the 2018 NewCo Honors Nominees
We’re in the final stretch leading up to NewCo Shift Forum and are pleased to announce the nominees for the NewCo Honors, our annual awards for organizations doing well by doing good. Nominees are all market leaders and well-known names in their respective sectors, but what makes them significant through the NewCo lens is their commitment to leading...
Fundraising for your startup has never been this easy.
Author: Igor Feerer
Over the last three years (2014 to 2017), the funding ecosystem for early stage founders have been high in dollar amounts and low in number of deals that were being funded. VCs were more interested in maintaining their positions and helping their current portfolio companies stay afloat longer by investing more money into them versus adding new companies...
Why you should stop using product roadmaps and try GIST Planning
Author: Itamar Gilad
Over the years I created my fair share of product strategies, roadmaps and project gantts. I don’t do them anymore. I found a better alternative which I’ll explain below.
First, here’s what I used to do:
This form of planning is a ton of work — just getting all stakeholders to agree is a massive undertaking, yet ROI is very low. The...
A Message For Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs
Author: Sadda Shaker
If you’re an entrepreneur like myself, we both know that work never ends. Trying to maintain your sanity, and therefore your creativity is highly significant to you and your brand/your business. Work could get overwhelming sometimes. Doing the same thing over and over could dampen your creativity and therefore negatively impacts your productivity. When you’re overworked, overwhelmed and...
Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.
Author:James Clear
We all have things that we want to achieve in our lives — getting into better shape, building a successful business, raising a wonderful family, writing a best-selling book, winning a championship, and so on.
And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific and actionable goal. At least, this is how I approached my...
