It started out very simply: like many of you reading this article, we had a couple of older laptops and iPhones that were simply idle taking up space in a cabinet. Instead of trying to sell them, our boys suggested we see if a local family in need could find value in them for their…
One of the most common questions I am asked is, “what has differentiated the startups you’ve seen succeed from those that haven’t?” The answer to that question addresses the fundamental criteria an investor would use to evaluate a startup’s chances for success. I explored my personal experiences at startups including the following: Siebel Systems…
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of being part of some incredible software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. And now, as part of my work at Mindshare Ventures, I continue to work closely with and invest in SaaS startups trying to scale. After running many a strategic planning session, one begins to see the patterns: yes, each company has different challenges…
This last year, as I’ve juggled what has felt like hundreds of priorities due to my work with the startups of Mindshare Ventures, as well as my own startup venture, AtlasRTX, I’ve really had to redouble my focus on personal productivity. While a lot has been written on this topic over the years, I wanted…
The world has changed dramatically over the past decade: consumer-to-consumer engagement has gone from voice phone calls to text and instant messaging. However, business have lagged behind rather embarrassingly: business-to-business and business-to-consumer engagement are still primarily based on voice and e-mail. It’s time for businesses to adopt real-time experience (RTX) as a philosophy when engaging their…
Since the inception of social media, it’s been my philosophy to maintain political and ideological neutrality; I don’t plan on changing that today. However, this election has taught me a number of personal lessons about our socioeconomic conditions that belie any particular ideology: 1. There are a lot of disenfranchised people in this country, most…
Dear young person: The world has changed since your parents were children; in fact, I’d anecdotally argue that the generational gap between your generation and theirs is larger than the prior two or three gaps combined. Can you believe we didn’t have iPhones just ten years ago? There was barely a “Worldwide web” just twenty years ago. A car that…
Over the years, I’ve come to depend on using three dimensions to evaluate employees; while many more sophisticated models have been devised by professional organizational behaviorists, I’m a fan of simplicity and the number 3 :-). I believe that understanding these three dimensions allows you to practically evaluate any employee and, more importantly, articulate their strengths…
In honor of Labor Day in the United States, our discussion turned to the topic of “work”; what advice would we give our children about choosing work and making the most of it? Well, I’ve done my best to distill the conversation into seven salient tips. 1. Don’t solve for the rest of your life;…
Something big has recently happened. And not many people are talking about it. Like companies and individuals, even federal governments sometimes need to borrow money. They borrow money by issuing what’s called a Government bond. These bonds, like all loans, have an interest rate associated with them; a bond’s interest rate is referred to as…
Against the Herd 