Posts filed under “Leadership”
Quote of the Day
From an old post by Glenn Kelman on Guy Kawasaki’s blog that’s new to me: “… successful entrepreneurs can‚Äôt be convinced that any other startup has their troubles, because they constantly compare the triumphant launch parties and revisionist histories of successful companies to their own daily struggles.” the sisterhood of the traveling pants full movie [...]
Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy
Seth has a¬†great post on his blog¬†about the¬†Wired article about the making of the iPhone. He highlights an amazing point: The takeaway for me is that there were nearly insurmountable hurdles in terms of investment, partnership, technology and even security, and that at any time, the easiest thing would have been to just say¬† ‘forget [...]
Communication isn't about you; it's about them
As part of the product planning process at Judy’s Book, the primary document is a high level functional spec. In addition to this, at Andy’s insistence (thanks for the nudge, Andy) I created a one page summary which matched features in the spec to our core priorities, listed out the proposed phasing of work and [...]
On failure and success
I was told about two great posts today. The first is by Peter Rip at Crosslink Capital about “failing fast and failing often.” You have to get into the market, see what works and adapt. The classic venture model has been to fund to milestones 12-18 months out. In consumer web services, there are only [...]
The Importance of Training & Practice
I came across an amazing story in the UK’s Daily Mail which was making the rounds on the front page of Reddit. It was about a British Airways flight that flew through the dust cloud from a volcanic eruption near Indonesia in 1982 and lost all four engines. With unbelievable restraint, Captain Eric Moody addressed [...]
NPR Interview with Bob Iger (Disney CEO)
On my drive (mercifully short) back from work, I heard a great interview with Bob Iger (CEO of Disney) on NPR. In it, he talked about the power shift from content producers and distributors to consumers of content. He said that at Disney, they were focused on the user experience and on using digital technology [...]
Best and Worst Decisions (via Startupping)
Great post on Startupping in which entrepreneurs are asked about their best and worst decisions. Some that stayed with me: Ross Mayfield РBiggest Mistake — Not taking bigger risks earlier. Maybe because in hindsight all risks are clear, but I always find myself regretting not taking bigger risks earlier. For example, open sourcing the [...]
The Best Way to help your Business? Help Your Customers Have Fun
Sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget. Mark Hurst’s post on Richard Branson prompted me to read the Fast Company article he was talking about. It’s fantastic. One thing jumped out at me while reading it: What Branson understood two decades ago is just now beginning to be embraced by other corporate leaders: We should [...]
Effective Daily Development Meetings
Jason Yip has a great post at Martin Fowler.com about making sure the ‘daily scrum’ is productive. One of the key concepts in his post centers around focusing on three things: What did I accomplish yesterday? What are my obstacles? What do I intend on accomplishing today? Another key concept focuses on the need to [...]
Experience vs. Ability
This is the classic problem facing startups looking for talent. Do you hire someone who’s been around the block, been knee-deep in the industry for years, or do you look for someone who’s smart, hungry and can figure things out? There’s no question that experience can be valuable, but there are times when it can [...]