Thoughts on systems, engineering, AI, technology and life.
The Central Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium ’10 is a one-day conference for entrepreneurs ready to go to the next level and looking for the funding to make it happen. The event designed to provide entrepreneurs with the information they need to adequately fund their businesses. From start-ups to established organizations looking for additional injections of … Read more
A quick announcement about two great resources that are available to Central Texas entrepreneurs who are starting or who had started a business (a start-up) and need some help or direction. First my friend Hall Martin who runs the Austin Entrepreneur Network (http://austinentrepreneurnetwork.org) is organizing a “Startup Business Class” on September 15 of 2009. But … Read more
Internal vs. external pressures impact the (potential for) success of your startup in different ways. I’ll argue that internal pressures are the worst… how do I know? I’ve learned this the *hard way*. But remember that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; never forget that. When building a startup, external forces are not the … Read more
Great read Why Start a Startup in a Bad Economy by Paul Graham. Which means that what matters is who you are, not when you do it. If you’re the right sort of person, you’ll win even in a bad economy. And if you’re not, a good economy won’t save you. Someone who thinks “I … Read more
Great set of slides by Jason Calacanis — the three most important factors in predicting the next big thing. | View | Upload your own
Josh Kopelman (Redeye VC blog and managing Director of First Round Capital) wrote a piece titled Depending on pending… where he argues about the importance of patents w.r.t. barriers to entry vs. focusing on going to market first: Most people don’t realize that the average software patent will take many years from initial application to … Read more
Investors don’t invest based on the state of the economy. Investors invest in people, technologies, potential opportunities. It is all about taking calculated risks… Assuming that you have something of interest and with great potential, if an investor is hesitant on investing in your startup, it is because there is just too much risk associated … Read more
From Founders at Work: “Over the years, I’ve learned that the first idea you have is irrelevant. It’s just a catalyst for you to get started. Then you figure out what’s wrong with it and you go through phases of denial, panic, regret. And then you finally have a better idea and the second idea … Read more
Blyk is a startup company. What they are doing seems pretty cool. They have an interesting management team, ex-Nokias and other. That said, I’ve seen and experienced startups that are management heavy. But Blyk is an extremely management-heavy startup… 30 folks? That seems way to high for a startup. I wonder what’s the ratio of … Read more
A great read by Paul Graham, How Not to Die: So I’ll tell you now: bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don’t get demoralized. When the disaster strikes, just say to … Read more