Even at wildly successful startups, the beginning is difficult and uncertain, with death around every turn. Don’t believe Hollywood — It’s always hard at the start.
How should a startup founder value her time?
When I ask a consultant “how much is your time worth,” 90% of the time the answer is their current hourly rate. That’s logical. But startup founders must employ very different math.
Painful, Surreal, and Surprisingly Effective: The Personal Checklist
Tired of articles instructing you to break down large projects into smaller, more annoying and less interesting tasks?
The technique I’m about to tell you about is weird, and not in a good way. More like a painful, aggravating way. I know, I did it myself.
But it really does work. You’ll measurably improve your productivity.
Uncommon Interview: Finding Fulfillment with Good Company
After years of toil, Amy and Adelaide noticed that many startup founders were unhappy and unfulfilled, and decided to get to the bottom of why, and then figure out how to fix it. After thousands of hours and hundreds of interviews, they produced their own manifesto on the subject.
When being “first” is not a competitive advantage
Most startups claim to be the “first” at something. And they should — what’s the point of a new company that brings literally nothing new to the world.
On the surface being “first” sounds impressive, implying innovation and leadership. But upon reflection, that’s clearly not so.
Hiring Employee #1
If you want another pair of hands to screw things up, the question is how to acquire resumes, how to pair them down, and how to identify someone who is going to work well in your company.
Here’s a load of advice. Includes my favorite articles from around the Internet as well as my own advice that you might not have heard before.
Easy to criticize, hard to create
Given any business, I could easy show why it’s a terrible idea that could never work. So what? But that doesn’t mean as an entrepreneur you’re allowed to just ignore critics either.
Behind the scenes: Creating custom cartoons
A sneak-peak at the process of creating a custom cartoon, written by Mark Anderson who creates most of the cartoons on this blog.
Episode 3b: Smart Bear Live!
(Part B) In this episode Bob and Patrick return for more “Loveline for Startups” action.
How cold calling (properly) works better than AdWords
How cold calling succeeded where AdWords failed, producing a 100% conversion rate and all the information needed to create a scalable business.
How do I sell a general-purpose tool?
Q: I have a general-purpose reporting tool that automatically creates reports from certain kinds of data sources.
But although I have six very happy customers, I’m having trouble finding anyone else.
How do I get unstuck? I know people need this tool!
How do I get my first few customers?
Here’s some techniques for going from that idea or tool into building a message people will respond to, and advice about how to find those people.
Episode 3a: Smart Bear Live!
In this episode Bob and Patrick return for more “Loveline for Startups” action.
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Ranking Signals: GREAT post! Reminds me of trying to convince small...
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- Upcoming Smart Bear Live–with special guest Mark Suster « Patrick Foley: [...] little more background on SBL and my involve...
- How to think about Cash vs. Equity Compensation | A Smart Bear: [...] financial investment! This might be a good m...
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Laura @ Useful Answers: When we were hiring for our business a few years b...
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