I was reading Hacker News a few weeks ago and I stumbled on a story: Amit Gupta needs you. It turns out that Amit is the thoroughly likeable founder of Photojojo. Amit had the double misfortune to: a) have acute leukemia, and b) be South Asian. The problem with the first one is obvious. The ...
Yearly Archives:
2011
I was just creating an account on Sprouter today and started poking around a bit. It’s a nice site, in the vein of Quora or OnStartups Answers. But something about it seemed just a tad… off. Amateurish. And then I realized what it was. These are the fateful words my mother would ...
Raising money is hard, and there’s no way to screw it up faster than going around asking, “Hey, could you introduce me to some investors?” It’s sort of like when, on the second day of school, a goofy freshman asked me if I could introduce him to any girls. Reason 1: ...
I’m continuing to enjoy Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson’s outstanding book, “Venture Deals”. On page 106 (of the Kindle edition, at least) they address an issue that’s very minor unless you’re dealing with it: board members who like to live large on the company ...
I’m digging in to Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson’s outstanding new book, “Venture Deals”. It’s full of both thoughtful analysis and commonsense wisdom about how to make a financing successful. In one section, they discuss the “business plan”: “We ...
Here is the simple process for getting your Android device online with a data SIM in the UK. Â It’s terribly fun, I recommend it to everyone. Before leaving, turn off your phone and do not turn it on again. Â Some carriers reportedly will charge you roaming rates when people leave you ...
There are two very special types of startups that you should know about: the Twitter Startup and the Hoverboard Startup. If you’re one of these and don’t know it, you’re going to screw up your pitch. Imagine walking in to hear a startup pitch its goods. The CEO gets on ...
Shortly after the sale closed, John Cook interviewed me about the experience.  He did a great job of transcribing all of my verbal gems, like “Maybe that is an economic way of looking at it, or something that I am unfamiliar with.” I’m not even sure what that means. It was ...
Hi Mike, I’m one of your customers. We don’t really know each other. We’ve chatted at a few events, you’ve covered some of my antics, but I’m mostly just a guy who reads TechCrunch a lot. I find it’s a pretty good place to see what’s important in the ...
(Note: there are great conversations about this article happening at Geekwire and Hacker News) The question of equity brings out the most fundamental differences, perceptions, and values in an aspiring startup.  In fact the equity question, more than any other, may strangle a young company ...