Virtual goods have finally been legitimized as a revenue model, rather than a niche (even weird) activity ignored in favor of advertising. Now the concept is spreading beyond its game / virtual world roots, and we’re seeing large numbers of companies trying to figure out a “virtual goods” strategy. While I believe very strongly in virtual goods as an effective …
Irrationality as a teacher has limits
I’ve seen references to Steve Blank’s startup guide (for lack of a better description) “4 Steps to the Epiphany” and recently picked it up. There is a lot of good stuff in the book, and I can see what the accolades have been about. Like all business books, you have to decide for yourself which concepts you love and want …
Size of Customer: On Suster’s Deer Hunter Analogy
Mark Suster always provides interesting food for thought. In a recent post “Most Startups Should be Deer Hunters“, he examined whether startups should go for “elephants, deer, or rabbits.” He is right to warn of elephants. They can bring in cash, please your investors with a brand name, and put your company on the map in terms of credibility and …
Startups, Law, and Lawyers
Chris Dixon just wrote a post “Entrepreneurs needs to learn some law“, which spawned from a discussion on first round term sheets. Startups are a massive learning curve no matter how many times you have done one (just different curves), but I agree that it is absolutely worth taking the time to become savvy on contracts and business law. I …
Applauding Hornik
David Hornik over at Venture Blog has a marvelous post up called “Venture Capitalist At Your Service”. He recognizes that his LPs are his customers, yet he also recognizes that: “The executives of my portfolio companies are my clients. But all entrepreneurs are potential clients. And I need to behave accordingly.” Easily said, right? The lovely thing about David is …
Startup Lessons: Don’t Be Afraid to Lose
I recently discovered Mark Suster’s blog Both Sides of the Table, and have really enjoyed his posts on entrepreneurship. He has a good post called “Embrace Losing” that talks about closing sales and learning from mistakes. I’d like to piggyback on the post with two of my own anecdotes that can be summed up with the simple thought: don’t be …