The “anything” job (and our new product)

Giff ConstableAprizi

Big company people are used to delegation, resources at their disposal, and the benefit of a strong brand name. As startup people, we have none of that. Our job description is “whatever it takes.” Like most founders, I wear a lot of hats at Aprizi. While I had been creating the product mockups in Balsamiq and Photoshop, I had not …

Please take my 6 question survey!

Giff Constableecommerce

I am running an informal survey and will be reporting the results back here. If you have a moment, please take this short survey asking about consumer shopping online, and how you think it might change. Take the survey!

Don’t believe in magic

Giff Constablestartups

Two observations: 1. Very little happens in a startup if you don’t make it happen. 2. Very little is done right if you don’t examine best practices and iterate your own efforts. Common sense, right? And yet here are some further observations: Right after I posted about demo tips and the importance of practice, I ran into someone who was …

On Parenthood and Entrepreneurship

Giff Constablestartups

A startup is filled with countless roadblocks and challenges, many business, some personal. I feel lucky that I don’t struggle with a sick parent, Asperger’s, or something truly serious. My biggest personal challenge is simply being a parent of young children. When I was younger, startup life was simpler. I could completely obsess about a startup, my hours were truly …

Yes, You Need a Co-Founder

Giff Constablestartups

UPDATE: people have made very valid points that I have oversimplified the issues here, and I have decided that I agree. I neither want to be wishy-washy nor stupidly dogmatic. While I will leave the original post as-is below, consider it my *case* for why you need a co-founder but know that I acknowledge the complexities of this topic. The …

Lean Startup Machine Presentation

Giff Constablestartups

Lean Startup Machine As promised, here is my 20-min presentation to the Lean Startup Machine event on July 23, 2010. Regarding the event, I was pretty impressed with how much the teams accomplished over the weekend, and their willingness to get out of comfort zones.  This deck is neither as pretty nor as good as David Cancel’s recent talk, but …

Entrepreneur’s Block

Giff Constablestartups

On Friday, a reader sent me an email. They were suffering from “entrepreneur’s block”, where they kill off every idea as quickly as it arises. It is the opposite disease to those who fall in love with an idea, are afraid to talk to anyone about it and thus build something no one wants. In this case, the person never …