Steve Blank just shared an interesting anecdote from his days in marketing, where he created what he thought was the ultimate data sheet, only to find his CEO and VP of sales literally setting it on fire. The VP of Sales had an insightful quote: “the only thing your datasheet will do is give a prospective customer a reason for …
So you want to work for a startup? (the first job to seek for non-coder aspiring entrepreneurs)
At Fred Wilson’s Donors Choose event, I met a bright college senior from my alma mater who wanted to work for a startup as prep for eventually founding a company himself. Like me, he wasn’t a programmer, so the two of us discussed the best place to start. A non-coder founder has to wear a lot of hats: you will …
Startups: hiring, careers, sales people
This week saw two interesting and related posts on startups and hiring/careers. Mark Suster wrote about who you should hire into your startup, and Chris Dixon wrote about the ideal startup career path. Mark’s message is to hire hungry, smart people who want to get to the next level in their career, not the ones who have already arrived. Chris …
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 …
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 …