I just wound down a project where I spent 6 months working hand-in-hand with Pivotal Labs, the respected agile/XP dev shop. It was a fabulous experience that had a strong impact on how I think about product development (more on that later). It also has changed how I interview product and UX people. Pivotal helped our mutual client interview developer …
It’s Not A Passion Deficit
I had to respond to a post NY angel investor Mark Birch recently wrote called Entrepreneurship and the Passion Deficit. He claims that “the number one reason startups fail is because there is no passion!” Mark’s a smart guy, but in this case, I totally disagree. For 17 years, I’ve been buried in the startup scene, working in Austin, the …
Is there a quality chasm in fashion startups?
There are a number of startups in the broader “fashion” category getting funded with versions of a subscription model. At first glance, these things seem pretty cool — pay an affordable, regular amount and you get sent something nice each month, ideally somewhat personalized to your tastes. Send it back if you hate it! A consistent trend is also to …
Focus. There is no but.
Jordan Cooper, a bright NYC entrepreneur and investor, just wrote a post called “If you’re building for $1B, is “Focus” a Farce?” He writes: “I find myself wondering if changes in the product development lifecycle are not giving birth to a new type of non-bootstrapped operation/execution that is more forgiving of experimentation at the expense of focus (think extension of …
Forget how many angels fit on a pin
I’ve been enjoying my lurk on the lean startup circle google group, but I’ve noticed a recurring attempt to definitively define what “lean startup” is and isn’t. I understand the desire to insert some sense of certainty in our uncertain world, but argue against it. It is a waste of time to argue over which tactics qualify as lean startup …
The New York Startup Scene
As someone who has done startups in New York, Silicon Valley & San Fran, and Austin, I find the topic of location very interesting. Fred Wilson and Chris Dixon just gave a talk at Clickable (embedded below) on why the New York startup scene is special, and I had a few reactions: New York would benefit from a better, more …