Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. When I publicly Tweeted that all companies should be gross margin positive many people pointed out that Amazon wasn’t profitable for many years.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 25, 2016

I spoke to a new seed fund investor the other day and they told me they don't lead. I told them that was b t and they should, because founders need decisive investors who can be helpful, not ones that sit on the sidelines and outsource their decisions to other investors. They told me their fund wasn't big enough. B t. I led the $1.8mm seed investment in goTenna with $250k.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 28, 2016

By Lauren King, Director of the EO Accelerator Program. As someone who’s dedicated her career to helping small-scale entrepreneurs grow their businesses, I’ve heard many skeptics say a business accelerator program is just a cover for startups looking to increase capital. I disagree – after working with thousands of entrepreneurs from around the world who are putting in the hard work and time to reach the US$1 million mark, I see the importance of accelerator programs enabling businesspeople to r

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Berkonomics

APRIL 28, 2016

Several years ago, I wrote an extensive article on the ten most important tests of a company in classifying a person as an independent contractor. See [link] for that important insight. But things have gotten much more complicated lately, partly because of the Uber, Lyft and other new generation of workers and the best description of their class as “semi–independent.”.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2016

Lead — It’s hard to be a real leader. Decisions are never black or white, so most people fudge. The straddle middle grounds to keep everybody happy. They make compromises to try and hold together constituencies. On business decisions they want to hedge their bets so they do a little bit of everything but nothing extremely well. As highlighted by Brad Garlinghouse years ago in the famous “ peanut butter manifesto ”— it’s like spreading peanut butter evenly over a piece of bread.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 26, 2016

This article was originally published by Ashoka on Forbes.com. Ashoka, the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, is a partner of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Kim Jordan is Cofounder of New Belgium Brewing, one of America’s pioneers in craft brewing and an industry shaper known for its forward-thinking environmental practices and employee engagement.

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Derek Sivers

APRIL 26, 2016

I occasionally get a big vision for my future — a huge project that will take many months or years. Something exciting and very worth doing. I’ll do a bunch of research, make a bunch of plans, and feel like I’ve made a big decision on a new direction in life. Then a month later, I have a completely different vision. Something unrelated to the previous one.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2016

Why you do me like that? Over the year’s I’ve tried to offer some tangible, practical advice to help people communicate more effectively. I’ve weighed in on: Email 1 —  How to Get Busy People to Take Action Email 2 —  Etiquette to Email Introductions Email 3 —  Make it Easy for Me to Forward Your Email ! Phone Calls 1 —  Pick up the Damn Phone ! Phone Calls 2 —  How to Make Better Calls Presenting at Meetings —  Without Going Down a Rat Hole Presentations —  Where Should You Sit ??

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Tomasz Tunguz

APRIL 24, 2016

It’s hard to read Boys in the Boat before I sleep. The stories of the 8 rowers awaiting the coxswain’s call at the starting line of a boat race remind me of the races I competed in with so many wonderful friends and oarsmen. Imagining those races - and in particular, placing second at nationals, the adrenaline surges and my heartbeat accelerates, resurfacing all those memories and moments.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 25, 2016

Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, but a few of these tips may help if you’re thinking of getting a business going. Tonya Lanthier, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member from Atlanta, is the founder of DentalPost.net , a nationwide mobile job board for dental professionals with solutions and methods for better hiring. We asked Tonya about her experiences diving into entrepreneurship and what she has learned along the way.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 23, 2016

Every day we go through it. We all receive the dreaded, unsolicited email. Most are automated, a copy and paste of previous messaging that often has little, if anything, to do with your company or personal needs. It’s volume versus relevancy. The salesperson figures if he/she sends the same terrible email to everyone, at least 3% of the market will want a demo.

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Tomasz Tunguz

APRIL 25, 2016

As the overall venture market environment evolves in 2016, so too does the SaaS and Software segment. The number of Series A, B, C, and D investments in software companies stabilized at roughly 170 per quarter from mid-2013 through mid-2015, before falling 17% in Q4 2015 to a two year low. In Q1 2016, SaaS rounds increased a modest 10%. The SaaS fundraising has slowed in parallel to the rest of the market.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2016

You may have noticed a new look at Both Sides of the Table today and that’s because I’ve migrated my blog to Medium.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 27, 2016

When he founded Toms, Blake Mycoskie reinvented the idea of a company that does well while doing good. So what’s next for him? Doing that again. Blake Mycoskie is the most relaxed intense person you will ever meet. Two days after this year’s Academy Awards, Mycoskie sits in his world-bazaar-flavored office, one leg hooked over the arm of a chair, sipping sparkling water and munching almonds from Whole Foods.

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