A phrase my high school cross country and track coach used over and over again is, “Don’t worry about the results. Focus on the process and the result will take care of itself.” He would say this when I’d stress about shaving ten seconds to qualify for State Finals. Instead, he made me focus on […]

In the tech industry, it’s common practice to invoke “laws” (Moore’s Law) and “rules” (80/20, aka the Pareto Principle) as a way to shorthand real-world phenomena that, frankly, would take a long time to explain otherwise. Dunbar’s Number is a prime example of one of these “laws” and is a critically important construct for contact […]

In the past years I’ve met many founders before they raised money to help them around product, marketing and generally understand what’s important and when. One phenomena I keep seeing is one of the founders will ask “where can we find a good product manager?” My answer is almost always “You don’t need a product […]

The biggest difference between an entrepreneur and a non-entrepreneur boils down to a mindset. When non-entrepreneurs wake up in the morning, their mind takes a little bit to start functioning, and before long they’re dreading the thought of having to live through another day of their 9-5 job, but they’ve become complacent with their lifestyle […]

The term “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) has become almost a religion to the startup community. The idea of a “Lean Startup” is gaining popularity, several high–profile companies have exited only after “pivots”, and the “launch fast and iterate” mantra is nearing ubiquity in startup circles. I have noticed, however, that the term is as misunderstood […]

I’m sure by now that you’ve heard of the cloud. Recent research has found that 59% of companies plan to use cloud services in the near future, so chances are that your organization is already developing a strategy to take advantage of everything the cloud has to offer. However, much like a traditional storage environment, […]

Branding is critical when it comes to differentiating products. As an experienced Chief Marketing Officer, I’ve heard my fair share of company names – and understand their importance. A company name needs to resonate instantly. If you need to explain it to someone, you’ve already lost half the battle with your audience regardless of whether […]