Invest in Lines, Not Dots

Everyone seems to be in such a rush to get shacked up these days.

In normal times investors will look for “traction” before investing. We want to make sure we’re in love. This sometimes frustrates entrepreneurs who just want to “get back to running the…

Be Careful not to be Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

Justyn Howard, founder of Sprout Social has a blog post that he’s written about his experiences of migrating from scrappy tools to more efficient ones (i.e. Using Balsamiq instead of SnagIt, Website Optimizer over just Google Analytics and FTP).

Embrace Your Losses — They Will Make You Stronger

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies.

Understanding How The Innovator’s Dilemma Affects You

One of the most influential books of my career is The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clay Christensen. I cannot recommend it enough for people in the technology or media sectors.

Conference Organizers Suck at Name Tags

Every once in a while I start to feel like I’m taking myself a bit too seriously and I have to slip in a more cheeky post. But to every jest there is some truth. So here’s what really winds me up ….

Scaling Sales: Arming & Aiming — A’s, B’s & C’s

This article was originally posted in a much more concise version over GigaOm if you prefer the shorter version.

When in Doubt, Leave it Out (Why Less is More)

It’s counter-intuitive — especially to Americans. But often less is more.

Scaling Sales: Arming & Aiming — Objection Handling

The original post of this article on appeared on GigaOm in a more concise version here.

I previously covered how early phase sales teams should be “evangelical” and consultative in nature. As a tech startup grows…

Give Your Teams Swiss Army Knives

There is a transition in every company from a “seat of the pants” kind of entrepreneurial company to a “process driven” mechanized one. Many people who are successful in the former fare less well in the latter.

The Art of the Quick Phone Call

All this heavy talk about angels, VCs, bubbles lately. I thought I’d go for a more tactical & practical post today. The art of the quick phone call.