(Techstars Stories, August 21, 2018) It’s back to school time, founders! We can just smell the new books and excitement as students get ready for a new year. Why are we so excited about the new school year? Because we know that for some ambitious young people out there, this will be the year they start a company, inspired by some new problem that they see or learn about at school. It means new students at the proliferating entrepreneurial programs at universities around the world. It means more smart startups from more smart entrepreneurs — and we’ve gotta love that.
Mind Candy
Don’t Build a Business Unless You’re Ready to Give Your All Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Founder Institute, December 6, 2017) I’ve started 9 businesses and have invested all of my time, all of my network, and most of my money into each and every one of them. Most have done well and others have failed, but I wouldn’t advise an entrepreneur trying to build an impactful company to pursue any other strategy.
Determining the “What, Why and How” of the Entrepreneurial Mindset: A Conversation with VentureWell’s Phil Weilerstein and Thema Monroe-White Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(venturewell.com, March 21, 2017) The concept of the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) is gaining traction within higher education. There is a growing community focused on developing courses, trainings, workshops, degree programs, and minors that foster EM as well as research around the the best way to define, measure, and assess its impact. There’s a growing consensus that it is feasible and desirable to engage students in experiences that develop an entrepreneurial mindset, and that doing so will better prepare them for success.
Getting Your Head in the Game for Fund Raising Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Mark Suster, bothsidesofthetable.com, April 23, 2017) When you run a startup you’re always on borrowed time. You have cash in the bank, a monthly burn rate and a “cash out” date that few in the company truly comprehend. I’ve never met a founder who wasn’t acutely aware of his or her ticking time bomb and the sense that failure and humiliation is a real possibility. It’s why so few can really start a business from scratch. It’s the ultimate in accountability and public judgment.
27 Questions To Ask Instead Of “What Do You Do?” Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Courtney Seiter, fastcompany.com, December 18, 2015) We are more than our jobs. As much as we may love working, it can’t be the thing that defines us fully.
I love the little traditions that develop organically at Buffer. One of them is to welcome each new teammate with a long email chain of happiness that begins with that person’s introduction.
Twenty Questions You Will Be Asked By Venture Capitalists Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Laurence K. Hayward, VentureLab Inc., 2015) Remember the game Twenty Questions? The contestant uses the best combination of questions, which can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no,” in order to discover information held secret by the other player. The objective is to reveal the unknown information with the fewest questions possible.
The game has several common traits with the discourse between an entrepreneur seeking financing and a venture capitalist (VC) evaluating an investment opportunity…
6 free online courses that all entrepreneurs should check out Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Sanjana Ray, yourstory.com, July 26, 2016) “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” – Albert Einstein
Well, Einstein truly was a genius. No matter how much we think we know, there’s always room to learn some more. That’s the beauty about knowledge. It is infinite in every sense of the word. With the increasing digitalisation of every branch of society, including education, it’s only a matter of time before the entire knowledge sector turns digital.
Model Legal Documents Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(National Venture Capital Association) The venture industry goes through an expensive and inefficient process of “re-inventing the flat tire” on a daily basis. By providing an industry-embraced set of model documents that can be used as a starting point in venture capital financings, it is our hope that the time and cost of financings will be greatly reduced and that all principals will be freed from the time consuming process of reviewing hundreds of pages of unfamiliar documents and instead will be able to focus on the high level issues and trade-offs of the deal at hand.
The 6 Biggest Startup Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Jaqcueline Whitmore, entrepreneur.com, May 13, 2016) As any entrepreneur can attest, there is a lot to do when starting your own business. It’s easy to make mistakes in the early days but you can avoid some of them if you know what they are. Many start-up entrepreneurs fall into these all-too-common traps, which can bog down or block their business flow.
8 Accountability Steps Lead To A Great Entrepreneur Circle with Right Arrow Icon
(Martin Zwilling, Startup Professionals Musings, May 7, 2016) Most business managers preach that the key to success is holding employees accountable for actions, but I have found that successful entrepreneurs are all about holding themselves accountable. They skip the blame and complain game, and make things happen despite major obstacles. As a startup investor, I view any evidence of a victim mentality as the kiss of death.
