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Moonshot Thinking
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Startups
American Experience: Silicon Valley
The fascinating history of Silicon Valley, Shockley Semiconductor, and Fairchild Semi. Worth a watch. After you watch that check out Something Ventured.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/player/
Hacking Apprenticeship
Great quote about modern age apprenticeship from the book Mastery. I haven’t read the book but will add it to my ever growing to-read list.
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Each age tends to create a model of apprenticeship that is suited to the system of production that prevails at the time. In the Middle Ages, during the birth of modern capitalism and the need for quality control, the first apprenticeship system appeared, with its rigidly defined terms. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, this model of apprenticeship became largely outmoded, but the idea behind it lived on in the form of self-apprenticeship—developing yourself from within a particular field, as Darwin did in biology. This suited the growing individualistic spirit of the time. We are now in the computer age, with computers dominating nearly all aspects of commercial life. Although there are many ways in which this could influence the concept of apprenticeship, it is the hacker approach to programming that may offer the most promising model for this new age.The model goes like this: You want to learn as many skills as possible, following the direction that circumstances lead you to, but only if they are related to your deepest interests. Like a hacker, you value the process of self-discovery and making things that are of the highest quality. You avoid the trap of following one set career path. You are not sure where this will all lead, but you are taking full advantage of the openness of information, all of the knowledge about skills now at our disposal. You see what kind of work suits you and what you want to avoid at all cost. You move by trial and error. This is how you pass your twenties. You are the programmer of this wide-ranging apprenticeship, within the loose constraints of your personal interests. You are not wandering about because you are afraid of commitment, but because you are expanding your skill base and your possibilities. At a certain point, when you are ready to settle on something, ideas and opportunities will inevitably present themselves to you. When that happens, all of the skills you have accumulated will prove invaluable. You will be the Master at combining them in ways that are unique and suited to your individuality. You may settle on this one place or idea for several years, accumulating in the process even more skills, then move in a slightly different direction when the time is appropriate. In this new age, those who follow a rigid, singular path in their youth often find themselves in a career dead end in their forties, or overwhelmed with boredom. The wide-ranging apprenticeship of your twenties will yield the opposite—expanding possibilities as you get older.***
Found via Value Investing WorldHow Social Sites Make Money
A Six Minute Shot of Inspiration
Inside the VC’s Mind
Fantastic infographic outlining the general thought process around early stage investments. Yes it’s a simplification but it’s a damn good outline. (link)
- Team
- Product
- Traction
- Market Opportunity
- Valuation
- Funding
- Etc.
I especially like the “three asses rule”:
- Smart ass team
- Kick ass product
- Big ass market
Meeting Rules
This morning @jasonmendelson tweeted a picture of Urban Airship’s Meeting Rules. They are:
0.) Do we really need to meet?
1.) Schedule a start, not an end to your meeting – its over when its over, even if that’s just 5 minutes
2.) Be on time!
3.) No multi-tasking… no device usage unless necessary for meeting
4.) If you’re not getting anything out of the meeting, leave
5.) Meetings are not for information sharing – that should be done before the meeting via emails and/or agenda
6.) Who really needs to be at this meeting?
7.) Agree to action items, if any, at the conclusion of the meeting
8.) Don’t feel bad about calling people out on any of the above; it’s the right thing to do
Growth Hacking
Great lecture from Chamath Palihapitiya. Relevant to any early stage business.
I like his simple framework for growth:
– Acquisition (how do you get people in the front door?)
– Activation (how do you get an “a-ha” moment from the user as quickly as possible?)
– Engagement (how do you deliver core product value, keep them coming back?)
– Virality (don’t even think about this one until you’ve figured out the first 3)
It’s based on a continuous cycle of measuring, testing, and trying new things (see Lean Startup).
I also like his term for trying your own product “Dogfooding” (i.e. eating your own dog food).
Photogenic Thoughts 