How to pick a co-founder - Venture Hacks
Naval · November 12th, 2009 Update: Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. The ideal founding team is two individuals, with a history of working together, of similar age and financial standing, with mutual respect. The power of two Two is the right number — avoid the three-body problem. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg). Two founders works because unanimity is possible, there are no founder politics, interests can easily align, and founder stakes are high post-financing. Someone you have history with You wouldn’t marry someone you’d just met. One builds, one sells The best builders can prototype and perhaps even build the entire product, end-to-end. The seller doesn’t have to be a “salesman” or “business guy”. Aligned motives required If one founder wants to build a cool product, another one wants to make money, and yet another wants to be famous, it won’t work. Don’t settle Pick “nice” guys
How to Start a Startup
March 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Harvard Computer Society.) You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed. And that's kind of exciting, when you think about it, because all three are doable. If there is one message I'd like to get across about startups, that's it. The Idea In particular, you don't need a brilliant idea to start a startup around. Google's plan, for example, was simply to create a search site that didn't suck. There are plenty of other areas that are just as backward as search was before Google. For example, dating sites currently suck far worse than search did before Google. An idea for a startup, however, is only a beginning. What matters is not ideas, but the people who have them. People What do I mean by good people?
Remaking a maritime masterpiece - latimes.com
She is 96 years old, all bones and little skin. Her ribs are split and rotted in places and stained by rust. Nonetheless, she is a slightly fearsome presence, commanding her surroundings like a T. rex in a natural history museum. When the Shawnee first hit the water in 1916, she was a striking beauty — a 72-foot sailboat made of old-growth oak and Douglas fir, African mahogany, naturally curved hackmatack and gleaming teak. Now the Shawnee sits partially dismantled in Newport Beach, where master shipwright Dennis Holland is working to restore the boat to her original glory. "I'm a slave to her," says Holland, 66. Some of his neighbors feel they are too. That's because the Shawnee is dry docked in Holland's side yard, between his home and a workshop, its bow jutting out toward the street, its stern overlooking a neighbor's pool. Holland has walked this gangplank before. Building the Pilgrim of Newport was an epic undertaking. The Pilgrim turned Holland into a local celebrity.
Best 101 Entrepreneurship Quotes Ever · 14 Clicks
I’m a big fan of quotes. I could read them all day long. Some quotes can shift your entire mindset on something while others are just nice to bring up in conversations. I’ve spent the last two years (off and on) compiling 101 of my favorite entrepreneurship quotes around success, failure, leadership, wisdom, humor, money, practicality, motivation, and a smattering of entrepreneurial proverbs. Success Quotes Failure Quotes “Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners.” Leadership Quotes “Leaders don’t force people to follow, they invite them on a journey.” Wisdom Quotes “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” Humorous Quotes “I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly.” Money Quotes “Formal education will make you a living. Practical Quotes
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Nine Things Successful People Do Differently - Heidi Grant Halvorson
Learn more about the science of success with Heidi Grant Halvorson’s HBR Single, based on this blog post. Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. 1. To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. 3. Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. 7. 8. 9.
Three Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs - John Baldoni - The Conversation
by John Baldoni | 2:32 PM May 23, 2011 Sometimes when you’re wondering what to do next in life, good advice can come when you least expect it — like when you’re getting your hair cut. Joan*, the hairstylist giving me a trim, mused aloud about what she was planning to do with her career. Cutting hair was just one part of her livelihood; she was also a professional caregiver as well as the owner of a rig that her husband operated. But her husband was about to retire from the road, and now they were wondering, “What next?” Over the course of our brief conversation, in no more than the time it took Joan to cut my hair, I picked up on three attributes of her success that are helpful for any entrepreneur: Practical. Purposeful. Impatient. There’s one final trait that successful entrepreneurs share: They realize that inspiration is useless without perspiration. People like Joan enjoy working for themselves because it affords a level of independence.
10 Blogs Entrepreneurs Need to Be Reading
See the 2012 edition: 10 Must Read Blogs for Entrepreneurs (2012 Edition) #1. The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Site: What it is: Mike Michalowicz provides entrepreneurs and small businesses with tips on everything from starting a business to networking to marketing and health care. Why you should read it: Mike not only provides great tips but he provides great tips from REAL people. #2. Site: What it is: Written by a panel of small business owners, the site offers tips and advice on everything business related. Small business trends really covers EVERYTHING! #3. Site: Run by two brothers, Matthew and Adam Toren, Young Entrepreneur is exactly what it sounds like; a site dedicated to young entrepreneurs. Between blog posts, forums, polls and interviews with other small business owners, the site offers fantastic content. #4. Site: Why you should read it: #5. #6. #7. #8.
