Venture Hacks

I recently answered this question on a Q&A site: “What generic first order principles should a new technology project or startup follow?” But I used the politician’s prerogative to give an answer to the question I wish he had asked:

Move to Silicon Valley.
Pick a great co-founder with complementary skills.
Select people with intelligence, energy [...]

[Read more →]

We’ve updated the presentation in A quick and dirty guide to starting up. The new presentation includes the notes that accompany each slide.
I’ve also included the new presentation below. Watch it in full screen mode for maximum pleasure. The full screen button is at the bottom right of the embed and it looks like this: [...]

[Read more →]

Naval recently presented A Quick and Dirty Guide to Starting Up to Girls In Tech:

(Slides: A Quick and Dirty Guide to Starting Up (pdf))
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the presentation:
“We are faced with insurmountable opportunities.” – Pogo
The most important thing: idea intelligence connections experience determination.
Ideas, and therefore NDAs, are worthless.
“… as in [...]

[Read more →]

There were a lot of good comments on yesterday’s Do you know any idea investors? post. Here’s a few of them.
Michael Staton says:
“I’d say if you can’t bother to build it yourself, get potential customers lined up, build revenue on an easier offshoot, or convince someone else to build it in their spare time, then [...]

[Read more →]

A reader asks:
“I’m an entrepreneur looking for seed investment. All I have right now is an idea and a pitch. I’m presently pitching friends and family and it has been very positive. Do you know any other idea investors I should approach?”
Larry and Sergey had a product and traction before they got their first check [...]

[Read more →]

Mike Cassidy’s talk on building companies fast is a must-read for all entrepreneurs:

(The slides are here if you don’t see them embedded above.)
Mike founded Stylus Innovation (sold 2 years after launch for $13M), Direct Hit (sold 500 days after launch for $500M), and Xfire (sold 2 years after launch for $110M). Mike is currently the [...]

[Read more →]

“I kept my day job for over six years while working mornings, nights, and weekends to create Dilbert.”
– Scott Adams
[Ed: I enjoyed Tony Wright's contrarian article, Half-Assed Startup, when I first read it on his excellent blog. Tony, a founder of RescueTime (Y Combinator), argues that you can start a company while you're otherwise employed. [...]

[Read more →]