Four founders share what they’ve learned
People say that hindsight is 20/20. After working knee-deep in the trenches for a year or two, you gain a better appreciation of where to focus, what to let go, and how you can do things (or should have done things) better. There’s no shortage of advice out there for startup founders. But since entrepreneurs […]
Is it time for a Chief Talent Officer? How to create local hubs for high tech entrepreneurship
In an effort to spur on their local economies, many provincial and city officials have been wondering what it takes to create the next Silicon Valley. From cities in Canada, the U.S. and worldwide, we’ve seen the emergence of numerous policies all designed to encourage start-up activity. There have been taxpayer-sponsored VCs, mentoring programs, generous tax […]
What’s more important: product or sales?
It’s the age-old debate among start-up circles: which is more important to the success of a start-up: the strength of the sales/distribution strategy or the quality of the product? On one end of the spectrum, many start-ups think that great products sell themselves, while the other camp argues that it’s the channel and monetization that […]
The easiest path to growth and profit is up: why startups should focus on the long-tail
The easiest path to growth and profit is up, and the most deadly attacks come from below This quote from Clayton M. Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma perfectly encapsulates how startups can find success over incumbents in their markets. Incumbents often look left, right, and above – yet sometimes they’re most vulnerable from below. The tiny market niches […]
Talent, hard work and luck
“Hard work plus luck is what gets you a jet instead of just a BMW.” (Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan) Start-up success typically boils down to three elements: hard work, talent, and luck. Yet when we dissect the successes and failures of other start-ups, we tend to focus on the hard work and talent of […]