Of all the problems that face entrepreneurs, finding the right price is probably the most difficult. The right price is a balance between maximizing income over time and the range of prices that buyers will pay. The problem is very complex and the methods employed to solve it are often little more than throwing a [...]

In Customer Service as Art, Rob La Gatta, Community Advocate for the Modern Tribe Events Calendar plugin gives his experience over the last two years – playing the balancing act of supporting customers and providing insight to the development team. What makes this article stand out to me? Let me give you a quick list of some of the myths his experience puts a light on..

Old school Silicon Valley startup to do list: Think of cool idea using some keywords that are current and hot Use a dot com name generator to get a unique domain name that is pronounceable Find a technical co-founder (if you are technical, find a business co-founder) who will sign on for a promise Print [...]

Very few of us are born with good interview and discussion skills – but they can be learned. If you are working on a Lean Startup – it is a critical skill you must get right. Gettting out in front of prospects helps, but an understanding of a few journalistic skills can really make the difference.

There is a myth that somehow, if you do all the right things, you can have a huge win with an Internet app and make millions overnight. Andrew Chen wrote a sober piece about predicting startup success recently. The simple fact is, if the industry is bad at predicting winners, entrepreneurs themselves are miserable failures [...]

It isn’t often the Harvard Business Review gives away the lead article for an issue. When they do, and when it is written by Steve Blank, it is worth taking the time to read. Even if it is six dense pages…

A lot is made of the concept of a pivot in the Lean Startup methodology but considerably less has been written to clearly explain the concept behind it. It is a business cycle that can be applied by any business at any stage and once it is embedded in your thinking, it can provide a very useful road map for driving positive change. But used as an excuse, without data-driven decisions, it can be just a way to throw out ideas at random, along with precious resources and time.

Very few products or services break open new markets for previously unrecognized needs. Yet, many startup business plans claim they are in unplowed fields – virtually without competitors. Of course, it’s almost never true.