tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-234699392012-01-30T15:44:34.257-08:00The Startup Ethos and Entrepreneurial Navel-Gazing. Musings on the mind-set of entrepreneurs and the human side of startups, with a penchant for education and social ventures. The 'how-to'? Not so much. But definitely the why, the what and the whatever.Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.comBlogger1581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-90054644432205253242012-01-15T17:46:00.000-08:002012-01-15T17:46:09.225-08:00

My favorite definition of an entrepreneur has been 'One who recognizes opportunities and organizes resources to take advantage of the opportunity'.  But I read a new one in a post a couple of days ago - actually, it was conceived 37 years ago by Harvard Business School professor Howard Stevenson - that puts the 'organizes resources' in a different light.   Stevenson's definition of

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-55440279276246899772012-01-01T20:06:00.000-08:002012-01-05T09:46:09.820-08:00

January 1 is just another day on the calendar, but for many it's the day that brings the usual push to make resolutions to better ourselves.  It is something that many do every single year -  if we're not cynical, we'd see it as a testament to the fact that hope (for improvement) springs eternal in the human breast. Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, has a new book out in which he contends

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-3046980147424659452011-12-31T23:06:00.000-08:002011-12-31T23:06:47.168-08:00

The Moon Express is being readied for transportation to the moon, for commercial purposes and for 'entrepreneurial exploration'.  This sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it's not really - putting a man on the moon was not just for feeling good (though that sure felt great), it was the first step in checking out the possibilities, including the commercial ones..  The Chinese government

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-18292134169442955432011-12-14T15:15:00.000-08:002011-12-14T15:15:59.182-08:00

In a long ago post, I'd quoted one definition of an entrepreneur as 'one who sees an opportunity and organizes resources to take advantage of it'.  Modifying that slightly, I'd say a social entrepreneur is 'one who sees an opportunity for social good and organizes resources to deliver it'.  I've recently been working with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation as part of their Step Up to

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-89105795088691896782011-11-29T17:19:00.000-08:002011-11-29T17:19:42.464-08:00

As I'd mentioned in a couple of long-ago posts (here and here), I'm not blogging for publicity - I blog primarily to keep my right-brain from getting moribund and sharing opinions on a couple of things I care about is easier to achieve than truly creative writing.  But, the down side is that I don't blog that often as I'm swamped with 'real' work - it's been almost a month since the last one! 

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-54432942343176746772011-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:002011-10-31T20:37:35.373-07:00

I just read a post by Altucher on the #1 habit of people who get things done, aka, 'effective' people.  He refers to Stephen Covey's most popular '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' - the book he wants to beat - and zeroes in on the #1 habit: Be Proactive. A few years ago, I happened to read Covey's book and it does have good stuff - but honestly, I can't remember much of it, though I'd

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-49186294767891404352011-10-30T22:29:00.000-07:002011-10-30T22:29:50.996-07:00

Just to get it out of the way, 'The Tao of Steve Jobs' has nothing in common with the movie 'The Tao of Steve' except for the first four words.  That's it.  This is not a book or movie or anything more than one small blog post about one amazing man. It's almost a month since Steve Jobs died and there have been a zillion people opining about his life and legacy, as well as the inevitable

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-39707499759352527342011-09-23T16:11:00.000-07:002011-09-23T16:11:02.190-07:00

The Sunday New York Times magazine had a thought-provoking article on whether schools should focus on building 'character' and not just academic competence.  I generally applaud the sentiment, though I also believe that kids get much of their character guidance from parents and the community, with the school supporting and emphasizing it. The article is titled 'What if the Secret to Success is

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-28585504841791420222011-09-12T21:23:00.000-07:002011-09-12T21:23:34.351-07:00

We've heard of serial entrepreneurs who keep founding one company after another.  It's in their DNA, they can't think of doing anything else and they are, mostly, successful at it, so it's all good. Today's MercNews had a story on a tech entrepreneur who's starting a new company - get this - more than 40 years after the first one.  It is Sandra Kurtzig coming out of decade-long retirement to

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-28002299108458919552011-08-05T17:00:00.000-07:002011-08-05T17:00:04.331-07:00

I just read a post (originally published over a month ago) about a non-profit started by a young woman a few years ago.  It 'identifies, trains and mentors' smart, promising girl students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their education and prepare for careers.  The training sounds a bit like finishing school for business (and entrepreneurship) and the result is a bunch of highly

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-57936491141910513832011-07-14T22:23:00.000-07:002011-07-14T22:23:17.439-07:00

There's a big brouhaha over Netflix raising the price of its DVD+streaming option almost 60% a couple of days ago (read one view here).  From a business perspective, a lot of people actually believe that it is a smart, and possibly necessary, action for Netflix if it wants to remain as uber-successful as it is now.   But the customer reaction is mostly due to how the price hike went down - it was

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-25328582296465775222011-05-27T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-27T15:00:49.398-07:00

I believe that one can bring an entrepreneurial approach to just about anything, not just to start a business.  As I've mentioned in an earlier post, my favorite definition of an entrepreneur is 'one who recognizes opportunities and organizes resources to take advantage of the opportunity'.  And here's an exciting example of entrepreneurship in a small social venture with lasting impact - from a

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-29848133560923295092011-05-25T08:54:00.000-07:002011-05-25T08:54:07.481-07:00

About three years or so ago everyone was getting excited about the new solution to closing the educational gap - OLPC, the One Laptop Per Child, initiative with a low-cost, sustainable, easy-to-use laptop that any child could use.  The idea was so compelling that there were for-profit competitors to the non-profit OLPC and there were plans to blanket the entire world with these devices. It

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-30140706652458445442011-05-18T22:20:00.000-07:002011-05-18T22:20:02.046-07:00

There's a lot of attention given to tech entrepreneurs and their startups who fit the 'hot' mold - young, most likely college dropout entrepreneurs, doing something 'social' and attracting huge numbers of users in a very short time.  They're media darlings.  So many would-be entrepreneurs believe that's what they should aim for, and if they or their companies don't fit the bill, they worry

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-61657936978076640632011-04-26T17:38:00.000-07:002011-04-26T17:38:45.281-07:00

I just read James Altucher's '100 Rules for Being an Entrepreneur' and heartily recommend it for any entrepreneur or wannabe. I don't agree with all of it though.  For example, Altucher's rule #1: it's not fun.  In my view, if it's not fun, don't do it - but I'm not suggesting you expect a non-stop joy ride either. There are some personal faves in the list too: -  Try not to hire people -  Get

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-25997711274868662292011-04-13T08:46:00.001-07:002011-04-13T09:14:18.421-07:00

Flip Video was a poster child for a successful startup a few years ago.  Got started in 2001 as Pure Digital and was selling over a million units per year in 2008.  They were portable, easy to use and low priced, and favored by a lot of consumers.  They could have gone public. So, Cisco bought one of the fastest growing tech companies in 2009 and is now shutting it down.  The founders and

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-70457778100839048592011-04-11T21:52:00.000-07:002011-04-13T09:14:17.872-07:00

The New York Times magazine this weekend had an education story that makes for some compelling reading. The spotlight was on Ramon Gonzales, the principal of a public middle school in the Bronx. He's taken a struggling school and made it successful, or at least relatively so, despite significant challenges. Gonzales could be considered a shining example of the vision of Joel Klein, the previous

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-64473509026017050032011-03-31T21:54:00.000-07:002011-03-31T22:37:59.503-07:00

I just ran across this blog post about why some action is better than none. Just looking at what happened today makes me believe that it applies in spades to startups.The four main points in the post are:Small wins matter. Today we got glowing feedback from one user, just one, but it feels good!Accomplishments come in pieces. A demo from a few weeks ago resulted in a request for proposal.

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-28890214284618862952011-03-27T20:00:00.000-07:002011-03-27T20:50:47.517-07:00

I'd read this article a while ago and found it both interesting and fun - fun because it is amusing to see a bit of yourself in 'case studies'. The article itself - with the lofty title of 'How Great Entrepreneurs Think'- is about a case study comparing how successful entrepreneurs and successful corporate CEOs would approach the same problem of a hypothetical startup .The #1 take-away is that

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-18868299897427850002011-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:002011-02-06T14:33:21.317-08:00

It is Super Bowl Sunday with less than 90 minutes to go to kickoff and what I've found most exciting is, no not the team match-up, but the VW ad which will air during the game but has already become a must-see in the past couple of days.If you haven't already seen it, it is worth a look - it is heartwarming, geeky and funny and very well done, with the car having a subtle but powerful placement.

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-22215628885642142672011-01-01T19:14:00.000-08:002011-01-01T20:28:06.055-08:00

January 1. Not just another Saturday (like today). Not just another day on the calendar. Culture mandates that the day is special, a day for new beginnings. Sure, you can fight it, but I'd suggest that most entrepreneurs embrace the opportunity the day brings.First, it gives you a chance to look back on the last year. Not checking out the best memes, the biggest tech stories or the worst CEO

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-55684790415191616382010-12-12T08:38:00.000-08:002010-12-12T09:05:20.759-08:00

Whoa, it's been a month since my last post! I'm sure there's a way to keep up the blogging while swamped with my startup work, just need to make time to find it ;)One of the tasks that is occupying me is getting additional funding. We're currently in a boot-strapping mode and with a tiny team, it takes longer to get the boots-strapped, so to speak. A judicious infusion of funds will fuel

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-9679434975840723752010-11-12T21:37:00.000-08:002010-11-13T16:27:07.419-08:00

I was sent this link a little while ago and thought it was one of those too-good-to-be-true stories: poor kid in rural India fails school but ends up building a profitable business and is greeted by Presidents. But the story of Masukhbhai Prajapati is one of a true entrepreneur who showed enormous passion and perseverance. Some other classic entrepreneurial characteristics that he showed are:He

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-41024627563789052712010-10-10T18:06:00.000-07:002010-10-10T19:31:36.411-07:00

I saw 'The Social Network' on opening day - something that I used to reserve for the Rings or Potter series (yes, truly nerdy). It is an excellent movie for anyone, and has special relevance to entrepreneurs, especially of the tech variety, who're sure to be doing some 'what if it were me?' noodling, though they are light years removed from the super-smart 19-year old Harvard student that Mark

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-11642513201906633212010-09-25T07:31:00.000-07:002010-09-25T08:55:03.383-07:00

There was a recent NYT article about a young entrepreneur who could be described as 'hypomanic' - "grandiosity, an elevated and expansive mood, racing thoughts and little need for sleep" - and how these very qualities which could signal a borderline mental disorder are what could be best for an entrepreneur.Sure, entrepreneurs are often called 'crazy' - they take risks, are overly enthusiastic

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-41922521136197706432010-09-15T06:44:00.000-07:002010-09-16T09:06:50.790-07:00

I while ago I'd written about Zappo's change to stay true to their mission of customer service (you can read it here). While that is certainly true for the big stuff, like business models, for an early stage entrepreneur it is also important to keep the focus on the day to day happenings that define the company. Unfortunately it is harder to do when you're being the Swiss army knife of your

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-70184410118151071232010-08-14T11:22:00.000-07:002010-08-14T11:58:46.822-07:00

I like Randy Komisar's writings on entrepreneurship. His book 'The Monk and the Riddle' was a big hit among startup circles, not in small part due to its people, not just business, focus. He knows how to employ 'hooks' to involve the reader and get a point across, and one of the more appealing ones is the tie-in between types of entrepreneurs and dog breeds.Randy posits that in the early stages

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-4601143765881627682010-08-02T09:06:00.000-07:002010-08-02T10:08:10.327-07:00

I was thrilled to read one of the more unusual pieces of advice for an entrepreneur: write. Sure, entrepreneurs are asked to blog, tweet, update their LinkedIn profiles, have a dynamic Facebook page etc. to promote their startups. That is writing as marketing. But, when you're in the early stages that may not always be the best advice, until your business is ready for that kind of visibility

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-53352838523448465612010-07-13T15:21:00.000-07:002010-07-13T20:56:34.612-07:00

Prerna Gupta provides a textbook case for why people choose to be entrepreneurs. Unsatisfied in spite of her high-paying, high-perk consulting job? Check. Bored selling something that didn't excite her for another (VC) company? Check. Hated working in a 'conventional structure'? Disliked having a boss? Miserable sitting in an office working on 'someone else's creation'? Check, check, check.So

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-61896815296245903722010-06-22T21:09:00.000-07:002010-06-23T10:03:32.276-07:00

For sure cave people never despaired of finding work/life balance. Back then, just living was work - escaping the pesky predators, chasing dinner on the hoof, having a kid or ten before succumbing to some random illness just because you scratched yourself inappropriately. But civilization happened and over time there rose the concept that work was what you did so you could have a life, sometimes

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-42701395747341492672010-06-01T20:39:00.000-07:002010-06-02T08:51:08.005-07:00

Most startups have to do course corrections and redefine - or 'find' - themselves before they are set on the path to success (sometimes even after, as their business environments may change). In a previous post ('adaptive startup') I'd written that while change is necessary, it is non-trivial and serious attention needs to be paid to the original vision of the venture and how it fits in.I ran

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-85654093458532338632010-05-16T15:51:00.000-07:002010-05-16T16:26:52.783-07:00

There's probably no idea that will win universal approval before it becomes reality. This is particularly true of visionary, mold-breaking, non-linear, quantum-leap kinds of ideas which will elicit responses ranging from 'nice, but there's no market' to 'in your dreams', most likely in stronger and more categorical terms. It takes unswerving belief in the dream for an entrepreneur/inventor/

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-8114907126023392912010-05-02T08:40:00.000-07:002010-05-06T07:03:47.959-07:00

I've been thinking about this article off and on ever since I read it a few weeks ago - Ted Leonsis scored on memorability, at least for one reader! The article in Newsweek (you can read it here), was inspired by Google's stance against censorship in China - but talks about building happy companies and the double-bottom-line of profit and 'a positive impact on humanity'.First off, I heartily

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-6704116644313277582010-04-10T10:20:00.000-07:002010-04-10T14:38:01.190-07:00

One of the lessons we all have (or should have) learned from the great melt-down of 2008-09 is how to get things done on the cheap. This is especially true for the majority of startups and small businesses that found investors were scarcer than buyers for homes and the seed/startup money had dried up like dew in the desert. For many ventures success in the last 18 or so months has been defined

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-8626051959671097942010-03-25T22:27:00.000-07:002010-03-26T08:33:33.635-07:00

Lists are ubiquitous and ever popular. They give the illusion of control - if you can just check off these 10 things you'll lose weight, get into your dream college, find your soul mate and build an amazing company from scratch. Ah, if only. But, lists are still useful if you don't treat them as the 'check' kind and I particularly enjoy reading the entrepreneurial ones (by entrepreneurs) to see

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-58875786262090117902010-03-09T21:22:00.000-08:002010-03-09T22:12:42.904-08:00

It's nice to hear about a struggling startup that finally makes it big - it brings a lot more hope than stories about hot shots that are winners right out of the gate, because let's face it, there are more strugglers than shooting stars. I recently read an article about Pandora (which you can read here) about how after 10 years (wow!) of precarious fortunes they're finally raking it in.Sure, you

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-23859296144233550452010-02-16T21:12:00.000-08:002010-02-17T12:49:37.242-08:00

I remember the bane of 'analysis paralysis' from my corporate years - there was always one faction that favored lengthy and laborious analysis before even agreeing to a proposal, sometimes to the extent that the proposal became obsolete. While understanding and supporting the need for analysis, I personally preferred the 'do your homework quickly, highlight the risks, plan an escape route and

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-48721031576708294342010-01-30T18:54:00.000-08:002010-01-30T19:46:15.534-08:00

A few posts ago I'd written about how important it is for entrepreneurs (probably everyone, but entrepreneurs in particular) to get comfortable asking because in a startup you're going to be in ask-mode much of the time (read more here). Believe me, it gets easier with practice - it may still qualify as one of your least favorite activities, right down there with doing taxes, but you get it over

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-37185215752412512552010-01-11T21:37:00.000-08:002010-01-11T23:22:26.176-08:00

On New Year's day I was with friends and family (watching the Rose Bowl was our purported goal) and we got into a discussion about how New Year celebrations were unnecessary and forced on everyone when it was just a day like any other. While I'm all for people not being compelled to do anything, least of all wear silly hats and drink copious amounts of faux champagne, I believe there's a lot to

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-79187303945858668562009-12-31T18:49:00.000-08:002009-12-31T20:00:36.267-08:00

I don't do resolutions, but reminders are another thing altogether. And before I head out to celebrate the arrival of Twenty-Ten, I thought I'd make a special note of the one consistent criterion for success (especially for entrepreneurs).A few years ago I'd met the owner of an insurance company (he brokered our company's insurance needs) and he mentioned that his guiding principle for success

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-12798296297643303222009-12-27T19:08:00.000-08:002009-12-28T15:20:52.456-08:00

Innovation is must-have for entrepreneurs for sure, and entrepreneurs have been anointed the potential saviors of our sluggish economy so innovation's been rather news-worthy lately. There was a recent Newsweek article on how Americans and the rest of the world (the part that was polled that is) view the state of innovation and the American economy and this stuck with me:On some issues there

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-28735110713937339042009-12-02T20:42:00.000-08:002009-12-03T14:51:16.251-08:00

I've been attending a course/lecture series at Stanford this quarter on 'the ecosystem of design'. It's been very enjoyable and almost always instructive and relevant. I do like the fact that it gets me to 'think different', something that one needs to be reminded about when in heads-down tactical mode.This week the lecture was by Brenda Laurel, the chair at the graduate school in design at the

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-70990614146173615692009-11-11T18:04:00.000-08:002009-11-11T19:04:52.733-08:00

When I'd last written about the team of 10-graders that I'm mentoring on entrepreneurship through BUILD (read my posts here and here), they were re-visiting their business plan as their world-view and team had changed over the summer. They were frantically re-doing their presentation as they had to pitch to a VC (a real one!) in order to get the few hundred dollars of 'seed funds' they would

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-28819011699088999062009-11-03T09:51:00.000-08:002009-11-03T17:09:59.124-08:00

Last week I attended a cool gathering - a smallish group of people gathering over wine and munchies not just to network or socialize (that happens anyway), but to hear and discuss stuff outside of the regular work milieu. Kind of like the salons of a past century, but more oriented to ideas and trends than art and philosophy, though that would be cool too.Last week's topic was 'Strategic

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-52709740447516068542009-10-25T19:18:00.000-07:002009-10-25T20:21:00.399-07:00

This post has two parts: first a really messed up situation where rules collide with reality resulting in an unacceptable outcome and the second is about the opportunity this provides.Last week there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about schools that have had their federal lunch funding withheld due to 'egregious' violations. You can read the whole story here, but here are some of

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-32482500270099411722009-10-15T20:58:00.000-07:002009-10-17T08:53:33.724-07:00

A little news item that caught my eye: Junior Achievement conducted a poll among 1000 students between the ages of 12 and 17 and asked them to pick their most admired entrepreneur from a list of famous ones (all US based). And guess what, Steve Jobs was top of the list, way ahead of Oprah!This poll is both fascinating and frustrating. It is amazing that Steve, nerdy though brilliant, outshone '

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-8451096540295874242009-10-05T15:13:00.000-07:002009-10-06T12:33:50.985-07:00

No, it's not the other way about, even though it seem counter-intuitive. Ideally, you should write down your business plan early enough in the game just so you can makes sure that you've answered all the obvious questions and you know there's a business there. You think of your idea, you start to build it (whether it's a product or service) and somewhere along the way, you have to write down

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-85128404844814590132009-09-19T08:29:00.000-07:002009-09-19T11:50:47.790-07:00

A few months ago, I'd written a post about the team of teens I was mentoring in presenting their business plan. A quick recap: these are under-resourced high-school students who get substantial support and guidance in making it to college, along with hands-on lessons in entrepreneurship. They're supported by the non-profit BUILD and you can read my previous posts on these teen entrepreneurs

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-66053012001414020542009-09-03T17:48:00.000-07:002009-09-04T10:51:22.247-07:00

The previous post was all about asking - the entrepreneur shouldn't be afraid to ask for suggestions, resources, contacts, office space and the ever-important funding. You can expect different responses of course, and maybe I'll cover them another time, but this post is all about a specific response: silence.It was only after I started a company that I found out that many people seem to believe

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-22861165085485172482009-08-19T09:24:00.000-07:002009-08-19T09:29:35.666-07:00

Entrepreneurs need to be comfortable doing all kinds of things, selling, managing (firing) etc., but one of the most important is asking. Last weekend I’d gone with my family to Gualala, a charming little town on the northern California coast, and we drove into town to have dinner and pick up a few groceries. This is a really a tiny town and we thought we’d have dinner first before the

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-15001228641209545662009-08-03T19:55:00.000-07:002009-08-04T16:18:28.490-07:00

Belief sells. If you think that what you're selling is the hottest thing since sliced bread (now, that's a sales job! does bread need to be pre-sliced?) you're much more likely to convince everyone else that is exactly so. No room for quibbling or diffidence when collecting converts.I was reminded of this when I read about how Mozilla's Firefox recently reached it's one-billionth download.

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-76483719428491119222009-07-16T20:36:00.000-07:002009-07-17T10:10:55.008-07:00

ReadWriteWeb has a continuing series on startups and entrepreneurs which makes for good reading, especially if you're interested in tech startups. A while ago they had a post on 10 things to be clear about before you start a company - and I thought of it today as I was thinking about a startup idea (just for fun). All 10 points are worth considering, but I'm not convinced that everything is as

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-52091361632999384432009-06-21T09:00:00.000-07:002009-06-21T10:04:08.527-07:00

A few months ago I had written a hopeful (as in, full of hope) post about three different people who had talked to me about the startup dreams and plans (you can read it here). I followed up with those entrepreneur-hopefuls and found that everything has changed.The first was a senior level manager in a small but thriving company who wanted to work on something more personally fulfilling (while

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-74328534470389749242009-05-31T17:26:00.000-07:002009-06-01T23:07:49.504-07:00

Yes, this is a slightly different take on the 'are you an entrepreneur?' question that I'd touched on in an early post (one thing about blogs, you can write on the same topic a zillion times if you feel like it). I was inspired to revisit this by a recent post of Readwriteweb titled 'are you really an entrepreneur?', mainly because I feel it didn't cover some key points.The list mentions good

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-13063934066353678202009-05-16T13:41:00.000-07:002009-05-18T08:49:49.693-07:00

Last Saturday was the final business plan competition for the high-school freshmen in the BUILD program (the Peninsula site). It was a gorgeous day at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. And it was smart thinking on BUILD's part, and generous of GSB, to get these kids, most of whose parents haven't even finished school, to visit one of the world's best universities - the kids in my car

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-59271560416296420242009-04-30T09:04:00.000-07:002009-04-30T11:21:51.525-07:00

Last week the BUILD team of teens that I mentor had their penultimate business plan presentation. This was the team that had won the last time, so they were pretty pumped up. But, this time they didn't win - and I must say wasn't surprised. We got to see this team in comparison with teams from other schools, and I guess it's somewhat similar to VCs seeing a bunch of startups pitching to them.

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-53189032645278851022009-04-08T20:20:00.000-07:002009-04-08T21:44:36.303-07:00

A few days ago there was a story in the Merc News about a startup that went belly up. Most of my recent posts have been about soldiering on through through the downturn and keeping the startup fire going, but, companies do go under, and this is an interesting story one such.You can read the full story here, but in brief it is about Hammerhead Systems that as recently as three years ago seemed

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-35988532438215785362009-03-28T10:09:00.000-07:002009-03-28T16:02:02.728-07:00

Continuing the musings on dealing with economic turmoil, there's a another worldview - this is just business as usual in emerging markets like Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America etc. Having just returned from a quick trip to India where everyone I met talked to me about the US downturn , I agree there's something to be learned from countries where economic stability is not taken for granted.The

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-70910894530889128712009-03-19T15:42:00.000-07:002009-03-19T17:04:58.765-07:00

Last night, the teen team I mentor at BUILD (see here for more info from a previous post - is worth your support!) presented at Round 2 of the business plan competition. There are two more competitions to go, the last one being the biggie, but this one was exciting and illuminating on many levels, and as usual, there are many lessons for us grown-up entrepreneurs.First, there was plenty of

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-43035587414533209362009-02-23T20:50:00.000-08:002009-02-25T11:02:05.016-08:00

As I'm continuing to mentor a group of high-school freshmen on starting a business (posted here), I find that every week I get some fresh insight on entrepreneurship, the 'real' kind, for those of us who're doing it for a living. After the last meeting my co-mentor and I were bemoaning the fact that we don't see the 'fire in the belly' and hoping that it will be lit as the team gets more

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-20637492800634057672009-02-04T22:39:00.000-08:002009-02-04T23:38:36.818-08:00

A little while ago I was asked for 'the top 5 things to look for to determine if an entrepreneurial opportunity is the right one for you'. I understood it to mean how to assess an offer to join a startup and answered it as such, only to find out later that it was about assessing which idea to pursue. Interestingly the high school kids I'm mentoring are going through the same exercise of coming

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-13653010050302357472009-01-14T12:42:00.000-08:002009-01-16T13:41:46.079-08:00

It's two weeks into the new year, and many are still refining (if not defining) their resolutions, regardless of what the gym ads say. Maybe it's because those resolutions made in the hopeful haze of the holidays don't hold up as January briskly marches on.Well, this blog is about the startup ethos, and I don't do resolutions - but I do plan. And as the year ended, I, like many others, had to

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-70018241304311166312008-12-31T16:58:00.000-08:002008-12-31T17:52:59.243-08:00

Sometime after you launch your venture, if all goes well and you haven't given up already, you reach a point where you're not just 'preparing', 'getting ready', 'developing', working on' your product or service, but actually have something that your customer/user can use. It may not be ready for prime time, but you have enough for previews with live audiences (mixing metaphors).So you do your

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-79585559696492814882008-12-20T09:06:00.000-08:002008-12-20T23:17:18.881-08:00

In a previous post, I mentioned that I'm mentoring some teenagers on (and through) entrepreneurship. We're finally getting into real entrepreneurship work, having got past the initial getting acquainted, setting expectations stage. It is challenging for sure (these are not your typical college-track kids), but it is also fun, and one of the most interesting aspects is how it compares with the '

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-49583964584938689572008-12-05T11:43:00.000-08:002008-12-05T21:22:27.742-08:00

Notice a pattern here? Post after post on variations of the economic cold freeze that has us all shivering and desperately seeking the warmth of good news and hope. It's been a month since the election and that vibe has started to fade under the onslaught of daily layoffs. So what's happening in the startup trenches, or at least my little corner of it?A while ago, before the great September

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-44302334895239426572008-11-23T20:09:00.000-08:002008-11-24T12:29:56.750-08:00

I'm a big fan of entrepreneurship (duh!) and also of education, and when you put the two together, general goodness ensues. I'd written about BUILD in a prior post - they help under-resourced, under-motivated kids finish high-school and get into college by turning them on to entrepreneurship. I've been a friend, and a huge admirer, of BUILD for a few years now, but this year I felt that I can

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-15667515706590425732008-11-15T15:55:00.000-08:002008-11-15T23:45:14.552-08:00

Hiring for a startup in the early stages sometimes requires you to go counter-intuitive. For example, take experience - it's not always a good thing.This is not a be-young-or-die creed. It's more about the need to have a certain approach - a 'beginner's mind', which is open to new ways of doing things and is willing to find out what's needed and learn it. And while age alone is not a barrier

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-51567006704809760542008-11-04T08:35:00.000-08:002008-11-04T09:18:49.601-08:00

No this is not about the election (though today is election day and I'm voting for hope and hope the majority does the same). It's about the wobbly times we're in. Credit crunch, sinking home values, disappearing jobs, diving stocks and a general feeling of global malaise.I know there's a ton of ink, digital and otherwise, comparing these times to the Great Depression, which most of us have

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-82886137348043632612008-10-12T19:36:00.000-07:002010-06-02T09:00:13.853-07:00

It sure looks like it, given the financial news worldwide. Stocks falling, credit freezing, centuries-old bastions of industry faltering. It's not pretty, and no one knows what's going to happen next. So what does it mean for entrepreneurs who're just starting out?In the high tech world, when top venture capitalists speak, Silicon Valley, and as we (possibly hubristically) believe, the world,

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-32195791233558431132008-09-14T15:52:00.000-07:002008-09-14T23:35:52.896-07:00

A few weeks ago, I participated in a panel discussion about using influence to deliver results. It was moderated with ease and distinction by Neerja Raman, a Valley exec, management speaker/author, and now research scholar and proponent of social entrepreneurship. It was a panel of impressive women, all with insightful stories and if you're interested, there's more information to be found at

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-8085364419124895602008-08-16T16:22:00.000-07:002008-08-16T20:48:07.913-07:00

I should probably be paying more attention to using the right keywords in my post titles - those that would attract startup oriented readers (the one above would get the Disney fans). But where's the fun in that?Moving on, last week I had conversations with three different people seriously considering the startup jump - that is, starting their own companies, not just joining one. I've written

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-79900813962775275562008-08-06T10:44:00.000-07:002008-08-06T15:39:59.795-07:00

There's the 'I' and 'U' but no 'team' in virtual. Startups that launch as entirely virtual may find that they're virtually successful - as in almost, but not quite there.OK, aside from the cute word plays, there is a real reason why startups cannot be all virtual. It doesn't mean that everyone has to be together all day, 12 hours a day and commute for hours to make it happen. For one, that can

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-88627667795549721242008-07-21T21:38:00.000-07:002008-07-22T17:24:02.373-07:00

I just saw a new comment added to an old post on what to do with an idea - its a question actually, and answering it seems like the thing to do.The original post was about answering a question from a fellow traveler and walked through the 'doing the due diligence' and vetting the idea before building anything. But this question, from Anonymous, is 'what if the idea is not for a product, but for

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-39517490452358574562008-07-02T23:12:00.000-07:002008-07-03T12:55:36.259-07:00

If you've not been totally oblivious of the goings-on in popular media (yes, that could happen even if you're not in Bora Bora watching nothing but the waves), you must have heard of Randy Pausch's last lecture. If you haven't, you could go over to the store and pick up a copy of the book version from the bestseller shelves, or find various clips on YouTube. But, do yourself a favor, take the

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-31242086616777057732008-06-04T22:51:00.000-07:002008-06-08T11:01:30.209-07:00

I'm sure there are a couple more important reasons, but this is the one that I'm thinking about now, so #3 it is.Outside-in thinking. AKA thinking outside the box. Yes, that one, the one that's fast becoming an old saw, hammer or what-have-you, and is a foundation for many high-priced classes teaching organizations to innovate (does anyone still not know how to connect the dots?). Though tired

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-70855178542559210332008-05-14T16:06:00.000-07:002008-05-14T17:28:32.579-07:00

I've been thinking about this off and on over the past few weeks as the Yahoo-MicroSoft saga was unfolding. There were a lot of opinions out there, some predicting the disappearance (so to speak) of a Silicon Valley Internet legend, but many others wondering about the wisdom of CEO Jerry Yang's refusal to just take the offer. But not being an obsessive blogger, and being somewhat preoccupied

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-20627090900918296462008-04-26T20:05:00.000-07:002008-04-27T11:19:40.980-07:00

Actually, despite the cutesy wishful thinking title, this post is about trusting funding sources - or anyone with a vested interest, and some level of control, in your venture.About a week ago I read a post about an entrepreneur who had a really bad experience with the VC who was on his board. Click here to read the story - it is not a pretty one. But there is more to it than just an investor

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-75458449326031131562008-04-07T21:10:00.000-07:002008-04-08T11:38:39.473-07:00

If you're an entrepreneur building a company, one of the first things you do is seek an advisor or two, someone who will, at a minimum, be a reliable sounding board and preferably, in tune ;) with you. There's a lot of pressure to put together an impressive board with a view to generating funding - 'window dressing' as one investor put it. Impressive often translates to big names in big

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-40100943577991855592008-03-15T09:32:00.000-07:002008-03-27T09:39:38.497-07:00

I guess this is one of those things that fit into 'life lessons' not just startup ones. But there is a tendency for an entrepreneur to think that things would be different in his/her startup as she/he is in control and will know exactly what should be done. After all, the books have been read, workshops attended, mentors questioned, so everything should be crystal clear, right?First, being in

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-63114471747658034502008-02-24T10:57:00.000-08:002008-02-24T11:57:00.860-08:00

Most entrepreneurs don't do '100 questions that reveal your career' kind of stuff before they start their own businesses. Usually it is a gut thing, probably a cocktail of nature, nurture, social trends and/or college buddies that bubbles up and gets you drunk on the startup allure. But there are times that you sometimes wonder if you're in the right line of work. And of course, those times

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-46082383756843066822008-01-25T17:57:00.000-08:002008-01-25T20:42:39.575-08:00

Shift to succeed. Actually, that should be ‘shift to survive’ since survival is success for startups. Course corrections keep a startup afloat and moving forward instead of bobbing in place, or worse, getting up close and personal with rock-bottom. Every entrepreneur and his/her team would of course insist that they’re aware, and unafraid, of making corrections. But like many other good

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-31801150662489373492008-01-06T17:54:00.000-08:002008-01-25T20:43:31.677-08:00

New Year's resolutions. I don't make them and haven't done so for ages. Resolutions seem like stuff you feel you have to do, not want to do, and typically you perceive them as something hard. When I look at the year ahead, I prefer to think of all the things I'd like to remember to be or do pretty much on a daily basis, channeling the inner entrepreneur who usually comes in loud and clear but

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-46786447431129940932007-12-31T20:44:00.000-08:002007-12-31T21:32:15.574-08:00

Yes, it happens to startups too, whether they have three or thirty employees. Unless your business has a special focus on the month of December a la Amazon for example, you too will be infected.Top signs you're under the influence of the season:- 'Out of office' is your #1 sender- All the investors you're trying to meet are in the mountains or the islands- Gingerbread lattes are the beverage of

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-48254022439518227612007-12-16T11:21:00.000-08:002008-01-25T20:44:32.394-08:00

There's been a lot of blogtalk about a couple of startups that have recently pulled the plug on their failing ventures, some after many millions of dollars of spending and years of effort. There are two that I found interesting because they contemplated the possibility of failure and how it could become reality - the downside of startups.The first was about the recent closure of Edgeio and what

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-49217957099206987462007-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:002008-01-25T20:45:33.795-08:00

Attitude. That's what gets things done. Yes, it is a staple of every inspirational speaker or motivational totchke shelves, but there's a reason for it - some people need reminding.In a previous post, I've opined on the startup balance between resources, timeline and deliverables and the constant challenge it raises, especially in the early stages when your dreams and deliverables overpower your

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-22910530817540577012007-11-20T20:25:00.000-08:002007-11-20T21:29:57.811-08:00

We recently took the alpha version, just as soon as we thought it had passed our testing, to a bunch of users, real ones, the ones who we're building this for. First off, as an early stage startup, we don't have the luxury of dedicated testers. All team members, full-time, part-time, hey-I-just-like-you-guys-and-I'll-help, all pitch in to 'check' it out. We don't have a plan for our testing yet

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-56768575814333698012007-11-11T17:28:00.000-08:002007-11-11T22:14:54.831-08:00

The previous post covered the challenge of balancing scope and deadlines with the minimal resources that startups are able to scare up. The startup team uses any tool it can to do more in less time - and email, of course, is one that's pretty much taken for granted. There's no denying, it is a great productivity tool inspite of hyped stories on 'email-free' Fridays. Email is timely, quickly

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-44461197563614443582007-10-25T11:31:00.000-07:002007-10-27T18:57:24.084-07:00

One of my managers from many years ago was very fond of the word 'interlock' - especially in the context of 'achieving interlock' between marketing and development or sales and engineering. His was a world of departments of a few hundred people each and budgets in mega-millions, but I believe it is a big challenge in an early stage startup too.We're all intimately familiar with the balancing act

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-85838634901039460832007-10-15T21:58:00.000-07:002007-10-15T22:58:40.865-07:00

First off, I admit to having my post titles influenced by catchy movie ones ;)It's pretty much established that an entrepreneur has to be passionately committed to his/her idea, and believe in it - s/he needs to be a bouncing poster child for optimism. This kind of gung-ho dedication is a must-have to lead the troops and stick it through the ups and downs (the many downs) of a startup. All the

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-35465471682857805752007-10-05T15:49:00.000-07:002007-10-07T20:53:49.081-07:00

October 2nd was Gandhi's birthday - the Gandhi, the Mahatma, not the thousands with the same name. It's a holiday in India, and with globalization and flat-earthing one has to pay attention to when people work or don't. It got me thinking though. Gandhi's the icon for the ages when it comes to non-violence, but he's also expounded his philosophy on a wide variety of subjects. Is there a

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-26282015607913979612007-09-25T15:07:00.000-07:002007-09-25T16:07:04.482-07:00

Wow! Someone not only reads all the entrepreneurial blogs out there, but they've ranked and posted a list of '100 Daily Must-Reads for Entrepreneurs'. I didn't know that this blog is on the list until someone googling me found it. I'm hugely thrilled. I started this blog as a way to capture my thoughts on the human aspect of entrepreneurship and share with whoever might find it useful - and

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-27135584133877907622007-09-10T19:26:00.000-07:002007-09-16T19:29:19.558-07:00

Everyone has an opinion. On everything. But that's kind of what you're betting on when you go out gathering 'input', asking for 'feedback', 'guidance' or 'advice' from the 3 Fs (in this case, family, friends and their friends - subbing for the 'fools' that traditionally play the third F). You're hoping that taking your idea or pitch to them will give you access to their knowledge, experience,

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-4520090814066306862007-08-30T18:14:00.000-07:002007-08-30T22:06:33.213-07:00

IPO. M&A. Sure, that's what on the exit strategy slide in your PowerPoint. But, I believe (and this has been reinforced by experience - mine and others), the founder/entrepreneur needs one too and it has to be figured out before taking the plunge to do the startup.Recently I was chatting over lunch with a fellow entrepreneur whose startup is on its third year (that's another thing that every

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-4337754183720615172007-08-18T07:50:00.000-07:002007-12-03T16:40:19.028-08:00

This seems to be the biggest challenge for most first-time entrepreneurs: picking the idea to work on. Last week I was speaking to a young man, a recent college grad in a corporate job, who was trying to figure out which space he should focus on for a startup as he really, really wanted to be an entrepreneur. And just yesterday I had a chai with a more seasoned, experienced Stanford MBA who was

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-25017351831583666692007-07-26T16:03:00.000-07:002007-07-27T09:08:06.126-07:00

No worries. This is not yet another wannabe expert telling the startup world how to craft your pitch when you go for funding. A veritable horde of VCs, angels, consultants, B-school profs, and a few entrepreneurs (not too many of those though) have taken on the burden of coaching you on just that. Many are useful, and I must admit it is kind of fun to see the different approaches (try these

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-24162715181678856052007-07-09T20:44:00.000-07:002007-07-10T08:46:43.736-07:00

Last week I attended the Global IIT conference in Santa Clara. Jeff Immelt of GE was one of the keynote speakers. His was an interesting speech. It was not a rah-rah, high-energy, evangelizing one, but a comfortable 'this is what I think about' kind, where he didn't seem to mind taking a controversial position now and then. He touched on a variety of different points, globalization (good but

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-13659168226613767742007-06-06T09:01:00.001-07:002007-06-06T11:37:23.821-07:00

Last week I was one of the panelists speaking about entrepreneurship to about 100 or so Fulbright scholars currently in various US schools. What made it interesting was that they were predominantly from developing nations and this panel was part of a 3-day immersion in technology and startups and the Silicon Valley vibe - with the hope that they will take some of it back with them when they go

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-37282863121389233292007-05-28T11:23:00.000-07:002007-05-28T18:45:43.778-07:00

Last week I attended an event organized by SDForum, called Next Generation Tech: Teens Plugged In. I must commend the organizers for pulling together a very interesting event. Instead of the usual talking heads, they had (separate) panels of high-schoolers and college kids who pretty much held court for most of the morning. It was a most refreshing change.The purpose was to hear teens' views on

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-79861315346829410872007-05-14T10:21:00.000-07:002007-05-15T17:39:31.434-07:00

Last weekend I was a judge at the Youth Business Plan competition at BUILD. I've written about their organization and founder/CEO in a previous post, and I'm always excited by what they do as they blend two my favorite interests, entrepreneurship and education, to make a difference in the life of hundreds of kids. In short, they take the kids who're at risk of dropping out of high school and

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23469939.post-49141751853768031992007-05-03T08:59:00.000-07:002007-05-03T10:02:03.328-07:00

I'm betting 8 out of 10 startups begin by being in the 'stealth' mode (that's based on a scientifically conducted multi-year study of course). Most of the entrepreneurs I run into, who've just launched companies, are quick to claim they're stealth, or 'under the radar' - that's true for moi too - and it can persist for quite a while.So why do entrepreneurs like me go 'stealth'? It's primarily

Usha Sekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514505376252776945noreply@blogger.com0