Entrepreneur Archive

 I do not often write blog entries which reference other blog articles. However, I recently came across a truly delightful post entitled, Jeffrey Aaronson’s Improbable...

Intimate Anecdotes And Photos Of Steve Jobs

 I do not often write blog entries which reference other blog articles. However, I recently came across a truly delightful post entitled, Jeffrey Aaronson’s Improbable Journey with Steve Jobs, the Guy Who Changed His World (and Ours). Jeffrey Aaronson is a noted artist and photojournalist who befriended a young Mr. Jobs at the beginning of Steve’s amazing journey.  
I recently spoke with Marten Mickos, the former CEO of MySQL and current CEO of Eucalyptus Systems, the leader in private cloud platforms. Eucalyptus’ underlying...

Opening The Cloud: Marten Mickos, CEO of Eucalyptus Systems

I recently spoke with Marten Mickos, the former CEO of MySQL and current CEO of Eucalyptus Systems, the leader in private cloud platforms. Eucalyptus’ underlying technology was developed at UC Santa Barbara. Since its origin as an academic research project in 2007, Eucalyptus has become the dominant open source cloud solution, boasting over 25,000 clouds formed. According to Marten, “We enable companies to run, within their own firewall, a cloud that behaves exactly like the public clouds, exactly like Amazon. So there is benefit of a running a cloud in-house, you have your own servers but you get full elasticity and you can shift workloads between your various applications.” You can watch my interview with Marten below or on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/B7CIUFSbQwU
Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series. Other installments include: Words of startup wisdom from Jeff Bezos In the course of my...

Ten Startup Tips From Steve Jobs

Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series. Other installments include: Words of startup wisdom from Jeff Bezos In the course of my recent interview with Guy Kawasaki, author and former Apple Evangelist, Guy describes Steve Jobs as: “…the world’s greatest CEO, ever. He did more for Apple’s shareholders, customers and employees than any other CEO has ever done for their shareholders, customers and employees. People should not try to emulate him, because they will be setting themselves up for failure. He is a great example of…building an enchanting company.” There are numerous reasons for Jobs’ success, not the least of which was his uncompromising pursuit of a delightful customer experience.
Note: This is Part I in the Startup Advantages series. Startups have few advantages. One of the most significant is the ability to keep your...

Startups Should Avoid Dropping Trou

Note: This is Part I in the Startup Advantages series. Startups have few advantages. One of the most significant is the ability to keep your cards close to your vest. A major disadvantage of a public Big Dumb Company (BDC), as well as one that works closely with governmental agencies, is the degree to which they are forced to publicly disclose otherwise confidential information.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it,...

Startups Are A Remix

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.” Steve Jobs, Co-Founder Apple, NeXT Computing and Pixar
Article first published as An Enchanting Conversation With Guy Kawasaki on Technorati. Guy’s latest book, Enchantment, was released in March of 2011, to overwhelmingly upbeat...

An Enchanting Conversation With Guy Kawasaki

Article first published as An Enchanting Conversation With Guy Kawasaki on Technorati. Guy’s latest book, Enchantment, was released in March of 2011, to overwhelmingly upbeat reviews. Of the 225 customer reviews currently posted on Amazon, over 90% are highly positive. I enjoyed the book as well, as evidenced by the review I wrote at the time of its release, which you can read HERE. I even plan to use it in my upcoming UC Santa Barbara Entrepreneurial Selling class. As Guy notes in the accompanying video interview, his primary goal with Enchantment is to reach a broader audience, beyond the high-tech, startup world. According to Guy, “It has been very satisfying to hear from people who never heard of me before. It wasn’t the Guy fan base. I’d like to expand beyond that. I want this book to be the equal to How To Win Friends And Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.” To this end, Guy has written a book that can be used by anyone seeking to further their cause; from startups, to non-profits, to public policy issues to getting a job. You can watch the video interview with Guy below or on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/E-44eylGb2I
Note: This is Part II in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part I HERE Bilbo’s offer letter from Thorin in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit...

Make Yourself Irresistible To A Startup

Note: This is Part II in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part I HERE Bilbo’s offer letter from Thorin in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit exemplifies the proper attitude that you must have when joining a startup adVenture. “For your hospitality our sincerest thanks, and for your offer of professional assistance our grateful acceptance. Terms: cash on delivery, up to and not exceeding one fourteenth of total profits (if any); all traveling expenses guaranteed in any event; funeral expenses to be defrayed by us or our representatives, if occasion arises and the matter is not otherwise arranged for.”
Richard White, author of The Entrepreneur’s Manual, surveyed a number of venture capitalists, asking them to identify the characteristics of successful, serial entrepreneurs. One of...

Every Dollar Spent At A Startup Should Yield A Return

Richard White, author of The Entrepreneur’s Manual, surveyed a number of venture capitalists, asking them to identify the characteristics of successful, serial entrepreneurs. One of the attributes identified by all of the venture capitalists questioned was, “Frugal use of capital.” In fact, several of the venture capitalists pointed out that successful entrepreneurs often have to be encouraged to spend more aggressively. In my experience at Rincon Venture Partners, I have worked with a number of successful, serial entrepreneurs who instill an urgent sense of frugality into their adVenture’s corporate culture. 
Note: This is Part I in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part II HERE Each generation, a few magnetic personalities emerge and generate a...

The Blondin Test Will Ensure Your Stakeholders Truly Believe In Your Startup

Note: This is Part I in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part II HERE Each generation, a few magnetic personalities emerge and generate a mania of public interest. Before Elvis, there was Sinatra. Before Sinatra, there was Bing. Before Bing, there was Caruso and before Caruso, there was Blondin. Jean Francois Gravelot, who wisely abandoned his given name and dubbed himself The Great Blondin, was a true rock star of the 19th Century. On June 30, 1859, at the height of his fame, he stood before a crowd of tens of thousands of people at Niagara Falls.
In August 2004, FastCompany published an article titled, Inside The Mind Of Jeff Bezos, written by Alan Deutschman. Although the article is informative, it is...

Ten Startup Tips From Amazon Founder, Jeff Bezos

In August 2004, FastCompany published an article titled, Inside The Mind Of Jeff Bezos, written by Alan Deutschman. Although the article is informative, it is the accompanying sidebar that has remained with me over the succeeding years. Under the heading, “The Book On Bezos,” the callout lists ten actionable and impactful nuggets of startup advice. I review these tenets with my entrepreneurial students at UC Santa Barbara at the beginning of each quarter to reinforce many of the key topics we will cover in the following weeks. They are listed below augmented with quotes from Jeff Bezos taken from various points in his career.
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