A VC in Vacationland

Seeking the next gen supply chain technology breakthroughs

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Category: Managing start-ups

  • Post-It Note Strategies

    I am a big fan of simple business strategies for CEO’s of start ups. There is an apocryphal story about  Jim McNerney, now CEO of Boeing and formerly of 3M that he arrived three years ago at his new job with a single Post-It note (get it?). The note purportedly listed just three words:  Airbus,…

  • It’s all about the Pizza, not the Delivery Person

    One of my first summer jobs after I had a car and driver’s license was delivering pizza. I vividly remember my first day on the job. I showed up at the door of my customers, often fellow high school students, with the pizzas and a big smile on my face.  They stuffed money in my…

  • Finding the Big No

    A fellow board member and friend of mine, Randall Pittman, Chairman of Chatham Capital Corporation and Forest Health Services, has an interesting piece of advice useful in many situations facing entrepreneurs.  At critical junctures in deals, whether selling or buying companies or products and services, he urges his teams to "find the Big No" and…

  • It’s the Size of the Fight in the Dog

    A good friend of mine, Jonathan Colehower, CEO of Optiant, reminded me the other day of the old saw: "It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog". He was exhorting his sales team to push harder against well-established competitors in selling Optiant’s clearly superior…

  • Creds

    What bothers me about a lot of start ups is that they do not have the creds. So many people approach me with a great idea, but no one in the world knows these guys. Then I suggest they get credentials–like someone who has done this before or someone who is well known in the…

  • Admitting Your Mistakes

    One of my CEO’s, Dan Dershem of LeanLogistics, turned me on to a really interesting page on Bessemer Venture Partners web site.  It’s called the Anti-Portfolio and it details investments which they have passed on over the years and why.  The page is fascinating reading, not only because of the names listed–Google, FedEx(six times!) and…

  • Elevator Pitch: Why Do So Few Get it Right?

    I am amazed that many entrepreneurs cannot tell me what their idea, business model, company or market focus is all about using only a few, simple sentences.  The same goes for their executive team in many cases. These are all very smart people who have worked hard to develop a detailed business plan or even…

  • Tackling the Small Business Market: Fool’s Errand?

    I just got off a long conference call with two CEO’s from software companies in my portfolio.  They had independently sent me emails last week bemoaning the difficulty of cracking the SMB(small and medium business) marketplace.  Both have products well suited to SMB needs and both have been working diligently against rational marketing and sales…

  • Looking For Mr. Goodbar

    Being in venture capital has more than a few similarities to Diane Keaton’s 1977 classic movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar (when are they going to bring that out on DVD?).  Substitute the lonely VC for the by-day teacher of the deaf Diane played in the movie and her nightly craving for sex via the bar…

  • Visiting My Money

    When VC’s plan a trip to meet with their investments, they often refer to the event as "visiting my money".  In truth, they are visiting all their partner’s money as well, and the "my" word seems a bit high minded and out of place in the phrase.  Whatever.  The normal drill is that the company…