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Category: Managing start-ups

  • Managing Start-Ups: Yesware helps sales people keep track of email responses

    Image by None via CrunchBase According to Xconomy, Boston-based Yesware, which makes e-mail software for salespeople, has raised $13.5 million in a bid to accelerate its growth. Battery Ventures led the investment, which also featured Yesware’s existing backers: Google Ventures, Foundry Group, Golden Venture Partners, and IDG Ventures. With the new cash, Yesware has raised…

  • Managing Start-Ups: Anaqua–Managing Intellectual Property

    Image by None via CrunchBase Entrepreneurs ought to start organizing their IP and patents early in their life. But according to Venture Beat, managing intellectual property can be a time-consuming process, especially for major enterprises with thousands of inventions, patents, and trademarks. That’s why companies like Microsoft, Ford, and Coca-Cola turn to Anaqua for help.…

  • Managing Start-Ups: Steve’s Four Rules of Life ( and Start up Success)

    I met a good friend recently who passed on his four rules of life. Entrepreneurs take note… 1. Show up for life 2. Be honest. Life too short to lie 3. Be passionate and compassionate 4. Detach yourself from the results.   

  • Managing Start-Ups: Reid Hoffman’s Series B Financing Pitch for LinkedIn

    LinkedinAnswers (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Some excellent advice here from Reid Hoffman for entrepreneurs going after VC money… http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-greylock/

  • Managing Start-Ups:Board Prospects–Finding Qualified Board Members for Start ups

    Image by None via CrunchBase According to the Boston Business Journal, Boston-based BoardProspects, which offers a site connecting companies and nonprofits with potential board members, said Wednesday it's raised a $2.4 million Series A round from about 20 angel investors. The investors were not named. The funding follows the release of a new version of the…

  • Managing Start-Ups: SmartUp–Affordable Patents

    U.S. Patents granted, 1800–2004. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) According to The Boston Globe, Omer Dar and his team at SocialBox knew they had a great idea: a 21st century photo booth that lets users edit pictures and take video and doubles as a corporate marketing tool. But Dar feared the young company could not afford to…

  • Managing Start-Ups: Sixteen Soft (or not so soft) Terms to Watch Out for in Term Sheets

    Investor-Relations-auf-Facebook (Photo credit: koesteran) Here are sixteen soft (or not so soft) terms for entrepreneurs to watch out for in term sheets form investors (In no particular order):   1.            BOD composition— Generally, a five person BOD, with two inside members, one investor and two outsiders is an optimal one. Investors often want two seats,…

  • Managing Start ups: Valuing Startups

    English: Merovingian coin valuing at a third of a golden sou. Found in the effigy of St-Eloi(c. 588 – 660), now in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Toul. Nederlands (Photo credit: Wikipedia) One of the quandaries faced by entrepreneurs is how to value their start up. Dave Berkus details a popular method in his Blog,…

  • Managing Start ups: Innovator’s Patent Agreements

    Image via CrunchBase Twitter came up with a concept last year called the Innovator's Patent Agreement (IPA) and put a draft IPA up on GitHub. They have gotten a ton of feedback and have iterated and improved the concept since then. The basic idea of the IPA is that it is a contract between Twitter…

  • Managing Start ups: Business Model Development

    Business Model Triangle (Photo credit: Alex Osterwalder) I often get asked for a simple template for developing a business model for a start up.   Here's one that makes you get your idea onto one page–an important reality check for any new idea: http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas