The Internet of Things

December 7, 2013

One innovative trend that really excites me is the internet of things. The internet of things is exploding. It is riding the wave created by smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. Here are some examples: Fitbit scale (auto uploads your weight based to your correct profile on their website) Tesla Model S (smartphone app features include lock/unlock, climate […]

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Startup Idea Secret Keeping

December 6, 2013

Yesterday I wrote how the Instagram and Snapchat stories are largely about hitting the lucky idea jackpot. The emphasis on the idea as the supreme valuable component of the startup causes many to believe that startup ideas should be kept secret. The big problem with startup idea secret keeping is that ideas typically do not […]

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Instagram & Snapchat Are Lucky Jackpots

December 5, 2013

Instagram was purchased for $1 billion. Snapchat was offered $3 billion (maybe even $4 billion by Google) and turned it down. Both have tons of users and incredible growth stories. Both companies have a few dozen employees at most. Both companies have very little expenses relative to their big userbase. Instagram had no revenue before […]

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Remove Hidden Wedges and Employee Retention

December 4, 2013

The ice storm that winter wasn’t generally destructive. True, a few wires came down, and there was a sudden jump in accidents along the highway. Normally, the big walnut tree could easily have borne the weight that formed on its spreading limbs. It was the iron wedge in its heart that caused the damage. The […]

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More Thoughts on Vetting Potential New Hires

December 3, 2013

We’ve spent much of this year thinking about our hiring process, refining it, implementing it, hiring people, and training them. We’ve learned a tremendous amount in the process. I’ve posted many thoughts throughout the year on the vetting of potential new hires. For instance, browse these team building posts. Today I share a few more […]

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As Speed Gains Taper, CPUs Look To Do More

December 2, 2013

I’ve written before about how CPU gains in improved speed have slowed down over the last decade. No longer are CPU manufacturers able to simply increase clock speeds (the GHz of the chip) to get big performance gains. The primary way chips are improving in performance today is through parallel computing. I’ve also written about […]

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Challenges for Amazon Prime Air

December 1, 2013

On 60 minutes tonight, Jeff Bezos announced Amazon Prime Air, a delivery service Amazon is working towards that will deliver 5 lbs or under packages via autonomous quadcopter drones. Autonomous means no pilot will be flying or monitoring them. They will be flown entirely by computer with preloaded GPS coordinates. The drones would have a […]

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Written NDA in Acquisition Discussions

November 30, 2013

Oftentimes, acquisition discussions involving startups become an analysis of make versus buy for a BigCo. The BigCo is both vetting the startup for a potential acquisition as well as vetting it as a potential competitor if they choose to compete instead of acquire. For this reason, BigCos are often reluctant to sign healthy NDAs at […]

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Startup Lessons from the Chisholm Trail

November 29, 2013

Today I visited the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma. The Chisholm Trail is a south-to-north route over which cattle were driven from Texas up to the railroad in Kansas where they were sold and shipped east. Here is a history lesson on cattle herding from which straightforward startup analogies can be drawn: As herds […]

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The FDA and Balancing Innovation vs Regulation

November 26, 2013

The FDA just announced that it is going to regulate 23andme, which provides DNA analysis when you spit into the kit they provide for $99. The regulation requires 23andme to cease some of its operations until the lengthy FDA procedural timeline is enacted. This FDA action sparked an interesting twitter debate in Atlanta. If the […]

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