Opportunity in Uncommon Expertise Combinations

May 9, 2013

Some of the best startup opportunities arise from uncommon expertise combinations, which open the way for great products. Today’s TAG Business Launch winner, Techturized, is a great example. Techturized combines a software recommendation engine technology and sleek website with the black hair care market. The founders have expertise in both. While the other two finalists (Rigor and […]

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The Impressiveness of Non-Tech Startup Founders

May 6, 2013

Another thing I took away from the EO party this weekend was the impressiveness of non-tech startup founders. EO is full of people that have started from nothing and have found huge success in areas like: Men’s Apparel Pine straw bale sales Selling meat door-to-door Real-estate (of all types) These are not new markets. They […]

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Signs of Bad Engineering Practices

May 4, 2013

We work with some of the brightest software engineer customers in the world doing the most advanced computing. Yet, we are stunned to find that so many critical pieces of software are so haphazardly stitched together. Riding on spit and wishes is what we would say in my rural hometown of Hickory, NC. Here are some […]

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Steps to Hiring Developers in the Technical Computing Market

May 2, 2013

Yesterday, I described how it is impossible to use pre-existing indicators to judge job applicants. You have to test competence as part of the hiring process. We do this in a 4 step process for developers: Step 1) Coding Exercise – we send the following email and attach a programming exercise: Thank you for your […]

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Indicators of Technical Competence in the Hiring Process

May 1, 2013

In the last 3 months, we’ve doubled the size of AccelerEyes, and we’re still hungry to grow more. Our intense focus on hiring has yielded many insights. One of these insights was captured well in a post I came across last week entitled, “Side Projects are the New Resume.” Many Classic Indicators are Flawed We […]

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Responding to Inbound Investor Inquiries from Associates

April 30, 2013

Once you have a startup for any considerable length of time, you will start getting seemingly flattering inbound emails from investors inquiring about your business. I get many of these each month. Sometimes they come from firms I’ve never heard of, sometimes they come from well-known places, like Bain Capital. They are always from lower-level […]

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Beekeeping and Startups

April 29, 2013

A year ago, I started learning the art of beekeeping. I bought a cardboard box of bees from a guy selling NUCs out of the bed of his truck in a grocery parking lot near my home. I have one hive in my backyard. I have learned a ton over the last year about bees and […]

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Customer Site Visits to Rev the Engine

April 28, 2013

I’m a believer in customer site visits to rev the engine for startups. It is super valuable to see the customer in their own environment and speak face-to-face about how they do things. It’s expensive and time-consuming to travel. For most startups, traveling salespeople are not as viable a business model as inside sales. However, […]

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Initial Equity Sharing Agreements

April 27, 2013

I’m always interested to learn how new companies decide to initially share equity. At AccelerEyes, we originally split equity evenly among four co-founders. As some of those co-founders have left, equity sharing shifts percentage-wise more heavily towards those that stick with the business. This has worked well for us. This week I had the opportunity […]

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Market Caps of Public Companies in Technical Computing

April 26, 2013

Public companies are a rich source of financial information for market data. Understanding the market dynamics that the big companies are facing can provide insights into opportunities for startups. One basic data point is to look at the market caps of the big companies in your market. Here are some of the market caps for […]

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