Recent reports in the press about the problems Fab is facing got me thinking about the lessons one might learn from its meteoric rise and spectacular crash. Professional investors always give this disclaimer; Past performance does not necessarily guarantee or predict future results. Similarly, Fab’s experience is not necessarily a precedent that will always be […]
Innovation
Revisiting What I Know About Switching Costs & Startups
Switching costs are another aspect of a startup’s business model that I pay attention to. Together with Network Effect, Intangibles, Cost Advantages, and Efficient Scale they form the source of economic moats. ((Any errors in appropriately citing my sources are entirely mine. Let me know what you object to, and how I might fix the […]
Revisiting What I Know About Network Effects & Startups
‘One IPO that is probably worth the hype.’ – Chris Beauchamp on the # with @kerushton in the Telegraph. http://t.co/l8FqFRYwzJ — IG (@IGcom) September 1, 2014 The recently announced IPO of Alibaba got me thinking last week about network effects ((Any errors in appropriately citing my sources are entirely mine. Let me know what […]
Why Tech Startups Can Gain Competitive Advantage from Operations
Started From the Bottom Now They’re Here: Why Startups Are Racing to Build Operations Teams http://t.co/o2kMPA966I [new blog post] — Hunter Walk (@hunterwalk) August 8, 2014 Hunter Walk’s blog post serves as the inspiration for this one. He points out that operations is key for startups operating in the on-demand economy. I want to pick […]
Flatiron School – Brooklyn, NY – February 18th, 2014
This is an outline of a presentation I gave to students at the Flatiron School in Brooklyn on Tuesday, February 18th 2014. I talked a bit about my background, and about KEC Ventures. I will not outline that in this post. I discussed: How Software is Changing The World, or more generally How Technology is […]
The Most Important Thing A VC Needs To Know About Your Startup
Over the past 6 months I have been spending more time meeting many first time founders in New York City and elsewhere. One question has arisen over and over again. What are the most important things a venture capitalist wants to know about my start up in order to invest? I will attempt to answer […]