Alternative Working Title: Notes On Strategy; Engineering Your Early Stage Startup’s Culture For Longevity What it’s like to work for Amazon http://t.co/7Nw93JDqz0 — The New York Times (@nytimes) August 19, 2015 Replace Just 2 Words in the Times Amazon Article and Something Amazing Happens @TKspeakshttp://t.co/bk3Y7ZCLCE — Inc. (@Inc) August 21, 2015 The topic of culture has […]
Economic Moat
Industry Study: Nanotechnology
Note 1: This is an update of an article that I wrote on a whim in December 2006, while I was on a break from business school at NYU Stern. It was published without update at Tekedia in July, 2011. The announcement by IBM about its new 7nm chip prompted me to dig it up […]
Notes on Strategy; For Early Stage Technology Startups
Alternate Title: What Can 24’s Jack Bauer Teach a Tech Startup Founder About Strategy? Running a business without a strategy is like breathing air without oxygen. The purpose of this blog post is to attempt to synthesize certain fundamental lessons on strategy that are relevant for anyone trying to build a business. 1Let me know […]
Case Study: Fab – How Did That Happen?
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 […]
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. 1Any errors in appropriately citing my sources are entirely mine. Let me know what you object to, and how I might fix the […]
Question Everything; My Remarks At FOCUS100 2014
Background: I gave these remarks at Digital Undivided’s FOCUS100 2014 Conference which was held between October 3rd and October 4th in New York City. A number of investors were invited to explain to the audience how they ought to pitch venture capitalists in order to win funding. Digital Undivided is a social enterprise that develops programs […]