Today was the first warmish day in some time. Warm enough at least to get outside with the kids and take them to the playground. My son loves throwing rocks on the slides. This time, about 15 minutes after we arrived, some older boys (probably around 10 years old) came…

A recent lunch revealed that while we should never stop seeking advice there comes a time when we are asked to give it. It also revealed that I had transitioned to the old-guy in these conversations. — A little over a year ago I was asked to lunch by a talented, young entrepreneur. The topic of the meeting was unknown to me but I’m always up for grabbing a bite and sharing thoughts with like-minded people. Maybe he wanted to knock-around some ideas, or ask if I’d…

This post is the third in a series titled Angel Investing & Modern Portfolio Theory Consideration — In my last two posts of this series Angel Investing & Modern Portfolio Theory Considerations I explored the concepts of diversification and asset allocation as they related to the overall risk of investing in seed stage startups. In those explorations I tried to answer questions like How many startups should…

Profitable innovation is born at that brief moment where an ecosystem suddenly became capable of something that was possible before. — As technologies and cultures progress, it’s important to understand what stage of that progression our solutions exist. Profitable innovation is born at that brief moment where an ecosystem suddenly became capable of something that was possible before. Technology Makes Our Lives Better

In 2009, I hung up my cuff links and fake Rolex and decided to leave the world of financial advising. Prior to my time in wealth management, I was an entrepreneur, and I wanted to get back to those roots. At 30 years old with a nine-month old son, I…

I have a unique seat in the world of startups. I’ve been both a founder, investor and a portfolio manager. I’ve had failures and success. Here is a bit about my journey, followed by the biggest piece of advice I have for new founders. In 2010 I built a web…

Where Does Progress Come From? — In Kevin Kelly’s book, What Technology Wants he puzzles over why it wasn’t until the 18th century that scientific progression began gaining momentum… [T]here is a puzzle. The necessary ingredients of the scientific method are conceptual and fairly low tech: a way to record, catalog, and communicate written evidence and…

A friend once told me that a company is simply a conversation. More specifically I think he meant that a company is made up and guided by the conversations that take place within it. As a company evolves, it’s important that its conversations do as well. What Is The Hack? When founders launch the…

Most of the talk nowadays is about growth hacking and inbound marketing. I get it. They’re sexy; but let’s not forget about good old fashion sales. The truth is that we are all selling something. As founders we are selling our vision to recruits, investors, and partners. As investors, we…