Join Nerdz4Hillary.com To Defeat The Dark Side (aka Donald Trump) Like many geeks and entrepreneurs in the valley, I’m not the most political of creatures. Like many of my friends, I identify as an independent, social progressive / fiscal conservative that mostly votes Democratic, but usually I feel like we…

There’s a Bubble… but it Ain’t in Tech — Abstract: the press have been whining “there’s another bubble in tech!” for years but it hasn’t happened (yet)… meanwhile VC-funded startups continue to raise capital, drive innovation, and disrupt incumbents. While some claim the recent downturn in unicorn financings and valuations is proof they were right (finally!) they couldn’t be…

Don’t Go Big or Go Home. Go Small at first, then Iterate, Dominate, & WIN. Abstract: Startups are more likely to find product/market fit by narrowing their target demographic, understanding customer needs/benefit better, and building more focused & differentiated products along with more specific marketing messages that are better tuned…

(this post was originally published on svbtle.com on July 7, 2012) most of the time I think of myself as a failure. when I’m optimistic, I think maybe I’m just a late bloomer. I know a lot of folks won’t understand this perspective, but when I was growing up I…

Failure isn’t the worst thing to happen to you in Silicon Valley. — In fact, failure is a rather warm, safe blanket for most folks around these parts. Unlike most places in the world where public failure could ruin your career, destroy a family, or even bring risk of death from shame… in Silicon Valley, everyone is all too comfortable openly discussing their…

Abstract: Most VC funds are far too concentrated in a small number (<20–40) of companies. The industry would be better served by doubling or tripling the average # of investments in a portfolio, particularly for early-stage investors where startup attrition is even greater. …

Summary: pundits argue billion-dollar startups are overvalued, but few realize why public company valuations might also be too expensive. Traditional P/E ratios of 15–20+ are likely too optimistic, relative to how long the future cash flows and operating margins of big dumb companies can be sustained. …

aka: do you give a Shit + can you get others to give a Shit. as a founder, it’s easy to lose focus on what job(s) we’re supposed to do. sometimes it’s all rainbows & unicorns: designing and building product, marketing and selling, recruiting the team and raising money. other…

not just tactic or strategy… it’s what we’re all about. — photo by Benetton I’m writing this post to explain how 500 Startups thinks about Diversity, why it’s important to our culture, and why we believe it helps deliver better return on investment. …