Per Aspera Ad Astra

“Per Aspera Ad Astra” is what a very dear friend wrote on a whiteboard the night of the launch party for my first startup. It translates to “Through hardships to the stars.”

“Per Aspera Ad Astra is the entrepreneur’s motto”

The Litmus Test Question

Ask any entrepreneur who is currently fundraising, how much money he needs and he will give you a number. Ask him what he will spend the money on, and most of them will give you a decent answer. In case he can’t answer this initial question — game over.

Monkeys on Your Shoulder

I’ve got the following from Are Traasdahl, CEO of Tapad:

When you’re a manager and you have a lot of people working for you, they’re often coming to your office with problems. They have a monkey on their shoulder. Your only goal as a manager is that when they…

Don’t Drink Your Own Kool-Aid

Steve Jobs’ fabled “Reality Distortion Field” describes his ability to lure people into a vision for the future which he painted — and made those around him believe.

Creating and vividly describing a future state is something entrepreneurs do…

Hacking Intros

The other day someone asked me if I could give them the email address of another person I am connected to. Not an intro — just the email address.

I don’t think this is a great request — first of all: I am not an address book. ;) Secondly: It’s weird for my contact to receive…