Pull Back the Slingshot

When you shoot a rock with a slingshot, you create kinetic energy that propels the rock forward. By pulling the slingshot’s rubber band back further, you can generate more energy, which creates a longer trajectory for the rock’s flight. The same laws of physics can apply to everyday…

Building Blocks of Confidence

The most successful startups and individuals are still filled with failures along the way. As a founder…

The Venture Capital Roadmap

Funding rounds mean more than just the alphabet. For each round, your startup should be at a specific stage of…

Hey Mike, I want to start an incubator!

Hey Mike, I want to start an incubator!

Rarely has the person saying it actually thought it through. Running an incubator can be super rewarding and fascinating, but it can also be incredibly challenging and isn’t right for everyone.

X MARKS THE SPOT

When you’re bright eyed in the early days, the belief that your startup will be good at everything can be tempting. However, when…

Storyline

Almost every founder dreams of a New York Times feature. However, you have to build your company’s narrative up to that moment when you are suddenly New York Times-worthy. Figure out what your dream headline would be, and work backward to figure out what stories you need along the way to make it happen. Mark…

Primal Instincts

For a company to be successful, the concept or product needs to appeal to consumers on a minimum of three primal desires: pride…

Short Sighted, Short Lived

When you’re first starting up a company, you’re often in day-to-day survival mode. You’re thinking through the…

DNA Drives Everything

The DNA of a company sets it up for success or failure years in advance. Bad DNA can leave you open to competitive…

Loud Differentiation

Startups that differentiate from their competitors still die every day. Nuanced
differences aren’t enough to stand out —…