The Official Curriculum for Your Degree in Startups
If you’re like me, and you did not end up going to a college like Babson to learn how to be an entrepreneur, you basically winged it to get to where you are. Along the way, you probably learned how to become an entrepreneur through reading an interesting blog post, watching an inspiring video, or listening to a though-provoking podcast. I decided to create my own list of useful articles, videos, podcasts and books that I think are essential to starting your first Web startup on the right foot. I will arrogantly title this post The Official Curriculum for a Degree in Startups. No tuition fees required.
Is That New Feature a Deal Breaker, Deal Maker, Or No Big Deal?
Recently I’ve been working on reporting tools for The Resumator. I’ve learned non-profits that receive government funds above a certain amount must collect voluntary sex, race and disability data from applicants, and report this to the government. This told me that collecting equal employment opportunity (EEO) data would basically be a deal maker or deal breaker for many .orgs looking for an resume management system. Five months later, it’s just now about to be released. There’s a lesson here.
A Crystal Ball and a Time Machine
Late yesterday evening I completed my financial projections for today’s noon meeting with potential investor [REDACTED]. It took me a long time to learn to appreciate the importance of financial projections because in my first month I had paying customers and what looked to be a potential hit on my hands. If there’s three things an entrepreneur wants, it’s revenue right now, a crystal ball to see the future, and a time machine to change the past.
The Lonely World of the First Blog Post
So here I am about to write the first of hopefully many blog posts, and I bet I am thinking what every first-time blogger probably thinks—not many people are ever going to read this post.
2 comments