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Fast Follower III – First Mover Disadvantage
This is part III of a three part series. Click here for Part I and Part II John Fitch was first. He spent the majority of his adult life fruitlessly attempting to capitalize on the novelty and...
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Pour And Stir I – In Pursuit Of The Ideal Business Model
Note: This is Part I in a three-part series on The Perfect Business Model. Click here for Part II, and Part III Authentic, hand-crafted Persian rugs always include intentional imperfections. They are...
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Past Is Prologue As New Industries Emerge: It Ain’t Gonna Be Different
In 1933, baseball card collectors were frustrated. For some reason, they found it impossible to complete their Goudy Gum 240-card set. No matter how many packages of cards they purchased, they failed...
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De-risk Your Startup By Doing It Again: The Joy Of Getting The Band Back...
In 1980, following the breakup of the American band The Eagles, Don Henley was asked when the group would reunite. His response, “When hell freezes over.” Surprisingly, hell froze over 14-years later,...
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UnVenture Capitalists: Seek Investors Aligned With Your Interests, Not Their...
In the early 1970s, the Seven-Up Company devised an ingenious plan to market its flagship soda. The campaign was so successful it eventually catapulted 7-Up’s sales to rival that of both Coke and...
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Balance Minimal Product Viability With Maximum Utility: Maximize Your...
With a few exceptions at the end of their career, the Beatles did not include songs that had previously been released as a single on their UK albums. According to George Martin, The Beatles’ Producer,...
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How To Make Freemium Customers Generate Revenue For Your Startup
In the summer of 1999, Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting, acquired by Citrix) released a free service called BuddyHelp. In the spirit of the “land grab” mentality of the day, we...
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Lunch With Mark Suster
I recently had lunch with Mark Suster, General Partner at GRP Partners, blogger extraordinaire and overall cool dude. I am writing this entry at 4:00 AM. Mark’s kindness and insights moved me to roll...
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Startups Are A Remix
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to...
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When Hiring Entrepreneurs, Ignore Their Resumes
Note: This is the third installment in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part I HERE and Part II HERE. When hiring ATM Operators at a Big Dumb Company (BDC), assessing each candidate’s ability to...
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This Startup Airline Lets You Fly Everyday / Any Day – For A Flat Fee
As noted in Success, Santa Barbara Style, my definition of success includes living where you want to live and making money doing what you love. For many entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara, achieving such...
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This Woman Saved Clorox When It Was A Fledgling Startup
A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. In 1913, five business people founded America’s first liquid bleach factory. The group raised $75,000 ($2 million, inflation adjusted), with the...
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This Immigrant Entrepreneur Launched Her Billion Dollar Empire, Despite...
A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. In 1904, eighteen year old Ida Rosenthal immigrated to the US, speaking only her native Russian. Shortly after arriving in New York City, her...
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From Farmers’ Market Side Hustle To Over 800 Stores – How Did Kelley D’Angelo...
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. I met Kelley D’Angelo, Founder and CEO of Lark Ellen Farm when she gave a compelling pitch at an investment meeting of the Santa Barbara Angel...
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