Giving VCs a Winning Pitch

All VCs like to give advice (all different), but in this article Allen Morgan with Mayfield delivers a sound list of points entrepreneurs should follow when presenting to VCs...

1. Target Your Pitch
2. Be On Time -- or Better Yet, Be Early
3. Tease, Don't Overwhelm
4. Know Your Audience
5. Get to the Point -- Fast!
6. Pour New Wine in Old Bottles
7. Limit Yourself to the Baker's Dozen
8. Know What You Don't Know -- and Admit It
9. Be Like Goldilocks
10. Control the Meeting

Inventor Creates Device To Dispense a Fast Draft

The oportunity for innovation never ceases to amaze me. There is always room for improvement. The trick is determining how much improvement is $worth$.

Inventor Creates Device To Dispense a Fast Draft
By JONATHAN EIG and BRYAN GRULEY Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal.

Selling for Survival

Forget the used-car-dealer image. The ability to show people that your product helps them succeed is a basic skill crucial to any venture
By Vivek Wadhwa (from BusinessWeek.com)

This article is a great reminder that EVERYONE working for a startup company is in "SALES."

Good Managers Focus on Employees' Strengths, Not Weaknesses

Good article - sections highlighed below ...
(From Knowledge @ Wharton)

determine what employees are good at

"I do think there is a rather keen and distinct difference between managing and leading," Buckingham said. The chief responsibility of a leader, for example, "is to rally people for a better future. If you are a leader, you better be unflinchingly, unfailingly optimistic. No matter how bleak his or her mood, nothing can undermine a leader's belief that things can get better, and must get better. I believe you either bring this to the table or you don't."

"If you are going to lead, you better have a deep-seated belief that you should be at the helm, dragging everyone into that better future," he said. "Virtually nothing about a leader is humble. I'm not saying they are arrogant, but their claims are big."

"The best way to turn anxiety into confidence is this: Be clear. Clarity is the antidote to anxiety. If you do nothing else as a leader, be clear."

Published: June 29, 2005

HBS: Readers Respond: How Can Business Schools Be Made More Relevant?

Woman tattoos Web address on forehead

Common sense comes in a variety of shapes and sizes ...

Woman tattoos Web address on forehead