March 2008 - Posts

New Bike!

I haven't posted much about my enjoyment of motorcycles, but yesterday I took the next step in my ongoing series of motorcycle experiences.

My new bike is a 2005 Suzuki DL1000 otherwise known at the V-strom. I'm looking forward to getting to know it a lot better. The previous owner put a lot of aftermarket farkles on it including heated grips (incredibility useful as it was 40F on the way home) and a custom seat which seems great so far.

For the last few years I've been riding this 1998 Ducati ST2, which has been a wonderful bike, but as I get older the position gets more uncomfortable the longer I go. And lets just say it is a tad expensive to maintain.

Back in the day I rode one of these to and from work. Things have sure changed.

 

Posted by iclemartin | 1 comment(s)
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12 Learnings From My First Turn As Startup CEO

Jason Goldberg has a great post on some of the things he learned while CEO of Jobster.com.

  1. The CEO's job is to create value.
  2. Try to ride some powerful existing waves vs. just creating new waves.
  3. Technology companies are all about the product.
  4. Related to #3, the rapid iteration model (ship early, learn from usage, adjust) works well for consumer services but works not as well for B2B services.
  5. Hire people who are passionate about the specific problems you are trying to solve.
  6. You must get close to your users and customers and live their personas.
  7. The value of your company is directly related to your capital efficiency.
  8. In the early days, I highly recommend that you force your startup to be resource constrained.
  9. Don't listen to outsiders who tell you to go faster and ramp sales and marketing.
  10. Avoid field sales in favor of telesales.
  11. Once you are in the market and have established some measurable and repeatable levels of success, #11 negates #8 on this list.
  12. Have fun.

 

Ten Reasons High-Tech Companies Fail

Planning on starting your own company? Here are some good points to consider from High Tech Strategies - Ten Reasons High-Tech Companies Fail
  • Lack of Market Focus
  • Excessive Pace of Product Improvement
  • Incomplete Products
  • Undifferentiated Products
  • Channel Mismanagement
  • Failure to Establish the Right Competitive Barriers
  • Using Price Alone To Drive Market Transformation
  • Improper Use of Advertising
  • Misinterpretation of the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Model
  • Irrelevant Market Research
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