Showing posts with label startups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label startups. Show all posts

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Going Corporate, Going Startup

Medium (TV series)
Medium (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


This Medium post has been a social media viral hit the past few days.

How quitting my corporate job for my startup dream f*cked my life up



Why was this post a big hit?

It is well written. The title is catchy. Many more people do startups these days than was true before the 2008 recession. The title speaks to fears many people have. Most people avoid going into the startup grind because deep down they know it is going to f*ck up things.

The post has great introductory paragraphs. The writer seems to be a classic success story. He got a great education, then landed a great job. He was flying business class.

Then he pinches you the reality. It was not all that great. He was mostly staring at spreadsheets, all night long, all flight long. A lot of people relate to that.

They say that about marriage. People who are out, want in. People who are in, want out. People who are married think singles are having more fun. Singles think married people are having more fun.

A great, catchy title with great first few paragraphs can create a social media hit.

But even after that, the post is pretty good. It gives you a pretty good idea of what a sinkhole a startup can be.

One element though is missing. He is not talking about his idea. You don't create a successful startup just because you quit a great job. It is about your idea, and your execution.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Fred Wilson: A DJ

Image of Fred Wilson from TwitterImage of Fred Wilson
Yesterday I called Fred Wilson a DJ. (Fred Wilson: DJ) Today my suspicions have been further confirmed. His blog post today is Nice Analogy. This dude who is the most visible venture capitalist in New York City, and perhaps the most loved VC among all the local entrepreneurs he has never invested in and likely never will since he can only invest in so many per year, this guy is a serious music fanatic.

Shane Snow: Tech StartUps Vs Rock Bands "....I started 3 different bands in college. In each one, we dreamed of making it big, landing a record deal, and having hot Japanese chicks scream our song lyrics at us when we toured Asia.....and having geeky Rails programmers whisper as I pass them in the hall at NerdCon...."
Fred Wilson: Nice Analogy
Harry DeMott: More On The Middle Class
The VC And The Music Industry: Not As Different As You Might Imagine
New York Times: Ticketmaster Joins Live Nation, And An Industry Quakes "....bands are making the bulk of their income from concerts....Alliances shift, backs are stabbed and most people have at least three agendas, only one of which they will discuss candidly....“When the Internet came about the artist realized, well hang on, you can’t steal a ticket for a seat, so we started to lean more toward, I don’t really want a record deal, I want to be aligned with somebody who can help me sell tickets. But then I want a company that can use that music and that seat to get ancillary revenues” — from things like food, beverages and sponsorships — “to help me survive.”" ...... “The ticket was underpriced 40 years ago” ...... Azoff was part of the defiant counterculture but was fluent in the language of contracts and comfortable mixing it up in corporate suites. He also had great intuition about how to psychologically size up both foes and friends, and he could sweet-talk and charm as convincingly as he could erupt in rage..... For years, neither promoter nor ticketer has considered fans as the first priority.....


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