Forbes Column 08: Stimulus Package For Entrepreneurs

My Forbes column Stimulus Package For Entrepreneurs deals with the topic of Tax Policy with very specific recommendations. Let’s discuss.

Forbes Column 08: Bootstrap Yourself

My new Forbes column Bootstrap Yourself highlights Silicon Valley’s hottest new trend, Bootstrapping. Great bootstrapping case studies I have covered are Sridhar Vembu, Frank Levinson and Jerry Rawls, Cree Lawson, and Beatrice Tarka. Sridhar, Frank and Jerry did it almost without any outside money, while Cree and Beatrice have done it with very small rounds

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The Real VCs of Silicon Valley?

Venturebeat reports that Foundation Capital has raised a $750 Million new fund. The firm’s last fund was $525 million, closed two years ago. Goes back to my question: Who are the real VCs of Silicon Valley? How can you practice true venture capital if you have to put so much money to work?

Vertical Travel Ad Network CEO Cree Lawson (Part 7)

SM: How did you finance the different phases of the company? CL: In late 2005 and early 2006 we signed on two publishers that, together, quadrupled the size of our audience. We grew the company to the maximum extent possible with all the profits we’d accumulated. A few months later, one of those publishers left

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Building Tech Startups in India: Observations (Contd)

· Mentors Entrepreneurs, especially first-timers, gain much from having access to experienced executives and academic experts either as informal advisors or as members of a formal board. Entrepreneurs I have talked to have either 1) tapped into US/Silicon Valley entrepreneur networks they were previously part of, 2) leveraged their connections with previous companies, universities and

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Building Tech Startups in India: Observations

In my conversations, I focused on the interaction between entrepreneurs and the external environment. i.e., primarily around the activities of reaching customers, hiring employees, seeking advice and raising funds. Accordingly, the key issues center on the following four factors: Market Money Mentors Manpower

Building Tech Startups in India: Introduction

By Aparna Chennapragada, Guest Author There is near-unanimous agreement on the ‘India story’ (at least in direction, even if there is disagreement in magnitude). Given the role of high-tech entrepreneurship in wealth and job creation, it is not surprising that there is growing interest in entrepreneurship and technology innovation in India.

Re-engineering the Book Business: Blurb CEO, Eileen Gittins (Part 5)

SM: How did you penetrate the market and get early traction? EG: Word of mouth driven by a great and viral product and turbo charged with amazing PR. SM: What stage are you at now? Revenue? Profitability? Traffic? Titles? Any other metrics you track? EG: Blurb expects turnover between $5-10MM in 2007, its first full

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