Peer Cruelty

Also from Taleb’s Black Swan is this discourse on peer-cruelty, something entrepreneurs and innovators working on long term projects with big goals would resonate with. “You work on a project that does not deliver immediate or steady results; all the while, people around you work on projects that do. You are in trouble. Such is

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Early Stage

Brad Feld has a good post here on entrepreneurship and early stage venture capital. It is actually an email from one of his readers.

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.

Lessons for CleanTech Entrepreneurs: Raychem CEO Paul Cook (Part 12)

SM: Do you wish Raychem was around as an independent company today? PC: Yes, yes I do. SM: Why did you make the choices you did regarding Raychem? PC: I made the decision to retire at 66 because I believe the CEO has to be young and vigorous. When I retired I decided the best

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Lessons for CleanTech Entrepreneurs: Raychem CEO Paul Cook (Part 11)

SM: When it comes to selling, what kinds of customers do you look to sell to? PC: In our business it was all industrial customers, we didn’t have any consumer products. SM: When you are looking at a customer’s problem and finding solutions, you are essentially selling concepts. You don’t always have the product ready

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Lessons for CleanTech Entrepreneurs: Raychem CEO Paul Cook (Part 10)

SM: We talked about the organization, pricing strategy and how to scope out the technology and market. Anything else? PC: The other principle I think is critical is to hire outstanding people. That is the absolute key; those are the people who are going to make it. You have to spend time recruiting the best

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Lessons for CleanTech Entrepreneurs: Raychem CEO Paul Cook (Part 9)

SM: The core research remains with the central development team? PC: The basic technology is being developed by a research group which is trying to solve problems for the divisions. The divisions in turn focus on solving the customer’s problem. The sales problem is typical sales except you have to learn what the customer’s problems

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Online Auto & Web 3.0 (Part 5)

M&A and VC activity In June 2007, Chicago based Cars.com added women’s automotive site Mother Proof to its network of car sites. The Cobalt Group has acquired has acquired Cowboy Corp., AutoTown and Dealix in the past few years. Autobytel Inc. has acquired a number of companies over the years. In August 2001, it acquired

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