secrets

"If you have to choose between intelligence and experience, choose intelligence."

--Rich Redelfs, General Partner, Foundation Capital

The majority of the time, when I ask people for Startup Secrets, I get advice about hiring. Which makes good sense. Companies are made from people, after all. How you staff makes more of a difference to your company than anything else.

But this advice from Rich Redelfs I found unique, because it raises a really big question: How do you tell the difference between experience and smarts?

Rich says, "Experience is easier to see than intelligence." Experience can … Read more

"Stay in a small town."

--Tobias Dengel, CEO, WillowTree Apps

Tobias Dengel is CEO of WillowTree Apps, a development company in Charlottesville, Va. About 30 people at WillowTree build apps for various clients, some of which you've heard of. His company is working on The Verge's mobile app, for example. He also has his own new app, Likes!, which I'll cover soon, separately.

Uncommonly for an app developer, Tobias doesn't outsource or contract, and his developers work from the WillowTree office, not their homes. "We won't hire anyone who doesn't work … Read more

"Do it because you can't do anything else."

--Me

I've made a minor career of studying entrepreneurs. Among them, there's an especially interesting subset: The serial entrepreneur.

Being a serial entrepreneur who's successful at more than one company is not the American Dream. In the standard-issue American fantasy, the one that politicians and banks promote, you start one company, and if it doesn't work out, you do it again. Until you hit on a winner. And then you cash out, buy a lake-front house and a fishing boat, and retire. The dream is … Read more

"It's how you know, not just who."

--Nick Hughes, CEO, Seconds

Nick just launched Seconds, an SMS gateway for small businesses. I think it's brilliant. So I asked him for a Secret, and he gave me this one.

No matter how good your technology or product, Nick says, other people will be critical to your success. It is vital to continually develop your network. "You must reach out, look them in the eye, shake their hand, smile and ask what you can do for them because you never know if five years down the line … Read more

"Innovation doesn't come from a committee."

--Roger Cheng, Senior Writer, CNET News

Why did it take RIM so long to dump its ridiculous Pushmi-pullyu CEO management structure? Because two people can't act as quickly as one. Especially when what they need to act on is their own job performance.

RIM was set up with a built-in committee at the top of its organization. It looked like a bad idea from the outside, and the dual CEOs didn't overcome that perception through job performance. Theoretically, they could have, and they would have rewritten management theory … Read more

"You have a finite amount of crap in you. You just have to put it out there."

--Roman Mars, Producer, 99% Invisible

When you're starting a new project, chances are you won't get it right at the start. Roman, who produces the awesome 99% Invisible podcast and radio segment about design (you must subscribe to it now if you haven't already), was talking to me about starting his career in audio programs. The first shows he did were pretty bad. He was told to expect that and to keep pushing, because you can't get … Read more

"Have a bias for action."

--Lars Leckie, Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Stop reading this blog. Stop asking people for advice. Just do something. That's the advice from the venture side of the house today.

Lars says, "Seeking advice, as a founder, is the opposite of action."

It is important to be smart about what you do, obviously. But you can over-think yourself to death (analysis paralysis), especially if you're working in a nascent field or building an invention-based product. In many of the fields that startups graze in, there's simply not enough … Read more

"It's harder than you think."

--Multiple sources

At one of the CES events last week, I asked Vladimir Tetelbaum of Swivl for a Startup Secret. "It's harder than you think," he said, about launching a company. "But it's also a lot more fun."

OK, good tip. I was hoping for something a bit more specific, but I can dig it.

Later that evening, I found myself talking with Matt Rogers, the founder of Nest. Got any good secrets? I asked. "Yeah," he said to me, with a sidelong glance. &… Read more

With sites like Reddit, BoingBoing, PostSecret, and I Can Has Cheezburger blacked out today in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, you might think this would be a peaceful, relaxed Wednesday for the people who run them. You'd be wrong.

All across the Internet, sites like those and many others stood up to register their opposition to SOPA and PIPA. But for some of those who have gotten the most attention for their activism, today has actually been crazier than usual, despite not having to constantly update their publications all day.

"Today … Read more