Date archives "January 2015"

The Week in Review #3

It has been a busy week. I am amazed at the amount of great information that is churned out every single week. Having an index to look back on it all is going to be really useful in the future!

The Illusion of Product/Market Fit for SaaS Companies Brad Feld is another great VC to be following and reading for all entrepreneurs. This post is an interesting break down on the “Product/Market Fit” term.

Investing in the Enterprise in 2015 As an entrepreneur who works in the enterprise software vertical, it is always interesting to read about the latest trends. This post gives a great run down on the different aspect of the enterprise for individuals exploring this vertical.

10,000 Hours with Reid Hoffman: What I Learned Absolutely fantastic read on life lessons learned from Reid Hoffman. As the co-founder of Linkedin and first investor in a multitude of the largest companies in the world, there is something in this essay for everyone.

If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers Falling into the I am too busy trap is far too easy today. This article reveals interesting statistics about elite achievers.

How to Find Fulfilling Work (Video) Great video which talks about 6 simple steps one can take to find fulfilling work.

What Doesn’t Seem Like Work? Following up on the video above YC founder and great writer Paul Graham talks about another strategy one can use in finding fulfilling work.

How much should I raise in my angel round? How should I spend it? Jason Calcanis set the goal of writing a post everyday on his blog everyday. Something that I know a few things about since I did the same on this blog in 2009. He has had some great content so far, the linked article talks about a key decision on how to spend the first round you raise.

Whiplash (Movie) This was a great movie to start the year of with. I had missed it when it first came out. This is an intense move as you can probably tell from the trailer. However it is filled with deep insight and some great take aways. I may do a more indepth review of it in a couple of months.

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Book) Mark Zuckerbergs latest pick for the year is a 850 page compendium on the decline of violence in the world we live in today. Full of research this book has been an interesting but slow read for me this week.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!

The Week in Review #2

Time seems to be moving at an accelerated pace this January. With the year’s planning in full swing, this is looking to be a great year. I have managed to get into a good routine which involves nearly 2 – 3 hours of reading everyday. Have a massive build up of magazines which I subscribe to that I want cleared out. I use Zinio as my magazine reader and can’t recommend it enough. With that here are some of the great reads from this week.

1. The Top 10 ‘Bleeding Edge’ Recruiting Trends to Watch in 2015 The world is changing dramatically and how we both find jobs and hire will change. This article provided some great trends for 2015.

2. The Myth of the Tech Whiz Who Quits College to Start a Company Facebook, Snapchat, Box and a plethora of other tech companies seem to be make it appear that quitting college to start a company may be the right path to take. Research by HBR shows differently.

3. A result. Faster. Charlie is an entrepreneur turned VC whose blog I enjoy reading. His latest article talking about getting stuff done is a great read for anyone looking to boost their productivity and make progress this year.

4. How We Got To Now Chris Dixon is an entrepreneur turned VC whose blog I have being avidly following for years. When he makes a book recommendation it is an instant buy for me. The article was interesting as well since it goes against the common advice that entrepreneurs should create “painkillers not vitamins”.

5. Neil deGrasse Tyson reveals meaning of life to 6-year-old (Video) Fascinating video clip where the age old question about the meaning of life is deconstructed to it’s core. A great 6 minute watch to get the new week started.

6. Here’s the Advice I Give All of Our First Time Founders Great advice from Rob Hayes of First Round Capital on hiring, finding your companies north start and setting yourself up for success.

7. Here’s the Advice I Give All of Our First Time Founders Here is a lighter and fun read on 36 questions that can accelerate the relationship between two people!

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!

The Week in Review #1

Over the last week I have been bookmarking some of the more interesting articles that I came across. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts on a weekly basis on things which are of interest to me.

1. Why are some people so good at persisting? This was by far the best article I read this week. It is about the entrepreneur who invented instant ramen noodles. The article was well written and had a strong message for anyone who is considering taking the dive into entrepreneurship.

2. Looking to Scale Your Sales? Seven Bullets to Dodge Sales is the life blood of almost all businesses. Building and scaling a sales team is a challenging process which takes a lot of experience and time. This article had a lot of great common pitfalls to avoid and what to look for.

3. The enterprise sales guide Great list of resources for companies who and individuals involved with enterprise sales.

4. Cable-Free Elevators Will Soar to New Heights, and Move Sideways I am really excited about the future we are heading towards. In the next 10 – 20 years we are probably going to see massive technology shifts that will change the way we commute, travel, learn and even eat!

5. Experience student life at Minerva The way we are taught in schools today is broken. Our curriculums are out of date and graduates are finding it extremely difficult to adapt and fit into the workplace today. This initiative sounds great and if I were to do my undergraduate education all over again, it would definitely be on the top of my list.

6. How to Persuade Anyone of Anything in Ten Seconds James Altucher is a fantastic author and his blog and twitter feed should definitely be followed. This article was very relevant to entrepreneurs as we are constantly pitching someone.

7. The end of power (Book) Mark Zuckerberg set his new years resolution to read a new book every 2 weeks. He setup the worlds largest book club on facebook. I will be doing my best to keep up, reading the first book at the moment, which has a lot of research on how power dynamics are changing drastically in the world we live in.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!