Likes & Launch: Archive

Oct 31, 2010

Oct 27, 2010

“The company was on the brink of doom when Y Combinator accepted it for its three-month program in spring 2009, mostly because Paul Graham was “looking for people who wouldn’t die. He said ‘You guys won’t die, you’re like cockroaches.’” By the end of Y Combinator, AirBnB was profitable.”—My 9 Favorite Startup Lessons From Startup School: Tech News «

Oct 19, 20106 notes

“Sure, things like passion, creativity, self-confidence and coordination skills are helpful, but those just scratch the surface. If you’re an emerging entrepreneur looking to succeed faster, just ask yourself the following questions…”—

8 critical questions for emerging entrepreneurs | VentureBeat

Great comments too: “Do you have the intestinal fortitude to ride the emotional waves associated with running your business.”

Oct 19, 20102 notes

“Shields said that Facebook’s users spend 700 billion minutes a month sharing 30 billion pieces of content. ‘That’s real people: it’s not about avatars or made-up names.’ … 'The most important word in the internet world today is not search: it’s share… I believe the people are the message.’”—Joanna Shields: Engaging Audiences through Social Media

Oct 19, 2010

Oct 15, 20101 note

“Ideas abound inside Pandora’s Oakland-based headquarters, so one of the company’s biggest challenges isn’t driving innovation, but rather massaging the team’s feverish ingenuity into a controlled, business-supported process. “We’re lucky in that we have a team of product designers and engineers who are restless. They’re never lacking for ideas to improve or expand Pandora. I would say our challenge is more around managing the pace of innovation while tending to the needs of the business in the near term,” explains Westergren.”—6 Tips on Starting a Digital Business from the Founder of Pandora

Oct 15, 20101 note

Oct 13, 20102,698 notes

#entrepreneurship

“Pain may last a minute, a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”— Lance Armstrong

Oct 13, 20101 note

#Lance Armstrong #Pain

HUGE thanks to @TechZulu for having me on the show!

Oct 11, 20104 notes

“Efficiency is overrated. Don’t worry about trying to live the most efficient life or become the most optimal human. Instead, embrace life as a meaningful adventure. Pursue adventure and passion instead of efficiency.”—

The Art of Non-Conformity » The Agenda, Part IV: Efficiency Is Overrated (via heyamberrae)

Fun > efficiency. But sometimes learning to be a little more efficient frees up more time for fun. I really need to read this book - the amazing Brianne Burrowes of http://iwantherjob.com recommended it earlier to me earlier this week.

Oct 9, 201019 notes

#inspiration #entrepreneurship

Oct 9, 2010101 notes

“There is good evidence that you have to be crazy to do a startup. Jeff Stibel, writing in the Harvard Business Review, calls entrepreneurship a disease. Because you are not likely to make money – you are likely to die broke. And you work insane hours – longer than any other job – and you do it over and over and over again. This is not sane. In fact, David Segal reports in the New York Times that there is a mania that entrepreneurs exhibit that is very attractive to investors. The trick is to make sure you’re investing in someone who is on the border of insane, but not insane.”—

Women Don’t Want To Run Startups Because They’d Rather Have Children

I don’t completely agree with the conclusions drawn in this article but I liked reading Penelope’s experience. I think you have to make sacrifices when working at a startup- what you give up changes with different stages of your life. It seems that starting when you have little lose is easier - that could be when you’re young or when your kids are old enough they don’t need 8+ hours of your time.

Oct 9, 20103 notes

Oct 7, 20102 notes

“Also at TEDxChange was Mechai Viravaidya, a former senator in Thailand known as Mr. Condom. He shared his unusual tactics to teach Thai people about family planning and H.I.V. and AIDS prevention, including asking police officers to dole out condoms, organizing condom-inflating competitions and selling condoms and caffeine at a Coffee & Condom stall. Efforts like these helped new H.I.V. and AIDS infections in Thailand decline by 90 percent between 1991 and 2003, he said, saving millions of lives.”—A Conference Makes Learning Free (and Sexy) - NYTimes.com article about TEDx

Oct 5, 2010

#NYTimes #TEDx

“Focus on what really matters: making users happy with your product as quickly as you can, and helping them as much as you can after that. If you do those better than anyone else out there you’ll win”—

Marc Hedlund on why Wesabe lost to Mint (via alexismichelle)

Great article!

Oct 3, 20107 notes