Focus

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on.  But that’s not what it means at all.  It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.  I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done.  Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1,000 things.”

- Steve Jobs


(source: Bryce)




"The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem without growing weary." 

- Thomas Edison

There is no undo button...

Steve Blank delivered the commencement address at Philadelphia University yesterday.  You can probably read it in 5 minutes or less, but it's a powerful message.  You might want to share it with some of your up-and-coming entrepreneur friends.  Read it here.


Here's how it ends:

Be forever curious.
Volunteer for everything.
Show up a lot.
Treat failure as a learning experience.

Live life with no regrets.
Remembering…There is no undo button.

Bubble?

 Nothing great has ever been built 

without irrational exuberance.

Tom Evslin

Logo design from 99designs.com

In an experiment in delegation, via crowd-sourcing, I checked out 99designs.com to come up with 3 different versions of a logo: for business cards, Pocket Guide, and web.  I wanted something that would work on a personal and business level, both aviation and angel investing interests.  This is the winning entry (web version) out of the 99 that were submitted.  Feedback appreciated...

The process at 99designs.com went smoothly enough.  You might want to try it for some of your design needs.

Double M Investments, Inc.

Software Startups

What Angel Investors Look for in a Startup

Bill Payne is a highly experienced angel investor, and a fellow member of Tech Coast Angels.  If you are going to be looking for angel funding for your startup, you'll learn a lot from his very clear and succinct article on the subject:

WHAT DO ANGELS LOOK FOR IN NEW INVESTMENTS?

Angel-Fundable Startup Companies

http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/angel-fundable_startup_companies/22578/

Service or Product?

For an interesting discussion on the relative merits of a product vs. service business, check out Mark Suster's post here.  Try to get past the demeaning and inappropriate headline, and the typos, and look for the reality.

Words of Wisdom from Warren

I am not good at tech matters but I have got a lot of people who are. I don’t have to be smart about everything; I didn’t deliver my wife’s baby! So, I believe in using people who are smarter than I am and it is not very hard to find the number that are and certainly in the tech field. I just don’t have that ability but I am reasonably good at spotting the people who do have that ability. We get the best people, and when you get the best people and you let them go, you get the best result.

Warren Buffet

(source)