Charity 2012
Well, for the fourth year in the row, I am going to share our year end charitable donations, as well as some of the reasoning behind them. I know that this is often viewed as "nobody's business"... my...
View ArticleWhen Failure Isn't OK
Part of approaching startups as experiments is that there is the potential for failure.It's become a meme: fail early, fail often, write a failure resume.I'm OK with failure, unless it's a failure of...
View ArticleRecent reads and some ramblings thereon
Just finishing up Little Bets by Peter Sims. An easy to read, up to date summary of thinking on the creative side of innovation, and one that would go well with "Where Good Ideas Come From," "Medici...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Going Out with Van Gogh
"I long so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things require effort- and disappointment and perseverance." Vincent Van GoghAbout a month ago, Annie and I went to the Becoming Van Gogh...
View ArticleRead Ross (on Redesigning Demo Day)
Nice post by Ross Baird of Village Capital about keeping the focus of new ventures on customers. Excerpt: " In some ways, the “demo day” approach is counter-productive: entrepreneurs begin serving two...
View ArticleLBO: Liquidity, Legacy, Exit 2.X
It's a thorny issue. An entrepreneurial team builds a company with a great products, an iconic brand and strong vision, values and mission. In the process of doing so, they create value. Lots of it....
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Is What Disruption Looks Like, Part III
This is cool: Y Combinator just funded its first non-profit, Watsi.This is cooler: Paul Graham says "I've never been so excited about anything we've funded."The startup world just shifted a bit.This is...
View ArticleHow to mentor someone
To mentor someone and help them achieve something worthy:1) Understand who they are, and what makes them itch2) Support them to unreasonable lengths3) Challenge them to demonstrate what they really can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Will "College Town" Mean in 2025?
Fort Collins is proud of its recent ranking as a top "college town." Recently, I have been wondering what a "college town" will look like in 2025, so the article in our local paper provoked this short...
View ArticleKickstarter and Long Shadows
I have mentioned in the past the "long shadow" that funding decisions cast into the future of a startup. These decisions often set an irrevocable path for startups, one that new founders often don't...
View ArticleSalvation Through Redemption?
What follows below is an ill formed idea. It has been sitting in my brain for a while, and doesn't seem to be getting any better with age (some ideas do). So it is time to throw it out there and see...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gifted.
This post was spurred by an article about my son, Peter, who has been high lining for seven years. But these feelings can be triggered by watching anyone who does something amazing. Where you pause and...
View ArticleBillions Saved (not "touched")
The field I work in is obsessed with impact. How will an organization make a measurable difference on a problem that matters? Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to silly math. Claims of "lives...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Picture (of) a Startup
I have been using this diagram recently, since I think it captures the ideal of a startup visually. The original idea came from Damien Newman, who used it to illustrate the messiness of the creative...
View ArticleWeeding Out?
There was a great story on NPR yesterday about how Harvey Mudd College is addressing the gender gap in Computer Science. I'd nominate their skateboarding president, Maria Klawe, as an educational...
View ArticleUnreasonable Perpetuation
Enjoying the Unreasonable Institute events this week. Yesterday, Ross Baird of Village Capital and I did a session for impact investors on their role (or shall we say obligation?) to perpetuate...
View ArticleunManifesto on Mattering
My bleeps know I am not big on manifestos.* But after a few days hanging out at the intersection** of meaning and money (aka #SOCAP13) and hearing quite a bit about impact investing and social...
View ArticleReading, Fighting and 'rithmetic... RCT battles
I don't often find myself on the same side of an issue as Jeffrey Sachs, but he has taken on the randomistas, and their use of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in development. As my bleeps know, I...
View ArticleGo here...
to see a post from Andy Hargadon and me about designing businesses to have a higher purpose. Our title for the post was "Eight Design Goals for Going Beyond Sustainability," but I liked their title...
View ArticleEntering the Entrepocene
I am still blogging, but over here. I will still post on occasion as BOPreneur; but mostly, I am excited to be working with Andy on something new (yet which definitely builds on this blog). I invite...
View ArticleCharity 2013
For the fifth year in a row, I am posting some information about our family's charitable giving. This is a time of year when we are focused on giving to others. A time when we spend time with, and give...
View ArticleWho Gets What When You Give?
This post may be a bit of a downer for some of my bleeps. It mixes economics and altruism. It raises questions about human nature. You've been warned. If you don't want to leave the happy bubble of...
View ArticleHow To Be Successful in Life and Business
Get Lean. Lean In. Be disruptive. Move from Good to Great.There is much written and spoken about success. As a business. As a person. As a country.Humans like a guiding star, and they take comfort in...
View ArticleA New Geography of Hope?
The following is derived from an introduction I gave for Marjorie Kelly, who was a keynote speaker and guest at the annual convening of the Intermountain West Funders Network (IMWFN) this spring....
View Article'Tis the Season: Charity 2016
Happy holidays, bleeps-Yes, it's been a while since I have posted on our charitable giving. That's not because we haven't been continuing to give. But, as you have noticed, I'm not blogging as much...
View Article
