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We all learn important lessons, and if we are smart we even remember to use them once in a while. For me, one of the best lessons ever is one of the simplest: Gaylen Paulson, who led an excellent class on negotiation at the University of Texas at Austin, gives
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We create frames for every situation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) In business, problems are a fact of life. Entrepreneurs especially are subjected to major challenges on a daily basis, which stems from the fact that running a business puts you in contact with as much opportunity for mishap as being in
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"The only way to love a person is not ... to coddle them and bring them soup when they are sick, but by LISTENING to them and seeing and believing in the god, the poet, in them. For by doing this, you K E E P the god and the
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is betting everything on an aggressive rebuilding of monetary and fiscal policy. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife) Much is being made of Japan’s resurgent economy, and the phenomenon of “Abenomics”. In addition to the much-ballyhooed monetary and fiscal policies of Shinzo Abe,
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It is often necessary to make big changes in organizations. Companies get locked into old patterns, fall behind competitors, or otherwise end up poorly aligned to their markets and objectives. When this happens, the best course of action may be to pull the plug on the status quo and make
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Japan is one of the most industrious societies in the world, but it has long been considered a land of contradictions. It is a country that changed from being a closed island nation (nearly 100 years behind the times technology-wise by 1870) to defeating Russia, a major European power just
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Sometimes money is not the objective. As a reader of Forbes, I am sure you know that business is focused on maximization of financial returns — that is to say that business exists to make money. The most money per contract, per customer, per year. It is the yardstick by which
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Fear of failure is natural. For startups, entrepreneurs, and company founders, fear of failure and our response to that fear can be critical to our success. Indeed, when viewed from the inside, startups can be scary: They are, by definition, journeys into the unknown. Startups deal with unknown products that
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SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin Texas Austin Texas is overrun by technology and digital media folks this week during the SXSW Interactive festival. The event itself runs from Friday through the weekend and finishes up on Tuesday night, and consists of hundreds of lectures, panels, information sessions, and technology demonstrations.
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Austin Convention Center, SXSW Interactive. March 2012. Startups are creatures of their environment. Like living organisms they depend heavily on the interactions of their environment for nourishment, growth and even survival. Clearly, not all environments are equal when it comes to growing things – We see deserts, grassy steppes, forests, oceans,
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All startups in 2012 have had front-line exposure to the challenges of growing their business and competing in an ever-changing technical environment. Looking forward to 2013, we anticipate more growth, more challenges, and many new opportunities. As the GM of several online brands; talent, measurement, and mobile platforms are some
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This looks hard. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife) In a recent conversation with a longtime programmer and startup veteran, he lamented how difficult all of the technology involved in startups can get. He finds it frustrating that so many interconnected technologies and details must come together to get