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by Steven Loeb - February 19, 2013
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Think you like what you like? Think again

by Nir Eyal, June 18, 2013 | Comments

	Placebo effect in full effect A funny thing happens when you lie to people: they tend to believe. Why shouldn’t they? They lie to themselves all the time. Our minds are wired to respond in predictable ways–among them is perceiving the world the way we want to see it, not necessarily the way it is. Perhaps no other phenomenon demonstrates our brain’s ability to make ...
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How to value and price your startup

by Michael Ostendorff, June 17, 2013 | Comments

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What each founder should know when setting up a preliminary valuation to attract outside capital

When a founder determines it is worth his while to attempt to raise money for his concept, the basic issue becomes one of price. If, for example, the business needs $500,000 to get started, how much of the equity in that company should $500,000 in fresh cash command? A brief summary of common terminology will help illuminate the subsequent discussion. ...

Temptation

by Nir Eyal, June 10, 2013 | Comments

	What makes us want How do products tempt us? What makes them so alluring? It is easy to assume we crave delicious food or impulsively check email because we find pleasure in the activity. But pleasure is just half the story. Temptation is more than just the promise of reward. Recent advances in neuroscience allow us to peer into the brain, providing a greater ...
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What's next for Big Fish Games?

by Steven Loeb, June 2, 2013 | Comments

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Now that it's cornered casual gaming, will the company be going public?

At Vator Splash LA on Thursday night, we were honored to have Paul Thelen, CEO of Big Fish Games, take the stage. He spoke about his experiences starting Big Fish, including why he didn't take money at first, as well as what qualities he had to possess to make the company succeed. He also spoke about the future of Big Fish Games, and ...

Paul Thelen: Have passion, focus and conviction

by Steven Loeb, June 1, 2013 | Comments

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'Starting a business is not a job, it's your life'

At Thursday night's Vator Splash LA, Paul Thelen, CEO of Big Fish Games, took the stage to talk about how he grew his company into a leader in the casual gaming space. As part of his Keynote Speech, Thelen mentioned the three most important aspects of starting a business: passion, focus and conviction. Passion Big Fish, Thelen said, was "started as ...

Paul Thelen does NOT enjoy having to raise money

by Steven Loeb, June 1, 2013 | Comments

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"The one time I would say that I was least successful was when I had money"

At Vator Splash LA on Thursday night, we were honored to have Paul Thelen, CEO of Big Fish Games, take the stage to talk about his experiences growing his company. One of the main themes of the night was Thelen's decision to bootstrap the company, at least at first, with $10,000 of his own seed capital. "The dot-com bust had taken its toll and my ...

Josh Berman's "Six Ways to Be" part deux

by Faith Merino, May 31, 2013 | Comments

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Berman talks macro trends and competition, picking the right team, and believing in your project

4) Be aware. As in-- of macro trends, "Everyone talks about first mover advantage. I disagree. I like second and third mover advnatge. Look at the macro environment, see what’s working," said Berman. "In my first startup, we were aware of all the other startups in our field… We realized that 94% of commerce was happening at Target, Walmart, etc." ...

Beachmint CEO Josh Berman's "six ways to be," part I

by Faith Merino, May 30, 2013 | Comments

	Berman outlines six guidelines of entrepreneurship It's a balmy 79 degrees in LA and life is good. Swimmin' pools! Movie stars! Etc. etc. The party's rockin' and one of LA's top CEOs, Beachmint's Josh Berman, took the stage at the third annual Vator Splash LA to deliver his top six "ways to be"--which are more or less guidelines on how to live. Those guidelines include: 1) ...
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Five tips to drive R&D culture in a fast-moving startup

by Matt Curcio, May 20, 2013 | Comments

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Sharing events bring research to the forefront and spawn all kinds of creativity

Research and development (R&D) efforts in a small company can be challenging because resources are often scarce, particularly when you are moving at lightning speed to get a product or service out the door. Despite these challenges, what most attracts me (and other “math men”) to R&D in a startup is the free flow of creativity across divisions and a ...

3 Unbreakable rules of recruiting

by Reena A Jadhav, May 19, 2013 | Comments

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Josh Stein spills his recruiting secrets to Reena Jadhav at Splash

Recruiting right is clearly one of the top three priorities of any startup executive. In the first few years it can be the difference between survival and death of a venture. So how do you ensure you have the right strategy, processes and tactics in place? Josh Stein shares his unbreakable rules of recruiting in this interview with Reena Jadhav. ...

China startups - how they differ from US startups

by Steve Blank, May 13, 2013 | Comments

	The Gold Rush and fire extinguishers I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese andChinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. In these series of five posts, I thought I’d share what I learned in China. All the usual caveats apply. I was only in China for a week so this a cursory view. Thanks to Kai-Fu Lee of Innovation Works, David ...
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Fly high: The Air Force Academy and Silicon Valley

by Steve Blank, May 10, 2013 | Comments

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Serendipity created both weapon systems and entrepreneurship in World War II

Todd Branchflower was one my Lean LaunchPad students entrepreneurial enough to convince the Air Force send him to Stanford to get his graduate engineering degree. After watching my Secret History of Silicon Valley talk, he became fascinated by how serendipity created both weapon systems and entrepreneurship in World War II – and brought us federal support of science and Silicon Valley. In class I would ...

Can startups have it all in Orange County?

by Carey Ransom, May 6, 2013 | Comments

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Ahead of Splash LA on May 30, a look at different startup tech hubs

When asked to describe life in Orange County as a startup guy, I quickly call it the place where I can “have it all.” With world-class universities, some of the best weather and beaches anywhere, and a diverse technology scene that spans consumer products, medical devices, semiconductors, storage, enterprise software, SaaS, mobile and consumer Internet, Orange County has examples of ...

Zhongguancun in Beijing – China’s Silicon Valley

by Steve Blank, April 16, 2013 | Comments

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China has the biggest Venture Capital industry outside the U.S.

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese andChinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. In these series of 5 posts, I thought I’d share what I learned in China. All the usual caveats apply. I was only in China for a week so this a cursory view. Thanks to Kai-Fu Lee of Innovation Works, David ...

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