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Featured Lessons learned

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Lessons Learned: Martino says 'Hire former co-workers'

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, April 15, 2008 | Comments

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Paul Martino, CEO and co-founder of Aggregate Knowledge, is a four-time entrepreneur who says he always makes mistakes but that the main goal is not to keep making the same ones. Some of the lessons he shares with Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco include hiring former co-workers, getting a good advisory board and "start a big company.""It's just as hard to start a small company as it is to start a big company," says Martino, whose previous startup, Tribe Network, was acquired ...

Lessons Learned: Brian Zisk says invite your friends to your conference

by John Shinal, April 15, 2008 | Comments

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Brian Zisk is a veteran of the Internet music industry. In fact, he's been around it when it was more of an underground movement that a business.In this second part of a four-part interview, the executive producer of the San Fran Music Tech Summit talks about how to put on a successful conference.His first rule: have confidence that the event will work out, even if you're panicking right up until the moment it begins. Zisk calls this "having balls of ...

iJigg's Shadab Frooqui, just 26, didn't intend to found a company

by John Shinal, April 10, 2008 | Comments

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To hear how a 25-year-old native of Bombay built a cool music sharing site with his younger brother, and suddenly found himself the CEO of a startup company that got seed funding from Y Combinator, listen to this interview with iJigg's Shadab Frooqui.We got Frooqui's take on the international online music scene in an earlier interview, where he told us about the unique trends happening in Thailand, India and elsewhere.

Earth Class Mail CEO Ron Wiener has skin in the game

by John Shinal, April 8, 2008 | Comments

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Ron Wiener, founder and CEO of Earth Class Mail, has more skin in the game than most entrepreneurs.He's refinanced his house more than once and gone into seven-figure debt to help fund the company."It's not for everyone," says Wiener, who's financed previous companies with six-figure credit card debt and says of his current experience -- "it's just more zeros." "I have to laugh when I hear people say... they've gone three months without salary. We went two-and-a-half years."His persistence comes ...

Lessons Learned: It's about results, not effort

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, April 8, 2008 | Comments

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Execution and hitting milestones; passion and why startup partners are like partners in marriage

Sid Mohasseb, Vator.tv's newest angel investor and the president of Tech Coast Angels and a partner at Venture Farm (angel network), has this to say to all you entrepreneurs: Execution isn't about hiring people, it's about results. According to Mohasseb, it's not about just applying theory to a problem or overly debating decisions. That will kill your company, he told ...

Microsoft - Yahoo and lessons for takeover targets

by John Shinal, April 7, 2008 | Comments

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A report that Microsoft is reconsidering its offer for Yahoo signals a new phase in the two-month-old takeover battle, says Vator.tv managing editor John Shinal.With Yahoo getting to issue a report and forecast in a few weeks, Microsoft is turning up the heat.The brinksmanship holds lessons for any company -- big or small -- that's the target of a takeover: when you turn down a friendly bid, then a hostile one, things cans start to get nasty. We've said from the ...

FriendFeed founder Paul Buchheit's lessons

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, April 3, 2008 | Comments

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Get out a product quickly; The No. 1 trait of an entrepreneur is determination

FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit is a former Google engineer who led the development of both Gmail and AdSense.The one-time Google employee #23, he also first suggested the company's motto "Don't Be Evil." In this interview, he shares the lessons he's learned as a technologist and an entrepreneur. To hear Buccheit talk more about FriendFeed, watch this earlier interview.

Lessons Learned: Adify CEO Russ Fradin says don't focus on sexy ideas

by John Shinal, April 1, 2008 | Comments

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Plus why taking 'a lot' of money from venture capitalists is a good thing

Russ Fradin worked at three previous startups before founding Adify, which provides a technology platform and other services for online ad networks. His advice for startup entrepreneurs starts with not falling in love with your own "sexy ideas." Instead, focus on building long-term value. He also thinks that taking more VC money early on is better than angel investment because ...

Tips for U.S. startups looking to break into markets in China

by David Howard, March 28, 2008 | Comments

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Young tech companies have frequently used the "Road Warrior" approach to sell into China, by flying a U.S.-based Asia-Pacific sales rep back and forth across the Pacific. Popping up in Shanghai one day and Shenzen the next, these Mad Maxes are subject to burnout and not nearly as effective as having an in-country presence.Others startups have tried setting up in Hong Kong. Still, costs there are rising along with inflation, and as the Chinese market has grown, many customers are ...

Lessons Learned: Fark's Curtis says "I'm from Kentucky, what do I know?"

by John Shinal, March 27, 2008 | Comments

	... and hold onto your equity as long as you can Drew Curtis, who founded Fark way back in 1999, says that when he first thought of taking money two years later, "everyone was busy being bankrupt," so he kept the company self-funded.The lesson that taught him? "Hold onto your equity as long as you can," he says, before quickly adding, "but I'm from Kentucky, so what do I know."You can ...
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Lessons Learned: Realize things will change

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, March 27, 2008 | Comments (1)

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YouNoodle, started in March 2007 by two Oxford University grads - Kirill Makharinsky and Bob Goodson - hopes to automate part of the process of predicting a successful startup by analyzing the people or the team behind an idea. To that end, it's not a surprise that Kirill's main piece of advice is to get the right team on board. His other piece of advice that is definitely something many people don't understand is that the startup environment is fluid. ...

Lessons Learned: Retrevo's Vipin Jain on paranoia and raising funding

by John Shinal, March 25, 2008 | Comments

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Vipin Jain, founder and CEO of the electronics shopping site Retrevo, says it's easy for entrepreneurs to get distracted given all the innovation that needs to get done at a startup. The biggest challenge, then, is "how do you focus on the core product, the core concept that you want to build, and rally the team around that?" Jain says.Second, it's easy for startup execs to fall in love with their idea or business plan, which can blind them to ...

Lessons Learned: Blurb CEO Eileen Gittins says raising money is like dating

by John Shinal, March 18, 2008 | Comments

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Eileen Gittins, the founder and CEO of the online publishing service Blurb, says raising money from investors is like dating."When you're married or attached, people want your number, but when you're looking for a date, no one calls," Gittins says.The lesson? Take cash when you can get it. "Cash is still king," she says.Another piece of advice? Work on something you're passionate about and work with people you like to work with. In other words, "have fun," says Gittins, who ...

Lessons Learned: Pankaj Malviya on how to avoid taking venture capital

by John Shinal, March 13, 2008 | Comments (1)

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Pankaj Malviya, founder and CEO of Relationals -- and Long Jump - tells Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco in this interview how he grew Relationals to $5 million in annual revenue without the aid of venture capital."Focus on generating revenue, rather than 'who's going to buy my company?'" Malviya says.Doing that forces you to focus on solving your customers' problems, which in turn wins their respect and loyalty, he says.See here for more coverage on Malviya and Long Jump.

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