When your startup feels less like a hockey stick and more like a hip check We all love to talk about the “hockey stick” moment for a company, referring to the point when users and… Read More
Shark Tank: The 3 worst startup mistakes made on TV’s best reality show For a long time I’ve felt like I must be either the first or last entrepreneur to discover the ABC… Read More
Hackathons at startups: Creative ‘fresh air’ Every now and again, we hear about hackathons: Startup Weekend, Facebook’s famed all-nighters, Hack Week at Dropbox. However, in a… Read More
Should you avoid raising startup capital early on? 10 founders weigh in There’s more than one school of thought about startup financing. After all, there are some very successful companies that have… Read More
Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff’s secrets to startup success: Be a servant to your managers Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff is known as one of the hardest working dudes in Seattle tech. And that work ethic… Read More
What startups can learn from rock ‘n’ roll bands So what can startups learn from the local do-it-yourself Rock N Rollers? You think it’s hard to get people to click… Read More
Startup Jedi: How to get through the sh*t times There’s an old West Point quote that goes something like: The best laid battle plans are tossed out the window… Read More
How we bootstrapped our company from zero to $10M: Five key tips to consider Have you ever had 7,000 people flip you off in unison for 45 minutes? Unfortunately, I have – and still… Read More
From one teen mogul to another: Advice for Nick D’Aloisio, the 17-year-old kid who just sold his startup to Yahoo The tech industry was buzzing this week after Yahoo announced its acquisition of Summly. It wasn’t so much the acquisition… Read More
Measuring interruptions: How to keep your team in the ‘zone’ When you look at productive output from a software development team, there’s one factor that almost always predicts problems. You… Read More
Here’s the winner of the two-sentence startup pitch session After more than 30 entrepreneurial pitches and plenty of feedback from mentors in the Founder Institute accelerator program, the jury… Read More
Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman on what he learned about business from a ‘sex-crazed short-order cook’ We’ve not heard much lately from Glenn Kelman, the ever-quotable CEO of Seattle online real estate company Redfin. But now… Read More
Startup wisdom from Kabir Shahani, the 30-year-old tech whiz who just sold Appature Appature co-founder Kabir Shahani was running on fumes when I stopped by the company’s offices this week to discuss its… Read More
The onstage pitch: How to prepare for your 5 minutes of fame Congratulations! Your company just scored a coveted presentation slot at a venture capital conference, an angel investor booze and schmooze… Read More
Kids, don’t believe the startup hype: Why you should join a big company first “Should I join Microsoft or a startup?” As the co-founder of a profitable startup and a former Microsoftie, I hear… Read More
Founder dating: Tips on how to pick your partner Picking a co-founder. It’s as personal as picking a spouse and as financially binding as picking an investor. Co-founders are… Read More
34 Must-Have Tools to Launch your Startup from Idea to Exit I’ve launched half a dozen or so startup products in my career and in the process I’ve picked up my list of… Read More
Hard knocks: My top 10 tips for surviving at a startup Recently, a colleague of mine sent me a guest post from GeekWire that talked about ‘full-stack marketers’ and the value of… Read More
The most overlooked element of your startup: The brand Anyone who has entered the startup arena knows that things move fast, get broken and can change on a whim.… Read More
Work-life balance hacks: Six tips from a type-A control freak When I was a kid, my nickname was: “Busy Lizzie.” Now as CEO of an online project management company and… Read More
Why entrepreneurs need to share moments of weakness with their startup peers “Oh excuse me, it’s Amy,” said Brad Feld as he answered his wife’s phone call, while sitting on stage doing… Read More
Demystifying startup marketing: A few tips on how to tell your story This is a follow-up to Marcelo Calbucci’s recent post on GeekWire: “We need more startup marketing minds (a.k.a. Full-Stack Marketers).”… Read More
Startup nightmares: Help, my VC won’t re-invest I recently met with two very experienced CEO’s who ran into the one of the most challenging startup situations: their… Read More
Tableau CEO Christian Chabot: The power of perseverance over pivoting One of the interesting things about Tableau Software is that the company’s mission — to help people see and understand… Read More
It’s not a startup … It’s a startup business As a species, we can be pretty lazy with language. That’s cool… we all know what we mean. But I… Read More
Commentary: The best way to divide startup equity Deciding how to divide up equity in your early-stage startup can be one of the most difficult and delicate decisions… Read More
Streamlining the fundraising process for entrepreneurs: There’s NOT an app for that? Here’s my dilemma. Fundraising for a tech startup is hugely time consuming. There are a million other things to do,… Read More
Prepare to dance alone, and 5 other entrepreneurial tips from my ‘careercation’ A year ago, I sold everything, stuffed the rest in storage, and bought one-way tickets to New Zealand for my… Read More
Startup Jedi: 3 phrases every VC or angel wants to hear during a pitch [Editor’s note: Startup Jedi is a new column by GeekWire chairman, investor and serial entrepreneur Jonathan Sposato. Future columns will… Read More
Idea, market or team? Here’s what 4 venture capitalists say is most important to them Venture capitalists invest in revolutionary ideas, huge markets and smart teams. But what’s the most important factor they take into… Read More
