The Problem with Startup Bootcamps

Scanning Crains NY Business recently, I saw an article on ‘starting up’ in 54 hours. It’s the brainchild of Marc Nager, Clint Nelsen and Franck Nouyrigat called Startup Weekend. Startup bootcamps seem to be the current extra-curricular activity of choice these days. Wharton is also getting in on it with their Innovation Tournament. Then there is the 48 Hour Startup and of course let’s not forget the 3 Day Startup.

So what’s my beef? Truth be told I admire the ambition, the optimism, and the openness of these efforts. And for sure these bootstrapping marathons do introduce entrepreneurs to future colleagues and partners, get them asking the right questions about financing, customers, revenue, competition and so forth.

My problem with these events is they frame startups as something you *can* do quickly. As if it were a Lego set or pop-up book that gives instant results and gratification. Sure startups are 21st century tech-driven business that provide innovative products in a very short development cycle but a lot of the day-to-day running of the business are still very mundane 20th century sensibilities; not unlike running a mom and pop store, a laundromat, deli or sandwich shop.

Continue reading “The Problem with Startup Bootcamps”

October 27, 2011

Book Review – The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

What do you do after founding not one, but two companies and watching them fail miserably all by the time you were barely out of college?

Move to the Valley, make shrewd investments in other startups and become insanely rich like Sean Parker? A Bit lofty perhaps. How about try, try again and succeed. Then reinvent yourself as a guru dishing out startup wisdom through your blog and publishing a book that ends up the top of the New York Times Bestseller’s list. That’s essentially what Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup did.

True entrepreneurs fail many times before they succeed and continuously find opportunities to reinvent themselves. Ries is one of them. He’s taken all that he’s learned from his failures, and later successes, from his college years in the 1990s right through the dotcom crash, and packaged them into a guide for startups to consult in their quest for world domination. Continue reading “Book Review – The Lean Startup by Eric Ries”

September 18, 2011

Scale Quickly Like Birchbox – Startup Scalability 101

One of the great things about the Internet is how it has made it easier to put great ideas into practice. Whether the ideas are about improving people’s lives or a new way to sell and old-fashioned product, there’s nothing like a good little startup tale of creative disruption to deliver us from something old and tired.

We work with a lot of startup firms and we love being part of the atmosphere of optimism and ingenuity, peppered with a bit of youthful zeal – something very indie-rock-and-roll about it. But whether they are just starting out or already picking up pace every startup faces the same challenges to scale a business. Recently, we were reminded of this when we watched Inc’s video interview with Birchbox founders, Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp. Continue reading “Scale Quickly Like Birchbox – Startup Scalability 101”

August 6, 2011

Book Review – Rework

Rework is chock full of ideas

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s new book REWORK is one of the best startup business books I’ve read since Alan Weiss’ Million Dollar Consulting. If you’re already a fan of their signal vs noise blog, you’d be familiar with their terse style. Sharp and to the point.

Which is why you can pick it up and read it in a few hours. You’ll want to because it’s well written and pared down to essentials. In fact the book reads like their workflow advice, less mass, do it yourself, cut out the fat, concentrate on essentials. As such they are clearly practicing what they preach, which I like. Continue reading “Book Review – Rework”