By: Phillip Bogdanovich I was sitting in a room last week listening to entrepreneurs pitch, and at one point I distinctly recall thinking, “Why am I here?” “I’m here for the free food and the beer.” I hear entrepreneurs express some version of this phrase three or four times whenever I attend an event. … More Beer, Pizza, and the Opportunity Gap
By Phillip Bogdanovich Fortune called Austin “the Rockstar of Small-Business Cities.” CNBC called it “the top start-up mecca in America.” At one point in 2015, Forbes inexplicably named it one of America’s most affordable cities. I live in Austin. I have raised money in Austin. I can tell you unequivocally that Austin is not affordable, … More What It Really Takes to Build a Start-Up City
“Find your elite. Find the one thing you’re better at than 95% of the population and do that. Repeatedly.” … More What Successful Entrepreneurs Have in Common: A Love Story
Plan for the worst case scenario, reality will fall somewhere along its trajectory. … More CES 2017: Why I Spent $2,000 to Disprove an Idea
If you run the 5,000-meter and really want to win, your training requires commitment. The same is true of starting a company … More Stop Pre: Five Lessons Steve Prefontaine Taught Me About Business
“For the majority of my life, I believed that if my assertions were correct, nothing else mattered..” … More How I am Learning Not to Be an Asshole
By: Phillip Bogdanovich Thanks to examples like Uber and Snapchat, we are used to thinking of tech “unicorns” as companies. But the word is also used to describe individuals with the rare, wild ability to lead companies at any stage, from start-up to enterprise. The corporate leader who is universally and repeatedly successful, like Elon … More The Unicorn Myth: Who Can Really Lead a Start-Up?
By: Phillip Bogdanovich I recently observed a contract negotiation between two companies. They seemed to be negotiating mutually favorable terms until suddenly one side was at a clear advantage—and the other wasn’t even aware of the shift. This power exchange didn’t happen accidentally; the company with the upper hand had subtly engineered the negotiation in its own … More Structuring: How Not to Be Eaten Alive in a Negotiation
Project and company #management in the digital age requires we evolve in how we manage problems. … More How Perpetually Fixing Small Problems Will Kill Your Company
If you’re considering involving yourself in a start-up but you are uncertainty- or risk-averse, it probably isn’t the best fit for you. But if you don’t mind the possibility of burning to death, here are a few tips on choosing a company that poses the least fire hazard. … More Be your own champion: Choosing Your Next Start-Up Leadership Role
