
Yes, You Can Start a Business Without Raising Money.
Most small businesses launch without raising a penny. And they have good reasons for doing so.
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Stop Thinking. Start Doing.
You’ll never know if your idea is any good just by thinking about it.
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Everything I know about fundraising I learned from panhandling.
And here’s a hint: It helps to be hungry.
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The Most Important Part of Scaling Your Business. Scaling Yourself!
Just as a startup has a limited supply of people, money, and resources, you as an individual are equally constrained. There’s only so much you can do in a day.
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The Netflix Culture in Four Words: Use Your Best Judgement.
Netflix is famous for its “freedom and responsibility” culture, in which employees are given almost unimaginable latitude to do their jobs as they see fit.
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The Canada Principle
The Canada Principle serves as a constant reminder to us to make sure we didn’t run around chasing what appeared to be low hanging fruit, all the while taking our eyes off what was truly important in scaling our business.
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Hardware is Different
This is one of the reasons that doing a hardware startup is particularly challenging. Once you start, and have converted your idea into something physical, it’s very hard to change direction.
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No One Is Going To Steal Your Idea.
It’s unoriginal and it will never work. But neither of those things matter.
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You Know Your User . . . But Who Is Your Customer?
Users and customers are frequently one and the same. When you go to a restaurant, you are both the user and the customer. But think about dog food for a moment; in this case the two are quite different; your dog is the user, but you are the customer.
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I Hate Firing People
But by far the hardest is having to fire decent people for reasons that may have nothing to do with them, except perhaps being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Episode Ten of That Will Never Work
It’s amazing it took as long as it did for subscriptions to eat the world.
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You Don’t Have to Work at Goldman Sachs. I Promise.
If, in your heart of hearts, you want to be an entrepreneur, don’t be afraid to take that on.
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Episode Nine of That Will Never Work
You know what’s even worse than someone hating your idea? When they like it!
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How to Think Like a Startup
The best ingredient for success is no longer one’s ability to predict the future. It’s putting yourself in a position where you’re poised to take advantage of whatever happens.
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Make it Easier to Succeed, Rather than Harder to Fail (AKA – Trust Your Customers)
In other words, trust your customers.
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With 1,750,000 Podcasts in the World, Why am I Launching Another One?
Hint: It’s Richard Branson’s fault.
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Everything I Learned About Startups I Learned from Ernest Shackleton
Lessons in leadership from a 20th century polar explorer.
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My 2021 Resolution: Don’t be a Frog.
In 2002, after six years thinking of little other than Netflix, I decided it was time to think a little differently. And so I left.
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There’s A Pony in Here Somewhere
I’ve always been an optimist. And over a forty-year career as an entrepreneur that glass-half-full attitude has been an occupational necessity.
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One More Lap, Then I’ll Stop
Like summiting Mt. Everest, succeeding as an entrepreneur is an overwhelming task.
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The Courage of the Early-Stage Entrepreneur
And why It’s the most important characteristic for any founder.
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Why I Waited Sixteen Years to Write My Book About Netflix
“You should write a book”, they said. But why the Hell would I want to do that?
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Your Idea Sucks. But guess What? It Doesn’t Matter.
When it comes to ideas, you have to get used to having your perfect sculptures squished.
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Looker, Netflix, and Fruit Trees: A Few Thoughts on the Meaning of Success
A Few Thoughts on the Meaning of Success.
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My New Book, That Will Never Work, Comes Out September 17th
That Will Never Work arrived in bookstores this fall
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Survivor Bias is a Bitch
Winston Churchill famously said “history is written by the victors” and nowhere is this more true than in startupville.
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The Elephant in the Room
My first real job lasted for three years. It ended the day I was unceremoniously fired.
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Fathers & Sons (and Daughters)
My oldest son graduated from college in June. He’s already started his own company.
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