Big companies avoid buying from startups for a reason. No one wants a deal with...
Efficiency
Bottom to top vs Top to bottom
There are two distinct styles of management. One I call bottom to top and the other is top to bottom. Recently I’ve been exposed to both styles exemplified in two companies I’m involved in. Bottom to top. It’s more process driven situation. You take some employees and you focus on their growth. You take some […]
Use of frameworks in web projects
Developers of right skills want to hand craft every piece of it. This is non-productive. Craftsmanship at the code level shouldn’t be mistaken with efforts you should be putting into product, and code is not product. It might be if you’re developer but in great sense of any business it usually isn’t. That’s why with […]
Pitfalls of vicious loop of testing
Another common reason for startups to fail is the lack of persistant approach, otherwise known as the vicious loop of testing. Many startups do tend to try different things, measure how they work and abandon ideas in light of lack of response. It sometimes looks like going to a bar and then chatting up one […]
Never be the easiest or the cheapest
Here’s a thought: people give up not because it’s so hard (sometimes it is) but because the reward is not so great (and needs to be better) Never make it easier to just enter or to stay. Instead up the rewards to make it more desireable. You wont get the best employees for too long […]
Why do startups fail
Start-ups fail for a number of reasons. Many of them boil down to a distinct lack of (any form of) planning. Obviously if you’re into start-ups you probably understand how hard it is in fact to make any longer term plans. At the same time seeing just three steps ahead means trouble every four steps […]
Time is ticking away
There’s so much to be done and so little time left. That’s how I spend holiday these days, at least that’s how it’s been planned this year. Learning from my parents’ home seems to be working for me by far better than sitting in London, at home. There are just too many distractions and I […]
Importance of competition
Typically if you look at any of my past businesses, you’d quickly notice how much the project they run rely on innovation. Whether technical or market innovation, we’ve been first on the market. Firstly with Finance Manager (pl: Menedżer Finansów), launched in 1999, well ahead of avalanche of other desktop personal finance management applications. Secondly […]
Benefits of small teams
It’s amazing how complex things can get once you’re trying to figure out a working pattern that would satisfy a team of several developers and keep your boat afloat at the same time. It’s a wrong jungle type of problem, where management are trying to keep everything under tight control, living in illusionary world in […]
How to Run a One-Person Business
As a one-person show, that might prove to be especially difficult. More than one-third of sole proprietors said that their biggest challenge is finding the time and resources to generate new business, according to a recent survey conducted by Visa USA and SCORE, a nonprofit group that counsels entrepreneurs. Wish I had inc.com on my […]
Motivation
Before the game, and even more so after, motivation, some carrot factor makes all the difference between winners and loosers. As in the game, the 11 which finds themselves in a comfy position will always be challenged by newcomers with lot of hunger for win, or — in case of business — money. Motivation, positive […]