Topic

startups

A collection of 22 issues

Why I joined Lightspin

Today is my first day as VP Marketing at Lightspin and I am so excited to tell you about why I joined and what you can expect from me and the team. Lightspin is making every stage of cloud security simple and accessible. Protecting your cloud shouldn't be exorbitantly expensive.

Writing memos

Memos are the litmus test of good thinking. The best business thinkers and leaders are prolific writers. Emails, slide decks, meeting notes, memos and plans - that is how business is done. That is how thinking is done. One of my first jobs out of college was as a commercial

Community Building Tools

I recently wrote a guest blog post for Heavybit, the San Francisco-based accelerator for developer and enterprise startups. I reposted the content here but you can view the original content on the Heavybit blog. Enjoy! In First Round Capital’s State of Startups 2019 report, nearly 80% of founders reported

We are in the age of the hacker

Do you believe that? I know I do. The 2018 Hacker Report by HackerOne highlights the hackers that make the magic happen. Our superheroes. For the juicy stats: Check out the key findings on page 4. Here’s a quick high-level recap of what to expect: The 2018 Hacker Report

Content Briefs

I was recently asked by a colleague if I had examples of a content brief that I could share. Here's the copy of my email that I wrote responding to their question... Email Transcript 6/3/17 Hey [friend], Sorry for the delayed response! [redacted personal statement]. Now, a few

Peer Reviewed Startup Investing and Why Ben Stiller Thinks All Casting Directors Should be Fired

Auditions. They can be gamed. Some people are phenomenal at them. Other’s aren’t as good. Why not have other actors judge who should get the part? After all, peer-reviewed models have proven successful at Cirque du Soleil, not to mention various other industries. In the most recent episode

Why Facebook's New Marketplace is Not a Craigslist Killer

Today, Facebook announced they have rolled out a new product "Marketplace" with the tagline of "Buy and Sell With Your Local Community". This isn't an entirely new thing, as Wired wrote: As many as 450 million people already use Facebook Groups as a community bazaar. Last

So You Want To Start A Startup? Read This First

Fact: Two out of every three startups pivot drastically from their original idea. And many others fail. If you ask most great startup founders, they probably had no idea what they were building would become as big as it did. And as the opening statement says, they likely shifted from

The Advantages of Building a Startup in a Smaller Tech Community

I'm a believer in startups. The opportunity, the economic advantages, the inspiring founders. All of it. While there's much to be said about companies moving from a smaller tech community (e.g., Honolulu), to a bonafide tech hub (e.g. San Francisco) I actually think there are good reasons why

Three Reasons Why Airbnb Should Offer Hosts Mortgage Refis

Airbnb is valued at $25.5 Billion according to WSJ's Stock Tracker. That means the startup unicorn is more valuable then Marriott and Hilton. Airbnb has an awesome product (I'm writing this from an Airbnb in Oakland, CA, right now). I've recently read a few articles that shed some light