Every entrepreneur has it. The tension between the grand vision of what they see their business could become and the stark reality of where they are now. How do you bridge the chasm without getting overwhelmed on one hand or stuck in the minutiae of day to day tasks on the other? I’ve recorded a short video […]
Startup Tip 68: Why thinking too big can be fatal & thinking too small can be deadly
Why me? Three ways to soar when life isn’t fair
Two days before, I had been in the fetal position on my bathroom floor, thirty-six weeks pregnant and screaming with pain. It was excruciating, the worst pain I had ever experienced—and I had experienced lots. As the ambulance officer supported me out the front door and into the back of the ambulance, all I could […]
Startup Tip 64: How to keep moving forward in the face of uncertainty
Uncertainty is a natural part of the startup life. It’s where the excitement comes from, where the magic happens and its a place where we live a lot while building our startup. While there’s nothing wrong with uncertainty, the problem is that it can be uncomfortable. And most of us don’t like to be uncomfortable. […]
Startup Tip 62: Narrow your focus and concentrate on what is really important
There’s a process I have been using for a number of years which I find quite useful for goal setting. I call it my 3 month focus. I devised it originally because I was having so many ideas, all the time, that it was causing me to get distracted and I wasn’t using my time […]
Startup Tip 60: It’s okay to make mistakes
Tonight I attended the Lean Startup Melbourne meetup and listened to a panel of founders who have all been through accelerator programs. One of the things they talked about was startup mistakes and I wanted to share their wisdom with you. Success stories on TechCrunch often give us the impression that startup founders are super […]
Startup Tip 59: Develop self discipline – like you develop your muscles – one day at a time
To be successful at executing your startup idea, you are going to need a lot of self discipline. I don’t know about you, but this is an area I can always improve. Developing self discipline is a lot like training ourselves to be fit physically. We don’t expect to go to the gym after not […]
Startup tip 57: Celebrate your achievements
Do you celebrate your achievements? Not only the big ones, but the little steps you take consistently day by day? In a startup, our to-do list never ends and it’s important to lift our nose from the grindstone and acknowledge that we are making progress. A few weeks ago, I was feeling really frustrated. I […]
Startup tip 56: Don’t become a wantrepreneur – Take Action
Wantrepreneur: n: someone who thinks about being an entrepreneur or starting a business but never gets started. Urban Dictionary There’s a lot of people in love with the idea of being an entrepreneur at the moment. It’s seen by some as being a twenty-first century rock star. However, these people can be more talk than […]
Startup Tip 53: How big does your business really need to be? Small may be big enough
How big does your business really need to be? We hear stories all the time about startups that have raised millions or been sold for millions. The media is currently obssessed with it. Our society tends to emphaise that bigger is better and that success in business is building something that is sold for millions […]
Startup Tip 51: Set a failure point and stick to it
This is a guest post by Carolyn Kane. Failure isn’t something you want to think about for your startup, but it’s going to be essential to your success. I have never seen a startup that didn’t have at least one failed strategy or idea. The people who are still in business benefitted from their failures […]
