Productive Uncertainty
If the point of a startup is to create excess value then the startup needs an innovation that can be defended over time. This means the team must have a strategy to defend their position once they have...
View ArticleUncertain decision making and the maximax criterion
If you are competing against Nature, you might as well go big.
View ArticleEmbracing Uncertainty in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy
Bill Janeway recently said of something I wrote that my focus on uncertainty “seems rather untethered.” Janeway is one of the few people writing about venture capital who have been in the business...
View ArticleYour Board of Directors is Probably Going to Fire You
Edit, 11/20/2023: If you like this post, it inspired a book co-written by me and Liz Zalman. You can find it here. One of my portfolio companies raised a round a few months ago and I left their board....
View ArticleAddressing Uncertainty, an overview
We are going to talk about building a strategy that helps you make decisions, even under uncertainty. It will help you decide which actions to take even though you won't know what the results of those...
View ArticleTrial and Error, Part 1
Uncertainty results in unpredictability, and two types of things cause unpredictability: novelty and complexity. Novelty uncertainty is when you can’t predict something because it has never been done...
View ArticleSpring 2023 Syllabus
I have always found value in other teachers’ syllabi. I was reminded of this when Henrik Berglund recently shared his excellent syllabus with me. In case anyone else feels the same, here is my current...
View ArticleAI and the Structure of Reasoning
Generative AIs can do some things better than people: they can code faster in many instances, they can write junior high school level essays faster, they can create detailed images on demand no matter...
View ArticleFounder vs Investor
The book I wrote with Liz Zalman has been released! We chose an unusual format: we take specific times and events in the life of a startup, times that can cause conflict between founders and investors,...
View ArticleDiscount rates in venture backed startups
For some ten years I have advised students in my entrepreneurship class to use a 40% discount rate in their lifetime value calculations. Every semester someone decides to take advice they found on the...
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