Bloomberg changes the future of NYC with Cornell / Technion Tech Campus

Today was the official announcement that Cornell and Technion have won the bid to build an engineering campus in NYC that could literally change the future of New York's economy. While it will generate jobs today, start coursework in 2012 for masters and PhD students, and boost the technology ecosystem immediately, the program also looks out as far as 2040 to support a future of innovation and job creation as the industries in New York (and everywhere) continue to be disrupted.

As a technology entrepreneur in NYC (Founder and CEO of Seamless Receipts) and a proud holder of two Cornell degrees (Engineering and MBA), I'm clearly biased. But I'm more excited about this partnership than anything I've heard about in awhile. Good technology and startup ecosystems need four key components to be successful: a superb pipeline of talent, a culture that promotes idea generation and risk-taking, an ecosystem of partners and mentors, and access to capital. Stanford and Silicon Valley have mastered this model and Cornell is going to launch a giant spark into an already thriving startup ecosystem in New York. Cornell will bring to New York a $150M venture fund to support early stage companies, 20K jobs to build the infrastructure, 8K sustainable jobs for faculty and staff, and top talent from around the world who will be encouraged to start and grow companies in New York City. The future of our economy clearly relies on innovation and the proliferation of new ideas. Nothing will support New York City's future and optimism more than building the next Facebook or Google in Manhattan.

Looking at New York City, all of the components of a startup ecosystem exist today (talent, culture, ecosystem, and capital) but talent is clearly the piece that holds NYC back from being as transformative as Silicon Valley has been for the past 50 years. Cornell will inject a pipeline of talent that will generate new businesses and drive the growth of current companies (who are all desperately trying to hire engineers). Bloomberg expects the program to increase the number of engineers finding jobs in NYC by 85%.

In return, Cornell has all the components of an entrepreneurial education except the ecosystem. There is an honest disadvantage to starting a company in Ithaca (ice hockey games are great, but the number of successful alumni who have built and sold companies in the Finger Lakes region is definitely limited vs. New York or Silicon Valley). Trust me, I've done it. So putting a permanent program in New York City will bring to Cornell the one missing piece in its entrepreneurial endeavors - a subway to New York so students can visit Google, Facebook, tech entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists on a random Tuesday afternoon. The 50K Cornell alumni in New York City will serve as a perfect launching ground for the program's ties to the New York economy.

I see the partnership between Cornell/Technion and New York City as a perfect marriage. I couldn't be more optimistic about the future and I look forward to taking part in the initatives that will come.

7 Rules for Getting Hired at a Startup

Working at a startup is a drastically different experience from working at a large company. Your office space is different, your job is different, your pressures are different, and even your boss is different. So why would you approach getting a job at a startup the same way you approach getting a job at a big company? Many people do and it's a big mistake. After spending a lot of time reviewing candidates and hiring team members, here are seven of my rules for getting hired at a startup.

1. Engage with the company on social media

Every startup is fighting for exposure. Use that to your advantage. List your target companies, start conversations with them on their social profiles and listen to what they're saying. Startups are run by small, tight-knit teams, and there are real people behind those accounts. Engage with the company early and learn about them before you ask for a job.

2. Do NOT mail a word doc resume and cover letter

I get lots of emails for people seeking jobs. By necessity, I apply a quick set of filters and either flag the person as interesting (to be researched), respond to set up a meeting, or simply delete the message. If you send a Word doc it shows that you didn't even take the time to PDF it. If you send a resume, send a PDF. What I much prefer is a link to a well-written LinkedIn profile and any relevant websites (such as your blog). LinkedIn should clearly describe your education, your work experience, your successes, and your specific interests as a professional. If there is a powerful message on your resume that doesn't come across on LinkedIn, then either update your profile or highlight those points in the body of your email. Additionally, Never send a cover letter as an attachment. If you apply to a job at a big company, fine, send a cover letter - they might expect it. But if you're sending a busy entrepreneur an email, the email is your cover letter! Do not make them open a separate document because they probably won't. Make the communication short, succinct, and easy to respond to. Making a specific request is better than simply saying you're interested (ask for a meeting, a brief phone call, etc.).

3. Do your diligence (this is for your sake too)

Get to know a startup well. Read about the team, their background, their successes and failures, their investors, their competitors, and get to know their market. When you talk to them in-person it should be an interesting conversation about the battles they're fighting. You shouldn't learn anything in an interview that you could have learned with an hour on Google ahead of time. Entrepreneurs want to hire people who are proactive and know what they're getting into. If you don't learn the details about the company you want to join before considering a career move (a major, life-changing decision) then why should the entrepreneur think that you will do your homework before pitching a prospective client or making a technology decision? Behavioral patterns are important, so don't go into an interview and tell someone that you don't know much about their company except what you read on their website.

4. Start doing your job during the interview process

A lot of hires happen through personal networks because referrals provide the best filter for people you can trust. If you are not getting hired through a referral, expect the interview process to be thorough, especially for senior roles. In a small company you will have a tremendous impact on whether or not the business is successful. Just as important, you will have a large impact on the atmosphere in the office. One bad apple truly can ruin the bunch. Taking on an employee is as risky for a startup as it is for you. Entrepreneurs need to know that you excel at a level above your peers and can be immediately productive. The best way to prove this is to take on a project. There is usually a creative way to propose a project that has a small level of commitment, but lets you demonstrate your abilities. Additionally, this gives you a much better sense of how well you work together, which is critical for both sides to know. If it doesn't make sense for the situation, at least find a way to spend time white boarding technology ideas, sales strategies, or relevant issues for the role. Going through the process of analyzing and solving a problem with the team is a great way to preview your working relationship. Resumes and small talk are nice, but they do not simulate what it will be like to tackle a difficult problem together, in a small office, for hours on end.

5. Make it personal

When you join a small business, it's not just a job. You are joining a team and probably a team full of personalities. A huge part of whether or not you mesh with the company will be based on your personality and how you interact with the team. That is not superficial, that is real. Culture matters, personality matters, and how much you enjoy spending time with your team matters. Joining a startup is like going to battle every day. If you like the people you are in the trenches with, then the battle is fun and exciting. You will enjoy the challenges, the late evenings, and the pressure of working in a high-risk, high-reward role.

6. Show, don't tell

Talk is cheap. When demonstrating your abilities, don't talk generically about how you're a diligent, hard-working go-getter (could describe anybody). Show the last site you built. Describe the revenue boost you generated over the last quarter. Showcase a product you delivered and describe the go-to-market strategy you used to get traction. Whatever type of role you are looking for (engineering, sales, marketing, finance, etc.), the company wants to know that their investment in you will immediately start paying off. So prove to them that it will. If you can't yet - then take on a project that will prove it. Propose an extra project at work, build something on the side, help a friend launch their company. Excuses abound everywhere and ideas are cheap. The true definition of an entrepreneur is somebody who takes the initiative to take those baby steps and move forward. Little by little, every day. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was Amazon, Google, or Apple. So start now and build something.

7. Hit the ground sprinting

Speed and timing are crucial when launching a new venture. Hastily making progress, building a team, delivering a product, securing partnerships, landing clients (or users), bringing in funding, and iterating before your cash runs out is not easy. It requires hard work and constant execution. If you meander, you may find yourself terribly lost. If you sprint out of the gate you will learn in a short amount of time whether or not your plan holds up. Most products and business models need to be iterated on and fine-tuned over time. Learn quickly, fail fast, adjust and move forward. Startups can't support this model unless the whole team is in-sync. So be quick to respond, show that you can think on your feet, and make it obvious that you'll hit the ground sprinting.

Forget About the Competition and Delight Your Customers

People are trained to think about competition all the time. You need to understand your competitors and your differentiating factors. Strategically, it's important to look at the market and stake your particular ground. But strategy is only 5% of the game, the rest is execution. When it comes to executing on your strategy day in and day out, sometimes you need to forget about competition and focus on your customers. Adding features because your competitors have them, obsessing about new market entrants, and constantly refreshing industry news can lead to a very muddied approach to your business.

When you look at the cultures and personalities of companies, the ones who are obsessed with competition tend to be neurotic and uncomfortable in their own skin. Steady, yet humble confidence leads to true industry leaders. Apple has fierce competition, but thinking about competitors would have led them to a bigger MP3 player or a laptop with more features, not the iPhone or the iPad. Apple has a very simple strategy: build beautiful and simple products. That's it. It is Apple's relentless execution that has built one of the most valuable companies in the world. Anybody could replicate Apple's strategy. Nobody has been able to replicate its execution.

There are some markets that are commoditized and hyper-competitive. As an entrepreneur, I would prefer to avoid these all together. But some people thrive in that environment. At the end of the day, everybody has their own approach, both companies and individuals. I believe that entrepreneurs should think deeply and carefully about their market, their competition, and changes that are happening in the world. But when you're in the thick of a battle, forget about competition and focus on delighting your customers. That will lead to long-term success much more often than a neurotic focus on your competitors.

Only Hire People Who Challenge You

Building a team is the most critical part of running a company (or any organization). There's a reason why the Yankees and the Patriots have so many rings: they have great teams from top to bottom. Do you think those organizations are easy to manage? Absolutely not. You should recruit team members who fit your culture, believe in your mission, and are fun to work with. But do not hire people because they make your life easy. Leadership is not about how many "followers" follow you, it's about how many leaders join you. Leaders are ambitious, opinionated, and won't let you off easy. They take a lot of energy to coordinate and aim in a single direction. They're also exactly who you need if you aspire to greatness. Building something valuable and sustainable isn't supposed to be easy. So don't take shortcuts, especially with your team.

The 5 Ways to Make Money in the New World of Retail

Commerce is changing quickly, increasingly dominated by the Internet, social media, and mobile devices. JPMorgan Chase predicted at the beginning of 2011 that global e-commerce sales would reach $680B this year. Although online sales are still less than 10% of total retail revenue, online experiences and social media engagements are dominating consumers' decision-making processes. With this major shift in play, retailers need to clearly understand their market position and their value prop to consumers. Below are the 5 succinct ways that I see retailers building scalable, profitable businesses.

Be a distribution king (Amazon/Walmart).

This is an important category, but one that few can play in. If consumers can get the same product cheaper and faster from Amazon, there is little reason to buy from another site. Even in-store shoppers are scanning barcodes and price-checking in the isles now. Diapers.com (aka Quidsi, now owned by Amazon) is a great example of a distribution play that was successful. But they had a tremendous focus on operations and customer service. Few startups or even large retailers can compete on this field alone.

Provide a product or brand that people lust for (Apple/LVMH).

There is a reason why the iPad 2 sold out (besides the fact that Apple purposely produced too few to create exclusivity). People drool when they see it. If you have a product or a brand that people absolutely love, they'll go out of their way to buy your products or shop at your store. You do not have to ship faster and cheaper if nobody can beat your product or brand recognition.

Provide a great customer experience (Zappos).

Zappos fought on very competitive turf (online shoe sales), but was wildly successful based on customer service. To Zappos (and Tony Hsieh), customer service was not just a bullet point on a website. It was the true lifeblood of the company. Just like Diapers.com, Zappos was swallowed up by Amazon (there seems to be a pattern). But the point was well-proven: customer experience matters and retailers should think about it deeply. The best retailers are always thinking about creative ways to improve customer experiences and empower their workers. Sometimes you have to give a little in the short-run to make major gains over time.

Innovate on business models (Gilt/Groupon).

Flash sales and group buying sites are showing that business model innovations can be profitable as well. Many of these are creative, well-executed revivals of old ideas. But the growth can be phenomenal. The key here is to have a great idea, move fast, and swiftly build up market share. Being Groupon is a good thing. Being Groupon clone #57 might not be. While Groupon is not exactly a retailer, I have included it here because it is a key example of how tying online and offline behaviors can produce success. That is a prime area for growth in coming years.

Provide raw convenience (Starbucks/Duane Reade).

Starbucks fits into a few other categories as well (product and customer experience), but my point is that they are on almost every street corner. It is always convenient to find Starbucks coffee. Many retailers focus on convenience alone (corner stores, shops in tourist locations, fast food restaurants, etc.). As they say, location, location, location. Having a sunglass shop in the right spot can turn a good business into a great business. But to truly scale you need to mix in product loyalty or customer service as well.

There are many aspects to retail, which is why it is a fascinating industry. Yet I believe that these 5 points can form the basis of all successful and scalable retail operations. As the world continues to change and customer engagement evolves, there will be increasing divides between the distribution kings and the retailers that focus on product and customer experience.  Especially when it comes to e-commerce, you can either ship it faster and cheaper, sell a product that nobody else has, or provide a great customer experience that keeps people coming back.

[Disclosure - My company, Seamless Receipts, serves retailers that focus on products and customer experience]

Startup Cultures Start with People, not Policies

Building a strong culture is a key priority for entrepreneurs. Nothing is more important when it comes to recruiting and building a team. Your team determines your success and the way your team interacts will be largely affected by the culture you build at the beginning.

But sitting down and writing a culture doc or inventing fun policies is not what truly sets the tone, it's the people who come to your office every day. I have worked in corporate cultures that are radically different (a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley, an investment bank in New York, a government contractor, and a software startup). I can tell you first hand about the unique quirks of each. What really matters is finding the culture that strongly supports your business and works for you personally (i.e. you like coming to work in the morning). Proactively creating and maintaining a culture is incredibly important and it starts and ends with people. Here are a few thoughts.

The first group sets the tone.

Even with large companies that have been around for decades, I still think that the first dozen employees largely set the tone for the entire corporate culture. Once a train is on the tracks it is very hard to stop its momentum (either good or bad), so you have to think about culture right from the beginning.

No bad apples.

When you bring on new team members, their experience and skills are clearly important (and a pre-requisite). I would argue that cultural fit is even more important. It only takes one bad apple to throw off the vibe of an entire team. You will have enough hurdles to cross when you are an entrepreneur. So do not make your life more difficult by hiring (or keeping) people who ruin the positive momentum everybody else works hard to build.

Diversity is good.

Finding people that fit your culture is key, but make sure you also look for a variety of skill sets and personalities. If everybody is an aggressive Type A business person that wants to make the decisions, that might not work so well. Find the yin and yang (or Jobs and Wozniak) for your business. Have detail-oriented people and creative people, aggressive people and patient people. Put together an ensemble. Inserting a few natural checks and balances into your team will make a huge difference down the road.

Be true to yourself.

Most businesses will end up representing their founders in certain ways (think about Apple, Google, or Blackstone). If you give your company a personality that strongly models what you really believe in, good things will happen. There is a reason why Warren Buffett works out of Omaha and sets a tone at Berkshire Hathaway that is ridiculously different than the investment banks on Wall Street. That is the culture, personality, and type of decision-making that works for him. He ignored Wall Street, set his own culture, and became one of the most successful investors of all time. If he had pretended that he was a hard-nosed Wall Street trader and worked in a typical hedge fund environment, he would have been miserable and never reached the same level of success. Be true to yourself.

Make it fun.

Running a startup is like fighting a war. Every day you go to battle. Those battles can be healthy, fun (especially in retrospect), and make you stronger. But you have to be in the trenches with people you enjoy working with. If you enjoy the journey, the entire process will be rewarding. To enjoy the journey, bring on team members who make it fun.

Take the Reins or Take the Backseat: Entrepreneurship is About Action

There are a number of aspects to building a business, but at the end of the day they all boil down to one thing: progress. Being an entrepreneur is about building something out of nothing. One day you have an idea, then you have a plan, then you have a founding team, then you have a prototype, then you have seed investors, then you have beta customers, then you have a product launch, then you have more investors, then you have a bigger team, then you scale to profitability. Not all companies need investors or follow this exact path, but this is a typical progression for a startup. Few make it from the very beginning (an idea) to the very end (a sustainable, profitable business). There are a number of reasons why companies fail along the way, but entrepreneurs who are truly tenacious and are constantly taking action are the ones who plow through each road block and make progress against all odds.

I wrote a previous post about some natural conflicts between the mindset of an entrepreneur and the mindset of an MBA program. Much of my criticism (as an entrepreneur who has an MBA) is about people who learn to analyze vs. people who learn to take action. Analyzing a situation and making reasonably intelligent comments is drastically different from taking action, managing a business, and building something. There are tons of good ideas out there (I've learned that ideas come cheap). But there aren't nearly as many people who take those ideas and put them into action.

The road to building a company is definitely a long, grueling one. But in my opinion it's a string of baby steps all lined up in the right direction. The actual next step at any point in time is never that phenomenally difficult. Call a customer. Pitch your idea to a potential partner. Outline your requirements for a prototype. Throw together a website. Iterate your business model. Start a blog. When I talk to people who have ideas they are considering pursuing, I try to help them break the business into pieces and define precise next steps. It is rare that the next steps take more than 3 hours, or a weekend at absolute most. So either take that action, put in the weekend, push your idea forward, or take the backseat. Entrepreneurship takes the word proactive to a whole new level. You can't wait for somebody else to tell you what to do, you have to wake up each morning and take the bull by the horns (though perhaps after coffee). I think you can tell near the beginning whether somebody is going to live in the clouds or actually make progress. The funny thing is that so many startup ideas die because nobody took the reins and simply took those first 3 baby steps.

I have written this specifically in regards to startup companies, but I believe it generally applies to any organization. Peter Ueberroth, former head of the US Olympic Committee, had a great comment that "Authority is 20 percent given and 80 percent taken" (previous Business Insider tip of the day). Companies have entry-level employees, managers, directors, vice presidents, etc. (or whatever equivalent applies to your organization). But at every level there are people who simply take action and seize authority and there are people who take the backseat. In my mind, a huge part of leadership is about moving the ball forward. Seize that authority, seize that opportunity, take action, and make progress. That's what makes a great entrepreneur. The resume is nice, the pitch deck is nice, the idea is cool, but taking action and making progress is what really counts. So be an entrepreneur, take action, and get out there and hustle.

Tales in Raising Venture Capital: One of my War Stories

People always want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly when you're talking to venture capitalists and raising money for a business. I'm constantly asked for war stories. So here is one that drove me nuts, but is laughable now that the burn is gone. To set the stage properly, most VC's I've worked with are great and this story is more about a consultant than a VC. But here it goes...

When I was first raising money for Seamless Receipts, I talked to a number of venture capital firms and early-stage investors. At the end of one pitch, a VC introduced me to an "independent consultant" who could provide expert advice, put us in touch with early customers, and perform some of the VC's diligence. The consultant had been a partner at a big firm, had served on the boards of several successful companies, and looked great on paper.

I emailed the consultant to setup the meeting, including myself and my business partner. He responded by forwarding me a dinner reservation at an expensive restaurant in New York the following night. This was rather unusual. We hadn't even setup a day and time for the meeting and here was a PDF copy of a restaurant reservation. As a scrappy entrepreneur, I tend to eat at restaurants that have dollar menus. But I figured he would pay if he made the reservation. Worst case I'd pay my share and it was a worthwhile expense for his time, which was clearly valuable.

We met for dinner the next day (his schedule seemed awfully flexible). He happily ate his food, but was more interested in the New York party scene than our business. We couldn't get him to muster up any logical feedback or provide any value during the discussion. Then there was the finale, he left us with the bill for his lobster dinner. I was aghast! This was worse than a pay-to-pitch scheme. We paid for the expensive dinner that this guy set up, he wasn't even a potential investor, and he had no expertise that I could discern. What kind of "successful" business person makes a young, budget-conscious entrepreneur buy him lobster dinner?

Aftermath:

I have a lot of respect for most VC's and consultants I've met. But this was ridiculous. I wanted to launch a nasty email to the consultant and the venture partner who made the introduction, but I decided to cool off and simply move on to my next slew of meetings. I won't be meeting with him again, and I will give an honest assessment of his character when asked. But it's a small world and your reputation is more important than anything, so I'm careful with my reactions.

Lessons Learned:

You should approach the fund raising process with the same discipline, focus, and rigor you use to build a product. This means constantly prioritizing your time. There are tons of investors, "experts", and entrepreneurs you can talk to. There are plenty of people masquerading as each as well. So make a giant list of people and firms, track it, trim it down to those who can be great partners, and spend your time accordingly. Identify the bad apples as fast as possible, toss them aside, and don't look back. The sooner you develop meaningful relationships with people in the venture community, the more you can triage your schedule (and cut out people who will waste your time), I might have gotten stuck with a useless meeting and a bill for a lobster dinner, but I won't get stuck twice.

Why Entrepreneurs Should Celebrate More

Entrepreneurship is a game of ups and downs, so enjoy the moments when you accomplish something great. Jack Welch noted in his book Winning that teams do not celebrate enough. It is an important point for entrepreneurs. When you run a growing business your team gives blood, sweat and tears to meet each milestone. So celebrate when you hit them. Have fun. Build camaraderie. Create a team that knows they are in this together and are fighting for a reason. I'm always frugal with investor money and am not encouraging frivolous behavior. But the spirit of celebrating an accomplishment is more important than the venue or the budget. A few dollars go a long way when you are excited about launching a product or landing a big account. Here are a few thoughts about how to use celebrations to increase both happiness and performance.

Make your goals clear, measurable, and visible to the whole team.

Critical milestones should be visible to your team every day they come to the office, either in a software tool or on a big whiteboard (for a tech geek I still love a few old fashioned management tools). Goals should also be precise and easy to measure. When a football team walks off the field they always know if they won the game, no exceptions. Your goals should be the same way. Measure them by exact product releases, user metrics, revenue targets, or business development deals (deals must be signed contracts, not "discussions" or anything fuzzy). Having a scoreboard with real-time metrics can help you focus on your company's key performance indicators. Then celebrate when everybody executes and you reach a milestone.

Have a healthy mix of short-term and long-term goals.

It is helpful to keep spirits up by having incremental milestones that are followed by quick celebrations. But nothing is more satisfying that reaching a goal you have been working on for months. "Long-term planning" can be an evil term in startups because you need to iterate and adapt over time. However, it's still important to have a vision for the company and everybody should understand that vision. Carving out milestones over various time frames and planning celebrations when each one is accomplished is a healthy process to go through.

Suck it up and celebrate during work hours.

You put in long hours, work weekends, and sleep is a novelty. Your team does the same. Once in awhile it's alright to get out early, celebrate and simply have a good time. Throwing a celebration at night means forcing your employees to choose between your celebration and something else in their personal lives (especially those with families). It's fun to have an evening holiday party or take your team out after work. But I believe in celebrating milestones during typical work hours. This way it's truly a special event and everyone can attend without sacrifice. Productivity that day might decrease, but your results overall will be ten times greater when you have happy employees.

Do not underestimate the power of celebrating your successes. Break up the intense work once in awhile and show your team that you appreciate them. Running a business (or any organization) is about getting a team to work together in pursuit of the same goals. So set clear milestones that everyone understands, measure progress constantly, and energetically reward your team when they succeed.

The Game Tape is Your Resume

Brian Cushing, a linebacker for the Houston Texans, said on ESPN that in the NFL "the game tape is your resume." There is no need to write your accomplishments down in a file. The game tape simply tells it all. People know who threw in the towel and who fought until the bitter end, leading their team to victory. These days, the same mindset holds for entrepreneurs (and increasingly for business people in general).

It was always true that if you were a corporate executive or commanded lots of press, the world would catch glimpses of your performance through the Wall Street Journal or other business publications. But most people do not land in the national limelight on a regular basis and thus enters the paper resume, a bulleted list with inflated job descriptions and carefully tuned action verbs. If hiring managers only had a game tape, then they would know exactly how you lead, how you think, and how much you contribute to the world. Hell, they might even know if people respect you (does that come through in a pdf resume?).

Congratulations, you now have a bunch of free tools to create your own game tape and show it to the world. Twitter. Facebook. Your blog. LinkedIn. Online videos. Online discussions. Your corporate homepage and bio. Your participation in community events. Go ahead and Google yourself, that's the best test of your background and performance (that even applies to dating now, it's not just for hiring managers and investors anymore). Many people have predicted the death of the traditional resume (it can even be considered amateur if you send a resume to a VC or a startup during a job hunt). My point is less about the decreasing need for a resume and more about the increasing need for a game tape. It gives a slightly raw view into who you are, how you think, how you behave, and ultimately how valuable you are to an organization. The more honest it is, the better it will help you end up in the right place over the long-term.

When Union Square Ventures posts a job, they start the process by asking for nothing more than a link to the applicant's online game tape. No resume. No cover letter. No words that have been carefully crafted for this particular job. Just show me your game tape. Others have followed suit as well (I'm not positive that USV was the first to do this, but they certainly drove the point home).

When LeBron James turned the world upside down with his free agency, he was recruited by everybody who could afford him. Why? They had seen him play. It wasn't his talent alone that mattered, it was the fact that everybody had seen him play, and they had seen him play a lot. If the exact same LeBron James declared free agency and floated his resume to people who had never seen him play, what kind of contract do you think he would have gotten? So why would you expect different in the business world? Don't wait until you need a game tape to make one. Make it as you go. Tell the world who you are and how you think. Share some thoughts, take part in discussions, and let your game tape represent you truthfully as you go through your career.

I am not praising LeBron for the way he announced his decision or for his media circus. I strongly believe in loyalty and if he was leaving Cleveland he should have told them that face to face in a closed office. I've said before that features can fail and products can fail, but your loyalty can never fail. Ever. People with the best game tapes actually tend to be those who are content in their jobs and aren't going anywhere (Chris Dixon, Fred Wilson, etc.). My message is that you should represent yourself well and show the world your game tape. Let them see you play. Good things tend to happen.

7 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Navy SEALs

I have a fascination with Navy SEALs (not because I have the physical prowess to be one, but because I respect their discipline, tenacity, and elite performance). I listened to two audiobooks recently about SEALs (Combat Swimmer, and Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALs) and realized that entrepreneurs can learn a lot from them. SEALs travel in small packs, but are tremendously effective and can unleash fury on groups 10 times their size. Here are 7 lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Navy SEALs.

1. Take Decisive Action

Build your company so that you can move quickly, regardless of the situation. You won't have perfect information. You won't make perfect decisions. But you can't afford to delay and ponder. Being decisive and nailing the execution will make you effective in the long run.

2. Fear Nothing

Life is full of danger. You can spend your time worrying or you can build a team, plan an attack, and go to battle. SEALs volunteer for missions few people would face. But that's not because they're reckless. It's because they train constantly and know their team can handle it. Put together a solid team, a sensible plan, and work your ass off and you can beat the odds.

3. Seek Excellence, not Fame

How many athletes can you name? How many politicians? How many CEO's? Probably quite a few. How about Navy SEALs? Not so many. They devote everything to mission success, but don't go looking for headlines. Entrepreneurs should do the same. Build a great product, a great company, and a great culture. Do these things and press will come, but headlines should be a side effect and not the goal.

4. Lock and Load

"Lock and Load" literally means preparing your weapon, but also represents a state of mind. SEALs don't know when they will be called on, but are ready to perform at a moment's notice. As an entrepreneur, opportunities will come in weird situations and you won't have advanced notice. So be prepared to give your elevator pitch or launch an immediate demo. A 30 second chance encounter can change your life, but only if you're locked and loaded.

5. Leave no Man Behind

Teamwork is everything. But that doesn't end at holding meetings and dividing tasks. You should be maniacal about defending your team. Cohesive teams are forged over months and years of going to war together. Showing loyalty to your team is one of the most powerful messages in business. Missions can fail. Features can fail. Products can fail. But your loyalty should never fail. Ever.

6. Plan Your Mission, but Prepare to Pivot

SEALs plan carefully. They prepare for dozens of scenarios and pay attention to every detail. Yet unknowns will always happen. Their teams are agile, handle surprises, and make adjustments on the fly. Entrepreneurs need to prepare diligently. But it's the combination of preparation and agility that turns a good team into a great company.

7. Make Peace with Constant Chaos

You don't know where the land mines are. You don't know what announcements will be released tomorrow. Your life is full of legal issues, product issues, service issues, sales issues, financing issues, recruiting issues, travel issues, etc. There are always 1,000 things to do and only time for 100. Yet that will never change. So you need to make peace with the idea of being around constant chaos. Break down your mission into components, define them, plan them, execute on them, and train yourself to be calm under fire. The ability to sit amidst chaos yet focus on the task at hand and execute well is the key to running a high-growth venture (and is SOP for a SEAL mission).

Buffett on Business School

I recently watched a special on CNBC featuring Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. It was filmed in November at Columbia Business School, but I caught a re-run. One moment that struck me was when a Columbia student asked Buffett (who got a masters from Columbia Business School) what the most valuable part of his degree was.

In his response, he explained that he was lucky to have found his passion early in life and knew exactly what he wanted to do after business school. Given that, he had already read a lot of the material they covered. So he didn't feel that he gained any incremental knowledge while being there. But he did gain the inspiration and confidence to launch into the next phase of his career (which obviously turned out quite well for him). The class work didn't change his life, but the experience and the close interaction with his professors was extremely valuable.

Buffett has a knack for distilling subjects into concise, simple ideas. His response sums up the experience I had in business school as well. I've been a nut about technology and entrepreneurship for awhile so I didn't gain much incremental knowledge from business school about running a startup. But I engrossed myself in the entrepreneurial community, spent time with successful entrepreneurs and early-stage investors, and launched a business. A passive walk through business school for the diploma, the course work, and some networking, is a horrible investment. But used properly, it can be a great opportunity to refine your interests, experiment, make a few mistakes, and launch the next stage of your career with a vengeance.

Why Tom Brady Would be a Great Startup CEO

I just watched the Patriots put on a solid performance against the Jets. It reminded me why Tom Brady would make a great startup CEO. I'm thankful that he's playing football instead of running a business. But I think he'd excel at that as well. Here's why:

He's Calm Under Pressure: There's a reason why Mark Sanchez threw four interceptions while Tom Brady went 28 for 41 without a single pick. Sanchez was jittery in the pocket and let the blitz force bad decisions. Tom Brady stayed poised and faced the pressure without losing his rhythm. Just like football, startup life is chaotic and stressful. It's the unshakable CEO's who come out with great companies.

He's Resilient: Brady is coming back from an injury last year and a painful loss last week. But every time he gets hit, he jumps back to his feet and battles again. That's the same dogged persistence you'll find in successful entrepreneurs.

His Team Believes in Him: Every week Brady earns credibility and respect from his teammates. There is no question who the leader is. No matter the pressure, his players look him in the eye and know that he'll pull the team together. That's the quality of a great quarterback as well as a great CEO.

He Takes Responsibility: Last week Belichick took some heat for his 4th down call. But Brady wouldn't pass the blame. He said it was the right call and they simply didn't pull it off. He would never use his teammates or coaches as an escape goat. Startup CEO's who take responsibility for failures build loyalty among their troops.

He Gets the Ball to the Right Player: Brady knows his strengths, his weaknesses, and his team. He doesn't try to run for 100 yards or shoot for the highlight reel. He just gets the ball to the right person at the right time. That's the secret to the Patriots' offense. That's also the secret to running a business. The CEO is not a micromanager, but an enabler. The CEO is a quarterback who builds a team, commands the huddle, and gets the ball to the right person to finish the play.

He Executes: In Summary, Brady gets the job done. He isn't physically imposing or intimidating, even on a high school field. But he's got a laser focus, a great arm, a tremendous work ethic, and the rare ability to rally a team of athletes. His calm demeanor makes him seem approachable and humble. Yet opponents fear his execution, decisionmaking, and ferocious competitive spirit.

The Best Hobby in the World

I had the pleasure of attending a dinner last week with a great venture capitalist and one of the entrepreneurs he funded. During introductions, he mentioned that he had the best hobby in the world. So we waited in suspense while he explained. It was a longer story than expected, but definitely interesting and unique.

A number of years ago he sent out a request to hundreds of his contacts: neighbors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, friends from elementary school, students, etc. He asked them all to submit a list of the 10 best books they had ever read. In return, he would compile these lists and send a printed, bound volume to each of the respondents with everyone's 10 favorite books. He received over 150 responses, compiled them, and sent bound volumes to everyone as promised. Many of the lists were accompanied by notes or personal stories. His friends were touched by the responses and read a variety of books they never would have explored on their own. He started repeating the exercise every year with different subjects: 10 best restaurants, 10 best movies, 10 most memorable places, etc. The responses became more literary as people started sharing personal stories from their lives. He was pressured by his contacts to host a party where they could all meet each other. So he began hosting an annual party, with an average of 150 people coming from all over the country (sometimes the world) and spending the weekend at his house. Many would meet with huge hugs as if they'd known each other for years, even though they had never actually met before. They shared so many stories that many already had a sense of mutual respect and interest.

My explanation doesn't do justice to the story or to his unique hobby. But throughout the evening, what I found was that above everything else he was proud of the people in his life. He had experienced financial success as an investor, but that wasn't what made his life fruitful. It was all about the entrepreneurs he had helped, the business partners he had worked with, the family members he spent time with, his neighbors, his friends, etc. Looking at business icons it's easy to find people who gained the world but gave up a piece of their soul in the process. I am in pursuit of a rewarding career, but I hope to look back at the people and adventures in my life more than any money I make.

How I won the DFJ $250K East Coast Venture Challenge

I had the honor of participating in the DFJ $250K East Coast Venture Challenge yesterday. I presented my startup, Digiceipt, which is a new service to manage your receipts on the web. I was up against some major competition and people have been asking how I won, so here's a stab at it. I'm not an expert, just a passionate entrepreneur. But perhaps I can pass on a few lessons about how to raise seed money.

Don't build a product, solve a problem: Products are great, but investors are looking for a pain point that somebody is begging for a solution to. Don't create a product and figure out how to sell it. Find a problem and figure out how to solve it.

Sell, don't explain: I've heard this a number of times and it's very important, especially if you're a tech company. If they care about technical details, they'll ask. So be prepared to answer those questions, but that's not the crux of your presentation. You're there to sell your solution, sell your team, sell your market, and sell your ability to execute.

Talk to customers: Get out there. Talk to people. Understand the mindset of your future customers. Know what they love, what they hate, and how they behave. When you're asked questions about your customer base, you want to respond with specific feedback you've gotten.

Get coaching: Entrepreneurs are naturally optimistic, confident, and independent. So it may be unnatural to constantly ask for help, but do it! Leading up to the event I talked to over a dozen entrepreneurs, investors, and savvy business people. I got practice fielding all kinds of tough questions. Pitches are easy, but your responses to the VC's questions will make or break you.

Have something to show: There are times when you can get by with just a PowerPoint, but building a prototype does wonders. Having an idea is nice. Showing that you can execute on it is key.

Know the end game: Some people will argue this one, but I believe it helps to have a well-defined revenue model and potential exit strategies. It also helps to know exactly what you will do with their money (get a finished product, reach first revenue, hit a milestone that helps you raise more money, etc.)

Practice and do your homework: Simple, but phenomenally important. Be an expert on your competitors, your technologies, your potential partners, changes in the marketplace, etc. It makes a difference and the details matter.

Customizing Your Career Goals and Training

I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that had some great insight for careers and business training. It actually wasn't about business careers at all. It was about golf instructors. The story explained that there are a variety of styles for golf swings. Some come and go and others last for decades. However, each golfer reacts better to a different style of play. Yet 90% of golf instructors are functional experts that only specialize in one style. They force that style upon every single golfer, giving the same training to everybody.

Being a professional golfer isn't about doing the same thing as everybody else and simply doing it better. It's about finding exactly what works for you and exploiting that approach. But most instructors will never help you find your ideal style. They simply give you generic training, based on what they know best, and sometimes make you worse. This analogy holds incredibly true in business careers as well, as it does with most of life. You need to develop a strong sense of self and consistently gauge whether training is tailored to you as an individual.

Being in business school makes me especially aware of this issue. Bankers will come and give advice that's only relevant to bankers. Consultants will give advice that's only relevant to consultants, etc. Each person has an approach that works for them but promotes it as if it's applicable everywhere. You shouldn't try to teach Warren Buffett how to be a short-term speculator or teach a commodities trader how to be a long-term investor. Career advisors have told me to wear a suit to an interview with a startup that would have chased me out of the building if I wore a suit (some office cultures strongly prefer jeans). In most cases that the career advisors had seen (banks, manufacturing companies, and consulting firms) the advice was accurate. But it wasn't relevant to my exact situation. Everything needs to be tailored to your particular interests, strengths, background, desired industry, goals, etc. While that sounds obvious, I'm amazed by how many times people give advice that's supposed to be customized, but is simply an expression of a functional expertise.

So own your own career, own your own goals, and take advice with care. I always seek training and mentoring and learning experiences, but I make an effort to check for styles that specifically work for me. That is so much more effective and rewarding. I encourage others to be wary of simplified models that claim to summarize everything relevant to a given business or career path.

The WSJ article also describes the structured, sequential process used by the golf instructors. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Success. That's how it works. Every time. But life is more complicated than that and the truly talented instructors (about 10%) first learn about the client, then create a customized plan for success. This is incredibly relevant to the business world! The old model of business training was a simple sequence. You buy suits, get an interview, get a job, follow orders, get rich, buy more expensive suits, and eventually retire. That's exactly what landed us in a financial crisis. I'm interested in that top 10% who have the ability to step aside from the mortgage-backed hype, the business fad of the moment, or a 2-by-2 matrix that summarizes an organization. Why not avoid being forced into a particular model, culture, or framework and have the guts to create your own? That is the spirit of an entrepreneur.