The insecurity of hitting the “Publish” button
I wrote a post this week that was tough to hit the “Publish” button. It ended up hitting a nerve and having over 500 readers. The best thing about it were the comments and feedback that came from the readers. The chart serves two purposes… First, wow. Second, a reminder I haven’t written much lately. A
Read MoreEntrepreneurship and Depression
The story of Robin Williams’ death yesterday was tragic, one of the funniest men in my lifetime, taking his own life because of depression. I’ve started this post a number of times. Inspired by both Brad Feld and Ben Huh – I have admired both men for their transparency (and I’ve told them both). But
Read MoreDave, good to see you, I just left my job!
I love what I do. Working with early stage founders that are on their way to launching companies is great work – even a calling. I was at a restaurant on Westlake Ave today, sitting outside for lunch with a co-worker. He and I were talking through some business topics when I hear “Dave?” and
Read MoreWhy is a Phone Number so Hard?
Really (as my teenagers would say)?! Is it that hard to add your phone number to your email signature? I know those of us in tech are uber responsive to Google Chat or Hangout or even Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the old standby email. I received one of those emails today from a company wanting
Read MoreDon’t EVER Use a Rhetorical Question to Open Your Pitch
A couple of weeks ago at the Startup Next program in Seattle I was providing feedback on (short) pitches. In this specific case, a one minute pitch. Yes, that thoroughly contrived, yet necessary effort to communicate your idea to a group of people in 1, 3 or 5 minutes. One Founder started their pitch with
Read MoreFind Meaningful Work and Change the World
I’m an entrepreneur. I start things. As a founder, I stress over payroll. If you join one of my teams, I want you to be looking for more than a job. Then I hear people talk about the need for jobs in this country (and other countries) and I have to admit a level of
Read MoreStartup NEXT – Week 1 – Customer Development and Value of Ideas
This week I had the opportunity to open the new Startup NEXT pre-accelerator program in Seattle. Startup NEXT is a five-week program that helps startups increase their odds of success and compress their time frame to launch. Here are the slides from week 1.
Read MoreAccess to Capital for Entrepreneurs Trends – Infographic
Great post by the Guidant Financial team Please include attribution to guidantfinancial.com with this graphic.
Read MoreGlobal Trends in Startup Ecosystem – Presentation
What do you learn from doing 815 events in 102 countries and 467 cities in 2013? Here’s the presentation from the SEED Brazil Demo day keynote, March 19, 2014. Up Global Brasil – global trends in startup ecosystem from Dave Parker
Read More2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people. Click here to
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