Yet Another (ex-)VC Blog

Mark Davis, one of my classmates from Columbia Business School, just started compiling tips for people who are interested in working in the venture capital industry.  His blog is already a great resource for all things VC related, and so adding some VC careers info is just the cherry on top.  I’ve also added a link to his VC careers page from my VC careers page.

We submitted a talk for SXSW Interactive focused specifically on Cloud Computing. I’d appreciate your support by voting up our talk. It will require you to register before voting, but I promise it is relatively painless. :) Here is the link to the talk: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/5440

Thanks!

Practically speaking, you probably can’t actually put a customer in all your meetings. If that’s the case, you should act as if she’s there. Pretend like she’s sitting in the room. In the past, I’ve actually designated an empty chair in the meeting as being where the customer is, and looking in that direction while asking “what does the customer have to say?” (yes, I’m weird). When you’re trying to make an important decision, and you’re sort of divided on the issue, ask yourself: If the customer were here, what would she say? You don’t actually have to do everything she says, but it’s useful to at least factor in her point of view.

via Startups: Your Customers Are Not Ignorant, Selfish, Control Freaks.

The kaChing team is quick to note that because they’re still closing-in on product/market fit, they’re less data-driven than they plan to be once they’re in optimizing mode. “We create hypotheses, and test them,” says Rachleff. “If something fails, we cut it off. If something seems to succeed, we pursue it aggressively. You have to have the courage of your convictions. With limited data, you have to make tough decisions.”

via Lessons Learned: Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot.

"Can you send me some documentation about your product?"

This is a great Quora discussion of Paypal’s unique culture, with lots of input from past Paypal employees.

When people feel they are appreciated and valued, they are made to feel like they are on a mission.  And rest assured that missionaries will beat mercenaries every time.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/Ch1qod5vit8/

As a daily Evernote user this was awesome to see. One of my other favorite productivity boosting companies Officedrop was plugging into Evernote already and I’m looking forward to seeing what other cool integrations are in store through this platform.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thisisgoingtobebig/~3/S3VN1x8Q06w/anthony-casalena-the-best-web-entrepreneur-youve-never-heard.html

New York tech and Squarespace FTW!

<a href=”http://howtogetfocused.com/chapters/practicing-focused-thought/”>http://howtogetfocused.com/chapters/practicing-focused-thought/</a>