Blog Posts

  • 2013 trip to Tour de France

    This year was the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France. Assuming you know me a bit, you know I’m a cycling guy – both a rider and a fan of the pro sport. This, therefore, was an event I somehow needed to be part of. So late last year, I signed up to rideContinue…

  • The Boston Tech Line

    I’ve recently been struck by the the office locations at which I’ve found Boston area startups taking root. And a pattern emerged for me: the center of gravity is along the MBTA Red Line.  And there are so many companies it now significantly outweighs the historically-named “128 Corridor.” This shift in the Boston tech scene is so significant that IContinue…

  • Minimize use of CxO titles at early company stages

    Minimize use of CxO titles at early company stages

    I’m about 10 months into helping a bunch of startups through organizations like TechStars, MassChallenge, and others.  And I’ve seen an emerging trend among startups that I want to discourage: The over – and inappropriate – use of “Chief (fill-in-the-blank)” titles. “What’s the problem,” you ask?  “Why not give people CxO roles?” There are a bunch ofContinue…

  • Families – not age – affects startups

    On February 17, 2013, Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe wrote an article Exploring the Age Divide in Boston Start-Ups. It infuritated me for two reasons: 1) It’s probably true, but 2) for different reasons than Scott asserted. Scott’s premise is that start-ups are only the domain of young, 20-somethings. He concludes “older people” (over 30?)Continue…

  • Culture matters even at the start

    A few days ago, Todd McKinnon asserted in a WSJ blog article that “long term success is not predicated on creating a world-class company culture.” He also states “Forget about cultural fit and instead get people in the door that can create a beautiful product and bring passion to the problems your company is out to solve.” My friend BobContinue…