A Sack of Seattle

The Rise of Agile Organizational Development

2009-11-09T08:05:00-08:00

There’s lots of buzz in the startup community about agile software development; there are software programs, books and seminars on the topic, and even huge firms like IBM are now touting their "agile
development solutions". The general idea is to create a team and a software process that is flexible, quick and adaptive to feedback from the market. Put stuff out there, collect feedback on what works, kill what doesn’t, improve what does, rinse and repeat.

But there's a parallel trend occurring in the early stage technology market that hasn't been talked about much. Programs like TechStars, Y-Combinator, and Founder’s Co-op have been pioneering what I like to
call agile organizational development. These “initiator” organizations provide founding entrepreneurs with an incredibly compressed calendar of iterative feedback on all aspects of their company. The feedback comes from a broad network experienced entrepreneurs who serve as mentors in these programs, and it comes often, regularly, and relentlessly.

Mentors in these programs provide feedback on the startup’s team, 30second pitch, fund raising pitch, positioning, product, pricing – on just about every aspect of the organization. Some of the feedback is
contradictory - just like market feedback can be. The TechStars program even has a name for the confusion that results from conflicting advice: "mentor whiplash". But the net effect of all this
menot input is a set of organizations that adapt to market feedback much more nimbly than startup organizations of the past. This feedback cycle and the entrepreneurs' response is what I’m calling agile
organizational development and my bet is that the companies that embrace it are much more likely to succeed than those that don't.

These programs are all relatively new, and there aren't any books or seminars on the topic yet – but I'm betting there will be.

This blog post has been published by xconomy

Great video to watch about entrepreneurship

2009-11-06T08:00:00-08:00

asack

Friday's Homework Assignement

2009-11-05T20:31:55-08:00

asack

Advice for wannabe entrepreneur from big company

2009-10-28T18:48:00-07:00

A big company executive who is ready for a change asked me for career advice. He wants to work at a small company. I told him that he should take a project and start small -- work out of his house. Having a project to work on that's interesting and takes advantage of his past experiences will be super useful in moving him from point A (big company) to somewhere else. The reason I gave him this advice is that I've found many people -- myself included look for an insight that's the BIG idea -- as if big companies were born out of strokes of lightning in a bottle. I think that may happen, but more often they come from mucking around with ordinary things and putting things in motion. Once things are in motion -- extraordinary things can happen.

Open - my vote for the title of new book by Charlene Li

2009-10-27T12:35:31-07:00

Charlene Li is one of the great analysts in the technology sector. Read about her and her company here. I just read her tweet:

"Wanted: Your vote on the best title for my next book, takes 2 minutes. Thanks! http://bit.ly/18l7oE"

I clicked the link and it brought me to a book description and then a list of 5 titles to choose from. I think this kind of crowd sourcing is just beginning and we're going to see a lot more. I think it makes all the sense in the world. When communication is key -- and you don't know what words work best -- just ask the audience. It's the ultimate "ask the audience" hotline used in "who wants to be a millionaire"

I voted that her book be called "Open". We'll see if it wins.

Friday's advice for wannabe MBA entrepreneur

2009-10-23T15:02:14-07:00

A 25 year old MBA student called me from MIT. I'm always happy to help an alum. She had already demoonstrated the ability to do a little bit of research and reach out to people and introduce herself. I told her that's a good skill to have. My career advice was :

Meet with the constituents of the start-up scene in Seattle
- Entrepreneurs
- Press
- Investors
- Big companies
Strive to start your own company before you're 30 -- doing it while your young gives you great exposure, great learning, and you're not encumbered by life's expenses yet.
Consider working at a big company for 4 or 5 years -- learn an industry and learn a function. I've never done this before -- so it's a bit of do as I say not as I do. My career has been small company after small company. It's useful to have experience working at one of the big tech companies.

You're not young forever. Take advantage of it. Now that I'm forty -- I'm learning that I have some perspective of time. Sometimes that's useful....sometime it's an impediment. I'd gladly be 25 again. :-)

Web 2.0 conference in SF

2009-10-20T08:02:00-07:00

I'm spending today and tomorrow at Web 2.0. I've attended the conference for the last 4 years and am looking forward to it this year more than In the past. Not sure why -- but i am. If you're in SF and want to get together...send me an email

TechStars is in Seattle Nov. 4 -- Seattle angel investors should attend

2009-10-19T15:06:36-07:00

TechStars is a mentorship-driven investment program in Boulder and Boston. They fund 20 new startups every year from over 600 that apply, and have been operating for 3 years now in Boulder and one year in Boston. TechStars is like a "boot camp" for those companies highlighted by some amazing mentors. Somehow they let me on that list and went to both Boulder and Boston this summer to help these companies, and had a blast doing so. TechStars companies have achieved some notable exists such as Intense Debate (to Automattic/Wordpress), Socialthing (to AOL), and Brightkite (to Limbo).

Every year, the TechStars companies get together for a reunion in a different city. This year, I'm excited to tell you that it's happening here in Seattle! As part of the reunion, TechStars reserves a part of one afternoon to have some of their companies that are still raising money pitch investors. About 75% of the companies that come out of TechStars have been angel or ventured backed historically, so this is a great chance to see some interesting early stage companies and to check out what TechStars is all about. In addition to the company presentations, there is a panel on angel and venture investment trends that I'm on along with Brad Feld (co-founder of TechStars and Managing Director of The Foundry Group), Greg Gottesman (Madrona), Stephen Hall (Vulcan Capital), David Cohen (co-founder of TechStars and angel investor), and Chris Sheehan (runs CommonAngels in Boston). I'm really looking forward to it and if you're a Seattle area VC or angel investor that is interested in attending, please contact me and I'll get you an invitation.

Too few hours in the day....and week

2009-10-16T15:10:09-07:00

Damn. I haven't written a post all week. Just been swamped with work -- I'm glad it's Friday but another entrepreneur told me they hate Fridays because it means the week is gone. That's how I'm feeling today.

Reflections on Craigslist, Twitter, and Facebook

2009-10-13T22:21:50-07:00

I co-teach a class on entrepreneurship at University of Washington. Yesterday's class was on social marketing. I'll make the following anecdotal observations:

Craigslist still rules in my opinion -- hands down it's the most impressive company next to google online. 30 employees and over 100MM in revenue from approx 5 cities.
Twitter -- has the most potential to change the web. BUT -- many people don't get it, don't use it, try it and stop. What makes Twitter interesting is despite these things -- it's moved the web into real time and has the potential to really change marketing online.
Facebook -- 5 years in and they still don't really have a business model. They spend 150MM per year and are just reaching cash flow break even. I think they're secret sauce should be in the virtual goods area and not in advertising.

M&A activity [Flickr]

2009-07-20T10:44:04-07:00

a sack of seattle posted a photo:

truck pepsi [Flickr]

2009-07-20T10:42:50-07:00

a sack of seattle posted a photo: