Skip to content

Tag: startups

On complexity of explaining business failure

On complexity of explaining business failure

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

Introduction During the research period for my dissertation based on startup failures, I realized there are multiple layers of failure factors associated with any given company (or, in reverse, success factors). These are: generic business problems (e.g., cash-flow) individual-level problems (e.g., personal chemistry) company type problems (e.g., lack of funding for startups) business model problems (e.g., chicken-and-egg for platforms) Only…

Continue readingOn complexity of explaining business failure

Belief systems and human action

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

What people believe, sometimes because real because of that. 1. Introduction. People are driven by beliefs and assumptions. We all make assumptions and use simplified thinking to cope with complexities of daily life. These include stereotypes, heuristical decision-making, and many forms of cognitive biases we’re all subject to. Because information individuals have is inherently limited as are their cognitive capabilities,…

Continue readingBelief systems and human action
Why do I love startups?

Why do I love startups?

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

I’ve dedicated plenty of time for studying and coaching startups. But why do I care? Not only care, but be passionate about them, enough to say I love startups. I got to think about that, and here are the results of that quick reflection. 1. Startups are about technology Novelty, innovation, progress… call it what you want, but there is…

Continue readingWhy do I love startups?

Startup dilemmas: Feature priority problem

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

Introduction It is a common issue for startups applying customer development to discover many customer problems and either relating to that or to their vision include many, many features in their product development roadmap. However, as we know, it is not about the number of features but their quality, i.e. usefulness in solving the customer pain points. Why is this…

Continue readingStartup dilemmas: Feature priority problem
People vs. business models: Warren Buffet’s dilemma

People vs. business models: Warren Buffet’s dilemma

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

In Quora, somebody asked why Warren Buffet prefers not to invest in startups [1]. One of the answers that resonated with me was this one: “In an interview several years back, Warren Buffet said that he does not like to invest in companies whose success is based on the smartness of its people. His reasoning was that all companies hire…

Continue readingPeople vs. business models: Warren Buffet’s dilemma

Why human services are needed for world peace

Published by Joni on March 30, 2017

The bot can be boss, as long as we have jobs. Why are human services the future of our economy? (And, therefore, an absolute requirement for world peace [1].) For three reasons: They do not pollute or waste material resources (or tend to do so with significantly less degree than material consumption) Exponential growth of population absolutely requires more human labor…

Continue readingWhy human services are needed for world peace

Modern Market Research Methods: A Startup Perspective

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

EDIT: Updated by adding competitive analysis, very important to benchmark competitors. EDIT2: Updated by adding experimentation (14th April, 2016) Introduction Somebody on Quora was asking about ‘tools’ for validating viability and demand for a startup’s products. I replied it’s not a question of tools, but plain old market research (which seems to be all too often ignored by startup founders).…

Continue readingModern Market Research Methods: A Startup Perspective

The Vishnu Effect of Startups (creators/destroyers of jobs)

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Background In the Hindi scripture there is a famous passage in which the god Vishnu describes himself as death; to Westerners this is mostly known through Oppenheimer’s citation: “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” But, there is another god in Hinduism, Brahma, that is the creator of the universe. How does this relate to startups? Just like these…

Continue readingThe Vishnu Effect of Startups (creators/destroyers of jobs)