Effective decision-making for scientists, inventors and innovators
“Everyone’s always talking about what needs to get done, but no one is willing to do what it takes. That’s where I come in!” – Clint Eastwood aka Dirty Harry.
It’s been a while since I’ve written about leadership, but as you can tell from my last post, I retain my love affair with great leadership. At this time, I want to focus on the kind of leadership needed from people like you: great scientists, inventors and other innovators – the “men of the mind” as Ayn Rand called them (even though she herself and many of you are in fact women.) In this post, I’m focussing down on the first trait correlated with great innovative leadership — powerful decision-making. How does a great leader make great decisions in the face of great uncertainty?
The season of recommitment
This is a season of celebration as well as the season of recommitment. So as entrepreneurs, it’s definitely fitting to recommit at this time to our ventures. This is just as true for those of us who are also investors. We are all entrepreneurs. Recommitting may not be easy at all; if you’re like most of us, you may sometimes wonder if you’ll really make it in your business. It’s at this point that recommitment is all the more necessary. Let me suggest a readily available source of inspiration. (more…)
Advice from a true VC
The Startup Game — Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs was published this year by William H. Draper III, currently general partner of Draper Richards and the founder of Sutter Hill Ventures in Palo Alto, one of Silicon Valley’s first VC’s. This guy is the real deal, having a part in the venture capital funding of icons such as Skype, Hotmail, OpenTable and many others, while investing 40 years in the midst of fabled Silicon Valley. I want you to read this book too, because I find myself in almost total agreement with his views on what makes companies fundable. So I’m dedicating this post to suggestions he makes to entrepreneurs seeking funding and success. Read on…
10 steps to angel and VC funding in uncertain times
Naturally, when there is a lot of uncertainty about the economy, some investors hold more capital in reserve and others focus on less risky investments. So less cash is available for risky investing like angel investments and venture capital funding. That explains why it’s been more difficult for emerging growth companies to raise capital this year. So as an entrepreneur, how do you take advantage of this situation… (more…)
Comments on Quick Pitch
Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the Quick Pitch event last night produced by the San Diego Tech Coast Angels and hosted by Qualcomm. Thanks specifically to Ron Dinocco for the massive job of getting the huge team of volunteers working together, and being an entertaining MC and sporting a brilliant red bow tie. Thanks to Linda Wells for carrying out all the work behind the scenes – which was truely daunting. How she does it all I’ll never know. And thanks to Cub Parker for mentoring, for pulling all the sponsors together and for making sure the standards were kept as high as ever.
There were some really interesting comments made by some of the finalists after the event with respect to qualifiying for real funding. I want you to know what they said …
