Happy Friday.
It’s a cool week here in DC and, to be honest, it’s nice to be home for once. That being said, we’re starting to lock in stops for the 2017 tech tour so let me know if you’re interested in letting us pull the Airstream to your city and hang out for a bit.
In other news, we finally got around to updating the website. What do you think?Â
It’s probably fair to say that most investors don’t appreciate (or remember?) the struggle that entrepreneurs face when trying to get their business off the ground.
It’s also probably fair to say that most entrepreneurs spend exactly zero minutes trying to understand how investors think or how the distribution of returns typically work for any set of investments.
2. “The simplest explanation for my departure is money, or, more accurately, the lack of it.” [Link] [Tweet]
This is one of the best written pieces I’ve ever read on the topic of moving from the “big city” to someplace in the Midwest.
I think it’s harder to start your career outside of certain larger cities but, once you’ve gained a bit of experience, there’s no reason why you can’t move to someplace more affordable to continue your career.
3. “There are basically four strategies that a couple can practice at a restaurant.” [Link] [Tweet]
In case you’re wondering:
A communist economy is a terrible idea. A communist dinner table, on the other hand, truly is a bounteous paradise.
4. “Never reduce a target. Instead, increase actions.” [Link] [Tweet]
This is your pep talk for the week.
5. “You should celebrate any day that you don’t have to sell off another part of your company.” [Link] [Tweet]
This entire article reads like satire until you start recognizing that uncomfortable feeling inside you that says “this is all so true.”
6. “Asking for advice is lazy is because you can’t build a business or career or a life on everybody else’s opinions.” [Link] [Tweet]
I recorded this interview while visiting Syracuse on the tech tour earlier this year. It looks a lot more coherent in text than it felt while I was rambling across the table to the reporter.
7. “If you want to survive, don’t just build a network. You have to build a hive, and eventually a hivemind.” [Link] [Tweet]
As we begin locking in the 2017 tech tour stops, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about this same idea. Stay tuned, I think I have an idea…
8. “in early-stage, he needs to see 5x, but most funds are just gunning for 3x.” [Link] [Tweet]
If you’re looking for a quick pulse of what GPs and LPs are thinking these days, this is for you.
9. “there can be no revival of American manufacturing, because there has been no collapse.” [Link] [Tweet]
If you consider yourself part of the tech community, you’re not surprised by the rise of coworking spaces, accelerators and code schools all over the country.
If you’re trying to help build your tech community, however, it’s worth reading this piece to better understand why our elected leaders hang on to manufacturing and other “low tech” jobs.
Pro tip: when you head to your next tech event, try to convince one of your “non-tech” friends to join you. That’s the best way to reduce the divide between the tech and non-tech communities.
10. “What if we came out clean and acknowledged that we’re not making enough money?” [Link] [Tweet]
Less grinfucking, more real talk. Kthx.
Firehose
You can get the full stream of the things I read, it’s all on Twitter — follow me: @paulsingh. You can always find me (and the rest of the Results Junkies community) in Slack, apply to join.
-P