Corporate Culture
Two Brothers
Friday, February 1st, 2008There were once two brothers whose father owned a large ranch in Northern California, in an area that would one day be known as the Silicon Valley. AdVenture ranch had been passed down intact through multiple generations and the boys’ father wanted to ensure it would pass to his heirs undivided. As such, he devised […]
Bro Factor
Friday, January 25th, 2008Bro - abbreviation of “Brother”, meaning friend or dude. A term of endearment used to denote a familiarity beyond a casual friendship.
In the world of Big Dumb Companies (”BDC”), there is little likelihood you will establish a professional relationship with someone outside of your company that goes beyond a casual friendship. At large companies, such […]
Great Expectations
Thursday, January 10th, 2008“Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations.”
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
A: You win a $20M lottery. Several days later, you learn that four other people also had the winning number and thus your actual winnings are reduced by $16M to a total […]
Finding An Entrepreneurial Gem
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
- George Bernard Shaw
In the early stages of your adVenture, everyone you hire must be unreasonable.
Frugal Is As Frugal Does
Thursday, October 11th, 2007Richard White, author of The Entrepreneur’s Manual, surveyed a number of venture capitalists, asking them to identify the characteristics of successful, serial entrepreneurs.
One of the attributes identified by all of the venture capitalists questioned was, “Frugal use of capital”. In fact, several of the venture capitalists pointed out that successful entrepreneurs often have to be […]
Bang A Gong - Entrepreneur infoChachkie
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007Marc Bolan, lead singer of T. Rex, was a modestly talented glam rocker from the early 1970’s without much to say. Even so, when he sang “Bang a Gong, Get It On”, he hit upon a key entrepreneurial principle without even realizing it; words for entrepreneurs on The Fringe to live by.
Private Means Private or How To Avoid Dropping Trou - Entrepreneur infoChachkie
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007One of the few advantages you have as a small company is that you can keep your cards close to your vest. A major disadvantage of a public Big Dumb Company (“BDC”), as well as one that works closely with governmental agencies, is the degree to which they are forced to publicly disclose otherwise confidential […]
Turncoats are Turncoats
Monday, July 16th, 2007It is 1783 and the Revolutionary War just ended. Benedict Arnold applies for a job at your adVenture. Your patriotic leanings aside, and assuming he is highly qualified, would you hire him?
Bank Robber or ATM Operator?
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007A Fortune 500 CEO once told me that I was a Bank Robber. Initially, I was offended. However, once he explained what he meant, I was flattered.
Making Stone Soup
Friday, June 15th, 2007Pop Quiz: Why did the Berlin Wall fall?
Some say Reagan orchestrated the Soviet Union’s demise. Others surmise that Communism was a doomed economic model bound to eventually fail on its own accord.
However, I believe that Communism failed because the West possessed three very powerful “secret” weapons: the board game Monopoly, “Green Eggs and Ham”, and […]