The most important question to ask before taking seed money (from VCs)
programming, philosophy, history, internet, startups
Figuring out what your company is all about
What is your company about? Recently I got inspired by Kathy Sierra, whose blog Creating Passionate Users and Head First series of books revolutionized developer education. She kept saying the same…
The natural evolution from side project to full-time business
Some have doubted our advice that you should hold on to your day job and start something on the side. They argue building a business requires such persistent effort that you need to devote all your time to it to do it right. And it’s true that building a business requires plenty of time an…
Balsamiq - A look back at 2008
News and announcements from your friends at Balsamiq.
Sometimes having nothing to lose can be a real advantage for a startup
espite being coastally challenged (currently living in Philadelphia), Josh has been an active entrepreneur and investor in the Internet industry since its commercialization. In 1992, while he was a student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Josh co-founded Infonautics Corporation – an Internet…
Having Co-founders Is Valuable But Not Crucial
Many experts, including my personal hero Paul Graham, strongly advise against founding a company on your own: All investors, without exce...
The early days: How 37signals built buzz out of the gate
When 37signals first started out, we didn’t make products. We did client work. From the beginning, we allotted plenty of time for side projects. Things that would get us attention (eNormicom), experiments with new ways of selling our services (37express), ways to show off our design thinki…
Introducing our new venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz
Marc Andreessen is a cofounder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is an innovator and creator, one of the few to
You Know You’re Getting Close to Your Customers When They Offer You a Job
In 1985 Ardent Computer was determined to create a market niche for personal supercomputers. To understand our potential markets, we started by analyzing the marketing literature from Cray Research…
YC Terms are Poor
I love Y Combinator. They are scrappy, innovative, entrepreneur-friendly, and created a model that VCs originally laughed at but are now copying. I love Paul Graham’s essays and I like him pe…
Using AdWords to assess demand for your new online service, step-by-step
If you want to build an online service, and you don't test it with a fake AdWords campaign ahead of time, you're crazy. That's the conclusio...
Want To Be A Startup CEO? Better Learn How To Code.
I decided to start a company after graduating from business school at MIT Sloan. After taking courses with industry leaders like Jack Welch and learning the fundamentals of solid management practic…
7 Reasons Why My Social Music Site Never Took Off
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Every Piece of Startup Advice is a Lie
Well, not all of it. That title was blatant click-bait. You’re here and I’ve won. Nyah!