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Paul LaPorte
Baltimore, MD
Career entrepreneur in technology and software
Recent Activity
Kickstarter update. Pebble, mentioned in my recent blog, http://bit.ly/IRb9Mp, targeting $100,000, has increased its crowd sourced funding to almost $4.5M w/30 days to go.
VCs Get Disintermediated
The problem with being an entrepreneur is that so often your future rides on the whim of venture capitalists. Yes - they are called many things, like "vulture capitalists", "arrogant bastards", or "presidential candidate". But they also have been known to be "partners", "facilitators", and "fina...
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Apr 16, 2012
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Apr 16, 2012
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Apr 16, 2012
You're right. It impacts morale, other employees wonder if it's time for them to go ... it definitely presents challenges. Time for that other post on communicating change to employees.
Strategic Change Creates Turnover
At some point in most start ups, there comes a realization that the plan won't work, at least as originally envisioned. There is an adjustment made, sometimes as a team, sometimes driven by the founder. However the decision is made, it becomes imperative to effectively and clearly communicate th...
Ditto for marketing and product managers. It's amazing how many times people create companies and products without ever seeing a real customer.
No Substitute for Real Customer Feedback
You're the guy; the one who is the expert, has the domain expertise and is more in touch with the market opportunity. There is no one else as uniquely positioned to shed insight into product requirements, pricing, customer behavior or a host of other critical market elements. Except the customer...
I laugh when I think about some of the true start up office conditions. At Evergreen Assurance, Chris, the founder, had a wooden table he found at a yard sell. He brought that table in as a group desk into every company he started. I'm still picking splinters out of my arms 10 years later. I'm sure everyone that experienced that table will remember it forever.
Virtual Corporate Office - Bad Choice for a Start-Up
Having been a virtual employee often in my career, I could tell you many great things about it: no commute equaled better work/life balance, more flexibility, I saved the planet a bit, and I got to wear fuzzy slippers all too often. But these are benefits afforded a more developed company or one...
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Feb 2, 2012
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Feb 1, 2012
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Feb 1, 2012
Paul LaPorte has shared their blog Insights of the Startup
Jan 30, 2012
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Jan 27, 2012
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