Archive for the 'Startups' Category

Konrad Zuse, Alan Turing, and the World’s First Computer Startup

Posted on October 18th, 2013 · Posted in Startups

Having a hobby you’re passionate about is important. Having a job you’re passionate about is important. And if you’re lucky, there will be a congruence that allows work and hobby to cross-fertilize each other. My hobby of many years is the study of the history of computing technology (you can see some of my collection on my hobby site), and it’s ended up merging with my work. It enriched a number of my lectures – this one, for instance – by providing an unusual treasure of innovative examples; and it led to engagements as curator and scientific consultant for cool.. Read more

Startup Burnout – and What You Can Do About It

Posted on September 18th, 2013 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Startups

Guest post by Toby Ruckert (Twitter / LinkedIn) When I was 29 years old, I thought I had successfully ticked many boxes of things I wanted to achieve in life. I married the love of my life, became an accomplished pianist, had built and helped others to build several companies and realized my dream of living on an island in a house next to the beach with a view of the ocean. Happy. Right? Yes, happy. But everything comes at a price. The triple and sometimes quadruple responsibilities of the different ventures I was involved in, the wide variety of.. Read more

On the Volatility of Startups

Posted on August 25th, 2013 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Startups

        To a first approximation, all startups fail. This should never be a deterrent to starting one up. – I wish I could attribute this to some famous name, but hey, it’s all mine… and very true. As I mentioned before, these days I’m writing a white paper I call “Solutions to Information Overload: a Catalogue Raisonné”, being an encyclopedic compilation of every solution I know to Information Overload. Many of these are products from small startup companies, and I’m repeatedly delighted by the originality of thought and the positive energy characterizing these. Less delightful by far is the observation.. Read more

Startup Innovation: an Automatic Presentation Skills Coach!

Posted on June 26th, 2013 · Posted in Startups

Startup innovation knows no bounds Living here in Startup Nation, and having worked with and been around startups for much of my life, you’d think I’d grow used to these little powerhouses of innovation. And yet they always manage to surprise me, with an endless stream of innovative ideas and applications. Perhaps my favorite kind of startup is one that takes existing technology and applies it to make something completely different. Recently I went to the Innovation Day fair of StarTau, Tel Aviv University’s entrepreneurship center, where they teach students to become Entrepreneurs (and Intrapreneurs – I actually lecture there.. Read more

A Timeless Management Lesson for Innovative Technology Startups

Posted on November 12th, 2012 · Posted in Startups

I want to share with you part of a letter written to a technological innovator who wanted to bring his invention to market: Firstly: I want to know whether if I continue to work on and about your own great subject, you will undertake to abide wholly by the judgment of myself … on all practical matters relating to whatever can involve relations with any … fellow-creatures? Secondly: can you undertake to give your mind wholly and undividedly … to the consideration of all those matters in which I shall at times require your intellectual assistance and supervision; and can.. Read more