The challenge of creating a new category
One of the hardest things to do as a startup is to create a new category. Bloggers and press have a natural tendency to “pigeonhole” – to…
If Verizon’s Droid is good, that’s bad for the wireless ecosystem
I carry around an iPhone and a Blackberry Tour. I know that’s ridiculous. The iPhone is a great device on an awful network; the Tour is an…
Dow 10,000 and economic reflexivity
People who criticize Obama’s economic policies forget that, around the beginning of this year, a lot of serious people thought we were…
What’s the relationship between cost and price?
What’s the relationship between price – the ability to charge for your product – and cost – how much it costs you to produce it? Price is a…
What carries you up will also bring you down
In Rules of Thumb, Alan Weber quotes legendary venture capitalist John Doerr discussing the original business plans for companies he…
Understanding your market
Some startups become huge sensations without requiring any active marketing – YouTube, Skype, and Twitter come to mind. However, the vast…