Startups

Disneyland and the Transformation of Disney

The following essay from February 2019 was the sole post on Transforming the Game, a short-lived blog focused on business innovation and transformation. You’ll note that instead of making the source references live links, they are essentially footnoted. At the time I was considering a print dimension and experimenting with how that would look. Also, … Read more

Non-technical Founder? Tips On Building Your Team And Finding Your Technical Co-founder

My Learning To Be A Startup CEO series continues at Medium with tips from Mixcloud co-founder Nico Perez on building your team and finding your technical co-founder. Perez shared these tips for non-technical founders after discussing where he and his co-founders turn for answers when they have questions about building their startup. This is the … Read more

Learning To Be A Startup CEO Series Continues With Nico Perez of Mixcloud

I just posted the second of two interviews related to the topic of Learning To Be A Startup CEO. The first was with Shezhad Daredia: Bop.fm CEO Shehzad Daredia’s “Incremental Path To Entrepreneurship” The second, posted today, is with Nico Perez of Mixcloud: Nico Perez On Where Mixcloud’s Founders Turn When They Have Startup Questions … Read more

More Flux Research at Medium: Advice From Startup CEOs

I recently began an interview series with startup CEOs about how they learned to do what they do starting with Shehzad Daredia, CEO and co-founder of Bop.fm. During the interview we discussed his status as a Thiel Fellowship mentor, teaching others what he knows, and I asked about his advice for young entrepreneurs considering ditching … Read more

Flux Research @Medium: Learning To Be A Startup CEO

I’ve been rather quiet of late. After having to put DanceLand on hiatus due to an overwhelming job situation, I’ve managed to start scraping together some time to move forward with my writing. But the first result has less writing than quoting! It’s an interview with Shehzad Daredia, CEO of Bop.fm. It’s also the first … Read more

A Brief History Of: Brainstorming Revenue Models for Twitter

[Originally published on Flux Research in 2012] [slideshare id=1178115&doc=bca-090321120617-phpapp02] 77 Revenue Models For Twitter (Circa 2009) via Open Innovators Discussing Twitter’s revenue model and/or business model with a focus on monetization has been one of the more popular passtimes of web business writers. Twitter’s confusion over monetization is an example of what happens when you … Read more

Marketing Tips from Fred Wilson, A VC [Circa 2011]

[Previously published at Flux Research circa 2011. It’s a bit over the top but I don’t want to hide who I am in the hopes of someday chatting with Fred Wilson or Brad Feld. That would be doing it wrong!] Fred Wilson, one of the leading web-related venture capitalists of our time, has just posted … Read more

Founders & Origin Tales: The Case of “Start Something That Matters”

I’m starting to look at issues faced by founders, not just tech founders or even business founders per se, but founders of institutions that are designed to make a difference in the world. That includes arts institution and organizations focused on social change. This emphasis quickly led me to Blake Mycoskie’s Start Something That Matters.

Mycoskie is the founder of TOMS Shoes, which has expanded to include eyewear, and was started with the very cool mission of giving a pair of shoes to a poor kid for every pair of shoes sold.

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Finding The One Key Metric That Matters For Your Career As A Musician

[Originally published at Hypebot in January 2013.]

From time to time concepts and approaches from the world of tech startups have relevance to indie and DIY musicians. Recently the concept of “One Key Metric” has been making the rounds of Silicon Valley. Though not a new idea, the recent attention has resulted in some useful exploration. It’s particularly relevant to emerging musicians attempting to establish a business-like focus that doesn’t get in the way of making art.

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