The Perfect Software Entrepreneur by Michael Tanner, Managing Director, The Chasm Group, LLC
Recently, I visited a conference in San Jose that targeted entrepreneurs in the software / technology industry. You might think that after all the torrents in the public markets and high-tech meltdown during the past couple of years, such a conference would be pretty lackluster. But the aura around the San Jose convention center this particular morning was downright jubilant. It was as if through some freak of quantum physics I had been transported back in time to 1999. And, I did not want anyone to beam me up.
A Venture Partner's Advice to Startup Executives by Raj Atluru, Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
One of my biggest frustrations with early stage software companies over the past couple of years is that everyone seems to have forgotten how to "Hug Thy Customer". Let's turn the clock back 8 years. The US economy was just beginning a massive technology investment wave. Large enterprises were driven to upgrade their existing IT applications and infrastructure. Then everything changed.
Are Software Sales 'soft'? Here's what to do about it. by Tom Lavey, Executive Vice President, MS2, Inc.
Many promises were made by early stage ISV's (perhaps YOU) about "viral marketing" or the "network-effect". It was supposed to give you more customers automatically, at low cost of sales because your customers would introduce your product to their customers (or suppliers) and they would introduce it to THEIR customers, etc. etc. until you magically had 80% market share and zero cost of sales. That didn't happen, did it? Why it didn't is the key to revitalizing your company.
On Leadership at BEA Systems by Alan Fudge, SVP, Americas, BEA
BEA Executives and Managers are privy to a series of special essays about direct leadership from Alan Fudge. He has granted permission for the first of these memos to appear in the Sterling Report.
