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Digital Gravity: How Small Founders Build Inescapable Brands with AI
Digital gravity is how small founders create enough useful surface area that buyers, mentions, links, and inbound leads start orbiting them.
How Stripe Turned 7 Lines of Code Into a $107 Billion Company
How two brothers from rural Ireland simplified online payments and built Stripe into a $107 billion financial infrastructure giant.
Techstars Boston Week 10 - Acquisition
Customer acquisition is usually the foremost topic on a founder's mind. This week was full of workshops, focused on various aspects of this topic. We also heard one of the most powerful Founder Stories of the program.
Techstars Boston Week 11 - Last Workshop
This week was the last "normal" week in Techstars, before the pitch practice madness begins. The final week was full of workshops, with the last workshop on Friday, and the topics varied from selling techniques, to common VC (venture capital) pitch mistakes, to PR (public relations) strategy.
Techstars NYC Week 5 - Outlining Your Buying Process
This week was what I consider the hangover week – everyone was a little bit tired, and a little bit off. Big Rocks were tough, and some got there, but certainly not the majority.
I Have a New Job at Unito
I just left my position as cofounder at Lean Systems, and started a new role with Unito, a startup based in Montreal doing syncing between collaboration tools. This post explains the rationale for the decision, and why I’m excited about this new opportunity.
Successful Entrepreneurs Aren't (Necessarily) Geniuses
Being a successful entrepreneur doesn't require exceptional intellect. This post explores what really matters.
Techstars Boston Week 1 - The Beginning
Four key lessons from my first week as an Associate at Techstars Boston—insights on startup culture, mentor relationships, and the intensity of accelerator programs.
Techstars Boston Week 5 - Madness Over!
Lessons from Week 5 of Techstars Boston, where we learned about the power of the Techstars network, and learned all about customer interviewing.
Techstars NYC Week 4 - Conference Tips
I spent most of Week 4 in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, attending the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers conference which happens once every year. In theory, these are exactly the people we want to be talking to, learning from, and eventually helping, so it was a great opportunity.
My First 3 Months at Unito
Reflections on my first 3 months at Unito, a Montreal-based tech startup—lessons on joining a growing company, product development, and startup culture.
Techstars NYC Week 3 - Mentor Madness & Customer Acquisition
Mentor Madness is an interesting time – you repeatedly get questioned, given opinions, and you usually end the week feeling as if you have no idea what you’re doing.
Techstars NYC Week 6 - Persistence & Early Customers
If Week 5 was the hangover, Week 6 was the reboot. Most companies started to really hit their stride, and see the results of all the hard work in the first half of the program.
My Founder Institute Experience
Thinking about joining the Founder Institute in your city? This post goes into detail about my experience, and whether I would recommend it.
Techstars Boston Week 6 - Hangover
Lessons from Week 6 at Techstars Boston, with some great Founder Stories, learning about behavioural interviewing and exploring cofounder conflict.
Techstars Boston Week 9 - Product
After dipping briefly following Mentor Madness (at least in feel), the pace here has started to noticeably increase again. That mostly means founders and teams have less time for distractions, and are putting in even longer hours than usual. New product is being shipped, and more time is being dedicated to fundraising and sales, in preparation for Demo Day. As such, the focus this week was mostly on product development, and putting more pressure on growth.
The Growth Process (for Startups)
Expanding upon the growth framework I introduced in the last post, I describe in detail how I think about growth, and the steps I go through when working on growth experiments.
Techstars NYC Week 7 - Elevator Pitches
Week 7 kicked off the final stretch of the program, during which we would normally be preparing for Demo Day. There have been a few posts written recently (Ty Danco, Ross Baird) about why we should be changing Demo Days, and Techstars NYC has been experimenting with a different format.
What is Growth? (And What Does a 'Growth Specialist' Do?)
What is growth? And what does a Growth Specialist do? When I tell people about my work, these are the questions that immediately follow. This post gives an overview of the answers to these questions.
Techstars Boston Week 7 - Fundraising
Lessons from Week 7 of Techstars Boston focusing on fundraising strategy, cap table structure, and how to approach early-stage investors with confidence.
Techstars Boston Week 8 - Enterprise
For whatever reason, this week the workshops focused largely on enterprise-oriented companies, and the Founder Stories happened to come from two people involved with an enterprise-focused company. From a general standpoint, this week has been about growth. Companies are spending a lot of time working out their strategy for the next 6-12 months, and which direction they will head after Techstars.
Techstars NYC Week 1 - Preparation
My plan was/is to write a post every week during my time here in Techstars NYC – we’re currently starting Week 6, but I plan to catch up.
Startup Failure - Why I Left My Startup
The difficult decision to leave the startup I founded through Founder Institute Montreal—lessons learned about co-founder dynamics, market timing, and knowing when to walk away.
Why Positive Constraints Are So Valuable
I haven't managed to write nearly as much as I'd hoped for the past several months, but for good reason. After Techstars finished, I did a bit of traveling to visit some friends in Europe, and then headed back home to Nova Scotia. I ended up staying longer than planned - it's difficult to leave Nova Scotia in the summer (check out this video to see what I mean). Ultimately though, it was one of the best summers in recent memory.
FightCamp (Home Boxing Workouts) Review
Learn about FightCamp, the “Peloton of boxing” and their home boxing workouts. This review covers the equipment, the app, and the overall system as a method of staying fit, including video of me attempting to box.
Lean Systems - My Next Project
I've joined a new startup called Lean Systems (as of September)! I'm super excited about the project, in which I'm now a cofounder, and the last few months since joining have been awesome. I wanted to share a bit about the company, as well as my thought process in selecting a new challenge following my time as an Associate with Techstars Boston (Spring 2016).
Techstars NYC Week 8 - Investor Pitches
The alternate format to Demo Day continued this week, and in preparation for Investor Preview in Week 9, we were preparing to record investor pitches. I was reminded how difficult and time-consuming it is to prepare a great company pitch, and how difficult it is to pitch in front of a camera.