The Ugly Truth Behind Paying for Facebook Likes on a Facebook Business Page
The Experiment I recently tested paying for Facebook likes on a Facebook business page. It seemed like a low-effort way to build a channel for future marketing messages. Start with some good page content, put in some money, and watch it grow. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn’t have expected so much. Let me show you […]
How Twitter Became an Alternative to Small Claims Court
In July I did some freelance consulting work for a client who shall remain nameless. If you’ve been following my posts, you will remember who this was. You can imagine my dismay in October when, after many attempts to contact the client for payment, I filed a small claim in Worcester District Court. The money […]
Ghostbusters: The Perfect Startup Business
A couple weekends ago I decided to go back to the 80’s and re-watch the original Ghostbusters movie (1984). When you revisit something you knew as a kid, you pick up on things you never saw before. With this movie, I saw the perfect startup business. As with any startup, it begins with an idea. […]
How I Got a New Sidewalk in Worcester, MA
City government is an interesting machine. And by interesting, I mean, hard to figure out. Here’s the photo- and video-tale of how I got a new sidewalk in Worcester, MA. It took three and a half years. If you have something similar in need of doing, you might learn from my experience. It began in […]
Small Business Challenges I Didn’t Expect
Everyone knows “when you start a company, it’s hard work.” But so far there have been a few small business challenges that I didn’t expect because they’re so lame, no one ever talks about them. Allow me. Small Business Challenge #1: Business Bank Account Some time ago I called a bank that was recommended to […]
Does it Matter How Founders Split Startup Equity?
Ask the question, “How should founders split startup equity?” and you will most likely receive a hand-wavy answer. Some offer blanket statements like, “The programmer should get at least 30%.” Others offer calculators or other arbitrary measures. These answers have never satisfied me. Before I offer a more rigorous approach, I’d like to play Devil’s Advocate […]
Time Management and GTD During My “Search”
I’d like to share some interesting time management data I’ve collected over the last nine months. When I first left Terrafugia, in October 2012, I started what my McKinsey friend called “search.” That’s when your full time job becomes finding your next full time job. I was busy with “search” the very first day off […]
Elevator Pitch at Boston ENET
Last Tuesday I had the chance to give an elevator pitch for ArtistBomb at Boston ENET. (The pitch was recorded, so I can post a link if it gets uploaded somewhere.) I’d like to share the formula I used so that you can adapt it for your own work. What’s the Goal of an Elevator […]
Locked Out of Our Connected World
A week or two ago I was locked out of my house. Here’s the story of what happened and what I did, in case any of you find yourselves in a similar situation. I was outside digging an underground pipe and dry well for my new gutters. The ditch was out-of-sight of the back door and […]
Two Must-Join Networking Groups for New or Aspiring Boston Entrepreneurs
About a year ago I left Terrafugia and launched myself solo into Boston’s entrepreneurship scene. The advice given to me by a distant mentor was “find some local entrepreneurship resources and get involved.” I started by Googling. I was amazed by how much exists in Boston. Two groups in particular have earned a lot of […]
