TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

A biz dev guy walks into a developer dude’s office and says, “I’ve got an idea that’ll change the world and make us billionaires!”  The confident developer leans back in his chair and says, “SMOP”.

The biz dev guys looks at him cross-eyed and confused.  He believes that he may have walked into the wrong office, and proceeds to leave.

The idea dies, billions aren’t made and the world remains the same; biz dev guy and developer dude go back to boring day jobs.  This scenario happens a LOT.

Generically, people from the business side have a wealth of acumen on the market and sales side, while developers know everything it takes to code up the next best thing. This “knowledge diversity” is analogous to languages — both individuals speak different languages and only understand a few words of the others’ native tongue. As a result, when they do work together, the projects routinely fall short of expectations, sales goals are missed and in general, it’s a lost opportunity.

While there aren’t simple cure-alls to this, there are things that can be done to help improve the odds that your next venture will be more successful. There are two critical and commonly absent pieces (both sides are guilty): 1 – active listening and 2 – active questioning.

Here’s how it works:

Read More…

It’s no surprise that a significant number of successful companies were built by what I call “Founder Pairs”.  Instead of a single person – there were actually two individuals responsible for the formation, growth and eventual success of the company.

You already know several of them – Hewlett Packard (Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard).  Apple (Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak).  Google (Sergey Brin and Larry Page).   Get the picture?

There’s a simple reason for this – we’re human.

We have gifts, but we also have faults and vulnerabilities that come with them.  As I’ve always said, the business of starting a company is tough work and I believe there’s a reason why it’s almost always critical to have a partner to help you with the journey.  A good partner brings complementary skills, experiences and aptitudes.  We have blind spots — they’ll see things you don’t — and vice versa.  One may be better with the techie side of things while the other will excel at dealing with customers and investors.

Read More…

By Marti Nyman, Think.Act.Grow

“Despite the cliches and countless songs written about it, love really does make the world go round. It is the most enduring of human virtues/traits, surpassing all other human emotions and motivations. It motivates us to seek companionship, to do things in the service of others, to accomplish things we might not otherwise pursue, and so on. If you can’t buy this argument, try imagining a world without it. Think of how people would get along, how they’d interact, why they’d do things, what their motivations would be. Kind of a dark, Sin-City version emerges, huh?

But what this has to do with companies is a bit more complicated.”

Read More…

As I look through the business cards I’ve collected over the past decade, one of the rarest in the collection is that with the title of “Founder & CEO”.

Not by accident, it’s one of the toughest acts for any talented individual to pull off.

The founder’s role requires a multitude of key character strengths and skills – vision, creativity, passion, drive, tenacity, etc. . Beyond the ability to see the potential of an unmet need in the marketplace, founders need to have vocational skills such as subject matter expertise, industry experience and competitive awareness.

Read More…

Being that we’re heading into baseball playoff season, my thoughts drift to (where are the Red Sox?) the notion of pitching – it’s one of the key factors in determining who ultimately gets the champagne shower in the locker room.

It’s also one of the most influential elements of how startups get funded, secure orders, obtain partners and ultimately succeed.  But sadly, it’s one of the most neglected and overlooked areas of an entrepreneurs repertoire.  I should know because I’ve not only made these mistakes myself, but seen them repeated in the majority of the startup pitches I’ve listened to over the past 7 years.

Read More…

By Marti Nyman, Think. Act. Grow

“The sixth deadly sin in our series is like many of its companions – silent killers that insidiously creep into organizations, robbing them of precious opportunities to do great things, and the realization that this has happened is almost always too late to make a dramatic change in direction.

Short termism manifests itself in largely established, medium to big enterprises. While I’ve seen it a few times in startups, their life is usually so full of just trying to stay alive that their focus, while on the short to medium term, is about survival and getting to live to see the day where they can dream of long term plans.”

Read More…

By Dan Haugen, The Line

“Any business gathering that features conga drummers obviously means to motivate. And that was just what a group of Twin Cities attorneys, advisors, entrepreneurs, and investors wanted to do when they launched the new “innovation advocacy force” called MOJO Minnesota in May–right around the time we were putting together the first issue of The Line. Besides a conga beat, that launch event featured a speech about success and failure by an entrepreneur who’s experienced both, and games to hone participants’ networking skills.”

Read More…

In the course of a year, I see anywhere between 30 to 40 business plans and talk with 20 to 40 entrepreneurs about their ideas, pre-business plan.

As a judge in the Minnesota Cup, I see an additional 15 to 20 more business plans. To top it all off, I’m teaching a course at the U of M this Fall on – you guessed it – business plans.

I love new ideas. I love the passionate entrepreneurs behind them. I love ideas that change markets, industries and people’s lives.

But I hate bad business plans. Not the writers. Just the plans.

Read More…

Last Saturday, Mike Bollinger and I moderated a panel discussion at Minnebar focused on the concept of improving Minnesota’s startup community.  This session, titled “How Can Minnesota Be Better“, can be viewed in its entirety above with credit to our panelists who generously shared their insights and perspectives.  Special thanks to Brett Thoreson for the steady hand and Andrew Frenz for collecting audience questions.

Joel Dahlin, Geoff Dutton and Derrick Shields have collectively summarized the experience.  Leave a comment if you have an opinion to share…

MinneBar is an (un)conference aimed at getting those in Minnesota’s tech and design communities together to discuss topics that interest them. This Saturday (5/22) from 9-6,  a crowd 500 plus will gather at Best Buy headquarters for one of Minnesota’s premier tech events – now on its fifth evolution.

Mike Bollinger and I will be facilitating/moderating a session focused on the Minnesota startup culture, aptly titled: “How can Minnesota be better?“

Below are the five hand-picked panelists who will be sharing their unique perspectives on the notion of  “improvement”.  Are there other local thought leaders, experts, executives, stakeholders and numerous people or parties equally interested in and actively working towards improving Minnesota’s startup culture?  Absolutely! This was the best we could do to pull together a diverse and complimentary group of qualified/concerned individuals  on such short notice.  This session will be held during the second part of the day, likely between 2-5;  please indicate your interest here so the organizers can anticipate the demand for this and any other sessions you’re attending.  If you have a question for the panel just leave it in the comments or grab us day of 

Read More…