Founders – Page 2 – Helge Seetzen

Entrepreneurship

5 Rules for Cofounder Heaven

Finding a good cofounder is a key ingredient of a successful startup. Having had the opportunity to work with a variety of co-founders over the years, and now pairing up with individual co-founders for TandemLaunch portfolio investments, I have developed a couple rules of thumb for what to look...

March 27, 2012July 4, 2017

Entrepreneurship , Tech Entrepreneurship

Career Advancement in a Startup Environment

Startups are an environment full of both opportunities and challenges for career advancement. The opportunities usually come in two distinct stages: founding and scaling. During the founding stage anybody can take any title and that’s often precisely what founders do. I have previously written about how this is generally...

March 14, 2012July 4, 2017

Entrepreneurship , Tech Entrepreneurship

Ownership versus Leadership

Any organization should be continuously on the look-out for talented people who are capable of taking on leadership roles. In this context you hear the word ‘ownership’ a lot, in reference to ‘owning’ a function, project, or deliverable. The words are often used interchangeably but, I believe, have very...

February 14, 2012July 6, 2017

Entrepreneurship

The Worst Enemy of Student Entrepreneurship

I advocate a lot for student entrepreneurship because I think it is a unique way to have a real world impact and learn some really valuable skills before you are in full on career mode. I have explored in other posts some of the strategies for being a student...

December 13, 2011July 7, 2017

Entrepreneurship , Tech Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a Profession, Not a Cool Pastime

While traveling in the Valley I had a chance to catch up with a few local entrepreneurs and accelerators. Many of them are doing interesting work, but I noticed a disturbing trend: entrepreneurship has become “cool” for a whole generation. As a an entrepreneur who had gone through several...

October 18, 2011July 4, 2017

Entrepreneurship

Five Essential Courses for Technology Entrepreneurs

Five Essential Courses for Technology Entrepreneurs Students who are interested in technology entrepreneurship are likely taking plenty of engineering, physical sciences, or computer science courses. But there are a few non-technical courses that I would strongly recommend to anybody aspiring to be an entrepreneur. Even as a technical founder,...

September 27, 2011July 7, 2017

Entrepreneurship

Setting a Meeting on Fire

A few years ago, during my first start-up adventures at Sunnybrook Technologies, a prototype fire taught me two important tech entrepreneur lessons: 1. Good entrepreneurs don’t panic. 2. Adversity is an opportunity, not a problem. We had just finished the first prototype of what would become the world’s first...

September 14, 2011July 4, 2017

Entrepreneurship

5 Guidelines to Evaluate Accelerator Programs

For the last month I had three people independently ask me for advice on selecting (Web2.0) Accelerators. Two of them were student entrepreneurs contemplating their first venture. All where attracted by the Accelerators promise to kick-start their business but a bit confused by the choices between different Accelerator programs. Students, inventors...

September 6, 2011July 4, 2017

Entrepreneurship

MBA or PhD – Picking the right degree as a University Entrepreneur

A lot of undergraduate students ask me whether they should pursue an MBA or a technical PhD as a foundation of their entrepreneurial career. I have pursued both at some point, and frequently meet (and invest in) entrepreneurs with both degrees. Each has advantages but overall I’d recommend a...

August 1, 2011July 13, 2017

Entrepreneurship

5 Strategies for a Successful Entrepreneurial Life

There are many ways to define success. I didn’t start in a mud hut and I am not Bill Gates. Still, the first decade of my entrepreneurial career can, I think, be described as going from a fairly basic start* to success as a technology entrepreneur**. The following five...

July 27, 2011July 13, 2017

Tag: Founders