During one of our many pitches to investors we heard the phrase: "Microsoft has no startup DNA". The basic interpretation is that if you are an entrepreneur coming out of Microsoft you'll have a hard time convincing investors that you can think and execute in a startup environment.
Recently, I've met with another ex-Microsoft senior exec, that told me he was surprised at how much of a liability having spent so much time at Microsoft has become.
What do I have to say about this?
Yes, it is true. Microsoft has no startup DNA. Not only the company as a whole is uncapable of fostering a startup mentality, but also 99% of the people working at Microsoft have no startup DNA. They would not be able to be entrepreneurs and to create a business from scratch.
Now, there are 1% of those (which is a lot on a 70,000-employee company) that do have it. Most of them are still fighting the system from the inside. Stressing themselves out at why they can't get anything done. But a small amount of them don't put up with that and quit and create their own companies, or join very early stage startups.
So, dear investor, don't tell me I have no startup DNA. Odds are that I have more than you do, because most investors on this region got their fortune from Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon or Real Networks, and they really never founded any company.
Today I reached a whole new level on Technorati's Blog Rank: 93,749. This is the first time I'm below the 100,000 mark. With about 71 million blogs being ranked by Technorati, that puts me on the top 0.13%. In other words, before I was a "C" blogger, now I'm a proud "C+" blogger.
I guess the next milestone is the 50,000 mark, which would put me into the "B-" blogger category.
I might be a year late on this one, but I just saw An Inconvenient Truth and I thought it was a pretty good documentary. I think the data presented is compelling and the way Al Gore explain concepts in layman terms is pretty good.
There is a no brainer way to know when somebody is about to take a big career move and leave their current employer: The number of connections that they added recently to LinkedIn.
One of the biggest mistakes I've made when I founded Sampa was not having a clue about what "brand" and "positioning" are. It was worse than that because I thought I knew about it.
I just finished reading "Branding for Dummies". I know the "for Dummies" and "Idiot's Guide..." have a pretty bad reputation, but I actually love the series. This book has just been released and is quite up-to-date.
I finally can say that I understand the value of positioning, branding, naming and logo into a business.
A few key concepts (poorly described by me):
A brand is a promise;
Positioning is your space on the marketplace. If two companies have the exactly same positioning, they become commodities (not good);
Every time you deliver on that promise (to your customers) you re-enforce your brand;
Your customers define what your brand is, not you. You can influence it.
Your name/logo is what will make people be reminded of the promise you've made.
Now, this might sound obvious to a lot of people, but my life has been around lines of code, and, as a technologist I couldn't be farther away from marketing. The only common trait between technologists and marketers is "creativity".
So, if you are about to found your startup and you have a CS degree, you better read this book *before* you pick your company name, logo and brand image. Enlisting professional help is a good idea too (spare $30-50K for that).
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. This is the first time I'm below the 100,000 mark. With about 71 million blogs being ranked by Technorati, that puts me on the top 0.13%. In other words, before I was a "C" blogger, now I'm a proud "C+" blogger. 
September, 2007