The Art of the Executive Summary

So what happens when you start one company and stumble into an entirely new opportunity that in some ways is many times larger than your original concept. Well, you build on what you have already done and be agile enough to realize a new opportunity. We are still very much focusing on launching chipin.com and have a product roadmap to enhance the system once it is launched for our core client base. But in order to raise the VC level Series A we need, we have to show why we are the next big disruptive business. Well, Netvocate is going to bit it.

So I am now reworking our preso, exec summary and bplan. Of course to keep things in perspective, I had a quick look at Guy’s short article on what should be included. I have found there is no such thing as a template, but by looking at several resources it helps create a check list of what I want to include.The Art of the Executive Summary: “”

Also… blogging for change!

A simple post about leadership

A simple post about leadership: ”

I’m reminded — and I need to remind myself — that leadership is made up of many things.’ One component that I want to emphasize today is simplicity. Leadership is about making things simple. The world is a complex thing. In fact, the fourth law of business is that businesses tend to complexity.’ The leader of a business must fight this complexity — and communicate simplicity to the world, to customers, and to employees.’

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The woeful story of Friendster, and lessons

The woeful story of Friendster, and lessons: ”

Gary Rivlin, of the New York Times, has just written the best overview yet of the terrific bungle of social networking company, Friendster.

Jonathan Abrams, founder of Friendster, had a great initial vision, and sparked the social networking revolution by allowing friends to hook up with others. The company had an amazing lead, and potential.

But when he took money from high-profile venture capitalists, he paid a high price: These mostly ‘50-year-old white guys’ had their own ideas about how to run the company, and they got more heavy-handed when they realized how much Abrams was ‘over his head.’ In short, everyone was a fault, and it is a great lesson for entrepreneurs.

Here is the tragedy: Had one coherent vision won out, either Abrams’ initial vision for the more ‘closed’ version limiting people to communicate with profiles of their friends, or the more open model adopted by MySpace, the company may have succeeded. Had it forcefully implemented the ‘closed’ version, with conviction, it would have learned, like Facebook did, that gradual opening to others made sense. It could have evolved as it learned. Instead, it seems, the company was mired in indecision. Each executive change (happening every six months to a year) meant a new strategy, a change of course. And once Abrams was out — however arrogant he may have been — so was Friendster’s soul.

Aside from caution, the story also offers hope: If you’ve got a good idea and vision, you can succeed against a seeming formidable competitor that has all the money and best minds at its disposable.

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(Via VentureBeat.)

The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups

The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups is a good look at the pitfalls you face.

YouTube timeline

YouTube timeline: by Niall Kennedy

. Every wonder what it took to create a 1.6 B company?