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How Bill Gates Was A Role Model For New Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

I know that dates me a good bit, but it also shows that I have been hanging around startups for a long time. The honest truth is that I worked directly with him in the early days of Microsoft from my “safe” perch in big IBM, during the startup of the IBM PC. IBM learned a lot from Microsoft on this one.

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Mature Companies Can Learn Many Things From Startups

Startup Professionals Musings

I know that dates me a good bit, but it also shows that I have been hanging around startups and big companies for a long time. The honest truth is that I worked directly with him in the early days of Microsoft from my “safe” perch in big IBM, during the startup of the IBM PC. IBM learned a lot from Microsoft on this one.

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Looking At Startups By The Rules Of Natural Selection

Startup Professionals Musings

The bad news is that it’s still a jungle fight for survival for entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics, with over 80 percent not having access to bank loans or venture capital. In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success. If you want to be feared.

Startup 112
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5 Strategies For Startup Partnering To Win Long Term

Startup Professionals Musings

Another partnering model example is the IBM Watson Group $1 billion investment to share cloud-based development and super-computing tools. A partnership was announced with the City of New York, to connect and grow NYC's startup ecosystem. Too many companies and entrepreneurs find it hard to stop a bad project.

Startup 124
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Are MBAs Necessary for Start-ups or VC?

Both Sides of the Table

This is part of my ongoing series called “ Start-up Lessons.&#. I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I paid up for the diploma but can’t say that I saw better results. So back to MBAs.

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7 Key Startup Activities Where Follow-Up Is Critical

Startup Professionals Musings

When someone introduces me to an “idea person,” I automatically jump to the down-side conclusion that this person doesn’t do follow-up. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. I was with IBM in the early PC days when Bill worked with us to provide PC DOS and other software. Here are a few: Business networking.

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5 Steps To Locking In The Right New Venture Partner

Startup Professionals Musings

Another partnering model example is the IBM Watson Group $1 billion investment to share cloud-based development and super-computing tools. A partnership was announced a while back with the City of New York, to connect and grow NYC's startup ecosystem. Too many companies and entrepreneurs find it hard to stop a bad project.

IBM 131