# Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Product Management, Failing, Venture Capital, Culture, Analytics, HR - Weekend Reading Sept 29 2013 By [William Mougayar's Blog](https://wamougayar.xyz) · 2013-09-29 analytics, culture-4, failing, leadership-4, product-management-4, wr --- Startup Management is a manual selection from the hundreds of weekly articles being curated. Previous [issues are available here.](http://startupmanagement.org/category/wr/) There are 21 links in this edition. Forward to a friend, so they can sign-up and benefit too. In this issue, I’m tightening the curation screws even further, by focusing on the best articles that contain original content, lessons learned, an in-depth dive into an issue, or anything I feel is really important. These are the articles that will probably make it into the permanent [Library of topics](http://startupmanagement.org/lexicon), and they are the ones that are advancing the state of our knowledge when it comes to growing, managing or scaling startups. Have you tried [SUM on Flipboard](https://flipboard.com/section/startup-management-boMSor)? You don’t need the App. And it looks great on a smartphone or web. 688 articles and counting. I add about 10-15 articles per day. **Memory Lane, Circa 1998** In 1998, Business 2.0 printed the 10 Driving Principles of the New Economy. I revisited them on the 15-year anniversary, with a 2013 Reality Check, in [Lessons From 15 Years Ago](http://startupmanagement.org/2013/09/28/lessons-from-15-years-ago-10-driving-principles-of-the-new-economy/). You will be surprised to see what has changed and what hasn’t. The network effect’s value was predicted in 1998, but there were 7 themes that were missed. **Big Co. vs. Startup** In [How Great Entrepreneurs Think](http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/how-great-entrepreneurs-think.html), Leigh Buchanan summarized a fascinating study of 245 U.S. entrepreneurs by business school professor Saras Sarasvathy. The key insight is that master entrepreneurs think in “[effectual reasoning](http://effectuation.org/)”, whereas corporate executives use “causal reasoning”. Tom Eisemann of Harvard Business School has a well researched post, [Advice for MBAs Seeking Startup Jobs](http://platformsandnetworks.blogspot.ca/2013/09/advice-for-mbas-seeking-startup-jobs.html). It is based on interviewing 26 HBS MBA alumni running VC-backed startups in New York and San Francisco. Two Must Read pieces. **Leadership** Peter Levine interviewed Dick Costolo who reveals how he changed the Twitter culture, and gives tidbits on his leadership style, in [Lessons in Leadership in More than 140 Characters: A Fireside Chat with Dick Costolo](http://peter.a16z.com/2013/09/26/lessons-in-leadership-in-more-than-140-characters-a-fireside-chat-with-dick-costolo/). **Entrepreneurship** [How Open Should a Startup CEO be with Staff?](http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/09/28/how-open-should-a-startup-ceo-be-with-staff/) Is a great question that Mark Suster asks and answers. Not so open is the verdict, in the following 3 areas: M&A, Runway of cash, and Dilution/Valuation. [Inspiring Entrepreneurs: Ted Livingston’s rollercoaster ride as CEO of hit messaging startup Kik](http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2013/09/24/inspiring-entrepreneurs-ted-livingstons-kik/) is exactly like the title says. It’s a fascinating re-count of what really happened at Kik, and where they are currently going. **SEO** Rand Fishkin has an excellent post on why the recent Google changes in keyword transparency are to be taken seriously, how to mitigate that risk, and ultimately overcome [The First Existential Threat to SEO](http://moz.com/rand/first-existential-threat-seo/). **Marketing** Mark Saldana at 500 Startups says there are [4 Marketing Channels You’re Not Using (But Should be)](http://peter.a16z.com/2013/09/26/lessons-in-leadership-in-more-than-140-characters-a-fireside-chat-with-dick-costolo/): Podcasts, Quora, LinkedIn Groups, and Webinars. It’s mostly for B2Bs though. And Mackenzie Fogelson reminds us to avoid letting the tail wag the dog, in [Setting Goals (Not Tools) as the Foundation of Your Marketing](http://moz.com/blog/setting-goals-not-tools-as-the-foundation-of-your-marketing-whiteboard-friday/). **Product Management** In [Product Feedback (It’s not About You)](http://iancackett.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/product-feedback-is-not-about-you/), Ian Cackett’s advice is to _“listen to all feedback, but only act upon it in aggregate”_. In How to build great products, Slava Akhmechet says to use the three bucket model for categorizing features: _“gamechanger, showstopper, and distraction.”_ **VC/Entrepreneur Relationship** In [Friends Don’t Let Friends Have a Lazy VC/CEO Relationship](http://bilalzuberi.com/2013/09/27/friends-dont-let-friends-have-a-lazy-vcceo-relationship/), Bilal Zuberi has a long list of do’s and don’t to better manage the vc/entrepreneur relationship. Raj Setty lists [7 ways well-meaning advisors hurt first-time entrepreneurs](http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/25/7-ways-well-meaning-advisors-hurt-first-time-entrepreneurs/). Two of them, “_being nice to you_”, and “_reciting sound bytes_”. And Hunter Walk has 3 reasons why [VCs Should Give Honest Feedback & Why They Often Don’t](http://hunterwalk.com/2013/09/26/vcs-should-give-honest-feedback-why-they-often-dont/). “_Giving feedback is difficult_”, he says. **Failing** In-depth failure case studies are few and far in-between. This is a good one by Rip Empson,[Why Startups Fail: A Postmortem for Flud, The Social Newsreader](http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/22/why-startups-fail-a-postmortem-for-social-newsreader-flud-and-what-to-take-from-sonars-demise/). In my opinion, Flud was too late to enter the market, and the product was not differentiated enough. **Business Models** Ryan Sarver, ex-Twitter platform manager has a new post, [What is a Platform?](http://sarver.org/2013/09/26/what-is-a-platform/) He makes the very good point that “_an API does not a Platform make”,_ and he stresses that “_a platform needs to have strong networks_.” And he acknowledges that Twitter’s early platform had weak network effects. Important reading if you are aiming to build a platform. **CTOs** Keen IO has released 6 interviews with CTOs from their series, [17 CTOs Share their Greatest Fears](https://keen.io/blog/62102145909/17-ctos-share-their-greatest-fears). Not surprisingly, culture and hiring are top of mind. **Venture Capital** Fred Wilson is [interviewed at the Data Driven NYC Meetup](http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/09/video-of-the-week-data-driven-nyc-talk.html). Two themes emerge: 1) big data for healthcare to solve big issues, and 2) Bitcoin, as the programmable money, native payment system for the Internet. Dave McClure updated his 30 slides on Slideshare: [Changes in Venture Capital + Building 500 Startups](http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/changes-in-venture-capital-building-500-startups-istanbul-sept-2013). The pirate’s hat is gone, but the presentation is packed and well organized. **Culture** In an interview, [Why Culture Matters](http://perch.co/blog/culture-club-boris-wertz/), Boris Wertz observed that “_most tech companies are centered and built around similar cultures and values, e.g. valuing a great product over an aggressive sales force_.” **Analytics** In [Off the Chart: An Interview with Riley Newman, Head of Analytics at Airbnb](https://chartio.com/blog/2013/09/riley-newman-interview), Riley gives several examples of how Airbnb applies the power of data science from operations, to marketing, to product, to growth hacking, and customer support. **Human Resources** In [How to hire](http://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-hire), Sam Altman wrote a long post, with some good tactical advice. This was my favorite, “_Have people audition for roles instead of interviewing for them_.” That SUMs it up! Don’t forget to [share on Twitter](http://clicktotweet.com/arWbe),  [add us to your Feedly](http://cloud.feedly.com/#subscription%2Ffeed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FStartupManagement), forward to a friend, [follow on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=StartupManage), [read in Flipboard](https://flipboard.com/section/startup-management-boMSor), or just [visit the website](http://startupmanagement.org/) often and daily. _William Mougayar_ Founder & Chief Curator [Startup Management](http://startupmanagement.org/)\]\]> --- *Originally published on [William Mougayar's Blog](https://wamougayar.xyz/leadership,-entrepreneurship,-product-management,-failing,-venture-capital,-culture,-analytics,-hr-weekend-reading-sept-29-2013)*