Reality entrepreneurs (source: NFX)

I think we’re now in a world where you do have to play this game, you don’t have an option anymore. I think the notion that you could have one job forever and it could be pretty secure as long as you just did a good job in that position, I feel like those days are over

What I think we’re saying here is that perhaps writing, or marketing, or figuring out how to get more attention is the rewardable talent for the current age and going forward. …

Our Triple Flywheel

Games are increasingly becoming the social media of choice to forge relationships. At the time of writing, ROBLOX announced it was preparing its IPO listing. CEO Dave Baszucki states in a letter “From the start, we imagined the possibilities of bringing people together through play. Our goal was to create an online community where people could do things together in virtual worlds. We hoped that by sharing experiences, our users would connect, learn, and have fun with one another.”

The company boasts 150 million concurrent users, and because the platform allows you to create your own games…

The problem statement is a core component of most pitch decks I received over my young career in early stage financing. Founders have expressed many narratives about market opportunities with intense pain points and desperate users seeking to resolve for them in order to make the world a better place by X magnitude.

Yet this does not hold true for digital games. Games are fun and entertaining and make your life better in other ways than solving for a pain point.

I was intrigued by this position, building upon this argument, I wanted to be part of a startup that…

Your job shouldn’t be your life, but your life can be your job — Adam Davidson, author of the Passion Economy

You may need to get creative and experimental and be willing to reach out to a lot of people, who may, at first, seem uninterested in whatever it is you have to offer. But once you put your passions and abilities together with the right kind of customers, you’ll be amazed at the opportunities available to carve out a profitable niche.

Create value that can’t be easily copied

This requires you to passionately pursue problem solving for your niche…

In the first installment of this 3 part series on storytelling we spoke about THE LEVERS OF GOOD STORYTELLING, that is, stories that connecting to mission and amplifying human emotion. In the second part we understood how to craft your story: Less Text, More Visuals.

In this part we will explore techniques that are essential cornerstones of a good story:

1) A Moment of Transformation. All good stories hinge on the moment when a shift occurs. It might be as simple as a shift in thinking, or it might be as extreme as death. …

In the first installment of this 3 part series on storytelling we spoke about THE LEVERS OF GOOD STORYTELLING, that is, connecting to mission and amplifying human emotion.

Storytelling is the not-so-secret ingredient that makes the difference between being a manager and being a leader, between closing a customer and winning a lifelong fan.

It’s about conveying a message clearly and simply. It’s about connecting with your audience not as customers, executives or investors, but as humans.

“We took pride in the fact that reviewers talked mainly about the way ‘Toy Story’ made them feel and not about the computer…

Storytelling skills have set successful people apart for centuries. Aristotle, Homer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Walt Disney.

Before the written word it was how history was passed on. Yes the subject matter has changed as the story was told each time but the human truths of beauty and virtue remain similar, the emphasis is molded over time.

Think about it? What was the last thing you purchased? Why did you purchase it? Free will or was it you were told a story? Advertising and marketing are all about selling you the story. The story of the product or the brand. …

Trying to boil down the very difficult experience of fundraising for startup capital to a simple methodology has got little to do with the actual process required, but more to do with trying to capture the approach and mindset needed. This blog is as much an exercise in researching and reflecting upon the systems and beliefs I hold true, as it is a guideline for any person seeking to raise finance or invest in an early stage business.

The startup founders I look up to, whether this is their first or third venture, deal with the growth and scaling up…