Six Pitching Mistakes We’re Sick of Seeing
I love watching startups pitch, probably because I love pitching. To me, seeing someone articulate their vision and product is nothing short of inspiring. But having been a judge for various university competitions like Hult Prize’s Accelerator and University College London amongst others, I have to share some of the biggest pet peeves I have seen from the judging table.
Putting ideas into words
Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didn’t know it as well as you thought. Putting ideas into words is a severe test. The first words you choose are usually wrong; you have to rewrite sentences over and over to get them exactly right. And your ideas won’t just be imprecise, but incomplete too. Half the ideas that end up in an essay will be ones you thought of while you were writing it. Indeed, that’s why I write them.
Can the law keep up with crypto?
I’m talking to Tonya Evans, a law professor at Penn State Dickinson Law. She teaches IP law, copyright, and blockchain. She also hosts the Tech Intersect podcast, where she covers how law and technology intersect. She has spent a lot of time thinking about crypto assets and how they interact with the law. Tonya’s point of view is that we shouldn’t just abandon many of the legal frameworks we have today — she just wants them to adapt to this new internet.
A group is its own worst enemy
Prior to the Internet, we had lots of patterns that supported point-to-point two-way. We had telephones, we had the telegraph. We were familiar with technological mediation of those kinds of conversations. Prior to the Internet, we had lots of patterns that supported one-way outbound. I could put something on television or the radio, I could publish a newspaper. We had the printing press. So although the Internet does good things for those patterns, they’re patterns we knew from before.
Desperation-induced Focus
My advice to people when they are thinking about instituting a new process is to go to a whiteboard2 and write down the answer to this question: “If you could only get one thing done this year, what would it be?”. If that answer is “institute some new process”, go for it. But if it’s something like “increase market share from 30% to 60%” or “launch this new product that will 2x our TAM”, don’t waste your time on anything else. Just take your best person (up to and including the CEO), make them responsible for solving that problem, and give them everything and everyone they need to make it happen.
UI/UX Design Trends of 2022
These past couple of years serve as particularly strong evidence of the constant and fast development happening in the UX/UI industry — both in terms of technologies and design trends implemented. Explorations are unfolding in all sorts of directions — some short-lived, some reimagined and some recurring with a greater focus than ever before. Below we present to you in greater detail some of the explorations that will stick throughout 2022.
5 Key Takeaways From Mentoring 12 Techstars Startup Founders In One Day
Being an entrepreneur is challenging and gratifying at the same time. The ups, the downs, the high from getting something off the ground — it’s a wild, crazy and fun ride. Do it right, and you can make a difference in the world and build the next BIG THING. Fail, and you get to deal not only with the internal feelings of guilt and shame disappointing yourself, family and friends, investors, team, not to talk about the financial risk involved.
Oregon Startups
The beginnings of a list featuring posts for Oregon startups on Medium. Curated by University of Oregon’s Nathan Lillegard.
Attract Developers Using the D.E.V. Content Framework
(From Portland’s Adam DuVander, a long-time startup community member) Reach developers in your target market with the developer content they’re looking for. Focus your team’s energy toward the content ideas with the highest probability of being a great article that your audience is looking for right now.
