The VC landscape is changing The author starts out by saying that the venture capital landscaped has changed in the last several decades of full at least two reasons:  1/ First of all, launching a startup today requires less capital than it did before as technologies such as cloud computing, the internet, big data and artificial intelligence are lowing production costs.  2/ Second of all, accelerators like Y Combinator, are providing educational grounds…

Different kinds of progress In this thought-provoking book, serial entrepreneur turned venture capitalist, Peter Thiel, details how startups can turn into a profitable monopoly. He begins by mentioning that founders must take a critical view on the present and imagine what the future may look like in the 22nd century. Progress fills up the gap between today and tomorrow. He adds that progress comes in 2 forms:  Horizontal progress, also known…

In The Innovator’s Solution Harvard professor, Clayton Christensen, begins by summarizing his previous book, The Innovator’s Dilemma. As the financial community keeps demanding higher returns, decision makers in established companies must confront a difficult choice: they may continue to improve their operations and boost shareholder returns in the short-term, or, they may decide to launch new businesses in low margin market niches to diversify revenue sources, yet failing…

How to run a successful startup? How to draft a product development plan, a minimal viable product and pivot to a successful business model? Plus, when have entrepreneurs reached product market fit and when should one scale? An experienced entrepreneur, Ash Maurya addresses these topics in his foundational book, Running Lean. Develop a startup plan and de-risk your business Startups are a “risky business” and entrepreneurs’ real job is to “systematically…