Steve Ballmer served over 20 years at Microsoft. During his tenure, the company pioneered personal computing and democratized enterprise computing, growing from a small start-up to a company that today employs more than 110,000 people, with a market capitalisation approaching $100 billion. After retiring from this role in 2014, he…
Before I start, let me be clear that I realise the irony of an entrepreneurship-advice column which advocates taking less-advice. However, wrapped in that paradox is an important element of truth. The Plague of Uncertainty In the past few years, I’ve seen a disturbing trend amongst CEOs and start-up-founders that…
I have spoken at a few conferences lately where I’ve noticed entrepreneurs focus completely on the ‘social good’ of their business, as opposed to the ‘old school’ factor of making money. Now… I’m going to start this piece with a huge caveat. I am a huge advocate for social-enterprise, charity,…
Authenticity is one of the most commonly uttered buzz-phrases at any management or leadership seminar, and while this ubiquity may banish it to the realms of ‘blue sky thinking’ (aka management-meeting-related-drivel), the truth is that authenticity is hugely important for entrepreneurs. A Philosophy Lesson In the classics, if we examine…
We’ve all seen the TV shows… Nervous start-ups go up against a panel of investors, giving their elevator-pitch followed- almost instantaneously- by a round of severe grilling. The lucky few survive, with more cash, less equity and hopefully a brighter future. The phenomenon of ‘the pitch’ however, once exclusively the…
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I give all of you permission whereby, if I change the way I behave, my beliefs, the way we are going, I give you permission to hit me in my face, you need to bring me back to reality.
Most of the venture backed businesses, and venture capital firms, are a mirror-tocracy not a meritocracy! Senior executives are disproportionately drawn from a narrow stratum of society – in the US, this means Ivy-League Schools such as Stanford. They tend to be overwhelmingly white (and increasingly now Asian) but certainly overwhelmingly male.
We quickly adopt technologies we see potential in and dismiss those that don't seem promising. Over the last five years, we have heavily invested in Artificial Intelligence, which has immense benefits to us and our clients. Conversely, we didn't invest in the metaverse – or, as we call it, the 'metaworse' – due to its inherent lack of potential as a force multiplier and clunky user experience.
You must tell yourself the truth about money if you're going to give it away well. If you can't live well with $999 million, there's something clearly wrong with you.
I can't think of the last time I read a book that was more fascinating, and useful and enjoyable all at the same time
Ten in-depth articles distilling insights from over 550 interviews with the world's leading thinkers, creators, and changemakers.