Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 25, 2012

Last week, a close friend, who is a product manager/designer, told me he’s starting a company. He asked me where I thought the biggest opportunity lay given his skills and his passions. He’s incredibly capable and driven, but he hasn’t yet found the right place to apply his energy. My friend is in search of a problem to solve. He’s in the right place.

Interviewing 100

Interviewing Startup Software Marketing 100

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 24, 2012

When I walk into a bank today, I might deposit my cash in exchange for some interest rate. The interest rate is my cut of the profits the bank made on my deposit through their trading and lending activities. The more assets under management, the more money a bank can make on its own account. Like banks, web companies are in the business of maximizing gigabytes of user data under management.

Management 100

Management Banking Scale Advertising 100

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 23, 2012

I met the Electric Imp team in April. I had bumped into one of their engineers at a party and he pinged me a few weeks later to say he was working for a startup and the company was raising. The company came in to the office on a Monday at noon. Hugo, the founder, Electric Imp demoed their product to me. Ten minutes in, I stopped the pitch meeting, pulled 3 partners from their Monday partner meeting, and issued a term sheet that afternoon.

Engineering 100

Engineering Startup Technology Investment 100

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 21, 2012

It’s tempting to burrow within a garage or basement or apartment to develop a product for several months and emerge from the darkness with a new shiny product. But the launch will likely fall flat. Products must be launched into ecosystems, in particular, into receptive ecosystems. In my view, there are three types of ecosystems that startups should cultivate.

Startup 100

Startup Development Branding Investment 100

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Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 22, 2012

Examining a user’s motivations at the entry point of every major feature in a product and matching the product to this motivation is key to building a great product users love. BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model Theory is a succinct summary of this idea in a formula: Motivation + Trigger + Ability = Behavior. This model says that a user will perform a behavior when given the means, the motive, and the opportunity.

Engagement 127

Engagement Development 127