Essentials of how to do a startup do not include writing a business plan

Disruption on the first day always looks like a toy.

People talk about getting lucky breaks in their careers. I’m living proof that the “lucky breaks” theory is simply wrong. You get to make your own luck... The world is run by those who show up…not those who wait to be asked.

In a startup no facts exist inside the building, only opinions.

There are no facts inside the building so get the hell outside.

You need to ask yourself, ‘Where do you want to work: startups, mid-size or large companies?’ If you find yourself debating the ‘startup versus large company’ choice you’ve already chosen the big company. Entrepreneurship isn’t a career choice it’s a passion and obsession.

Using the Product Development Waterfall diagram for Customer Development activities is like using a clock to tell the temperature. They both measure something, but not the thing you wanted.

The world is run by those who show up not those who wait to be asked.

The core tenant of what I teach is there are no facts inside the building. When we come up with a new idea, we tend to slide into our own reality distortion field to convince ourselves and others. And that's not healthy.

Startups don’t fail because they lack a product they fail because they lack customers and a profitable business model.

For students to understand what the future of journalism is going to be, they're going to have to invent it. It's a big idea. We don't know what journalism is going to look like in the next three years, let alone the next 10 years.

Unless you have tested the assumptions in your business model first, outside the building, your business plan is just creative writing.

A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Greatest risk is not development of new product, but development of customers and markets