1981: My Stupid MBA Mistake
It was August of 1981, early morning, in the office of John Lutz, managing partner of McKinsey Management Consulting in Mexico City. I was …
1981: My Worst Business Plan Engagement
It's not for nothing that I always say a business plan has to be your plan and nobody else's. It can't be your consultant's …
1982: Metrics, Swag, and 3 Types of Lies
(Reposted from timberry.bplans.com) This is a true story. Back in my market research days, 20-some years ago now, I watched one of my friends …
1983: First Day of a New Business
(This is reposted here from my blog at timberry.bplans.com) This is a true story. I think it's worth telling because it's one real example, …
1983: I Don’t Create Competition
In 1983: The First Day of a New Business I told the story of leaving Creative Strategies and going out on my own to write …
1983: Oh No! They’re Developing Their Own Compiler
Late summer, 1983. I asked Philippe how his software project was going. “They are writing a new compiler,” he answered. “They’ve decided there is …
1983: Why Did I Start My Business
I was speaking to a group of students in 2007 when one of them asked me to comment on what makes an entrepreneur. The …
1987: Business by Handshake
(Reposted from timberry.bplans.com) As a four-year mutually beneficial relationship ended, turning our cooperation into competition, Emmett Ramey offered this as a final thought: So …
1987: The Heat, the Kitchen, and Credit Cards
(This is reposted from my blog at timberry.bplans.com) I was furious. This guy had stolen from us, blatantly, by ordering a software product, returning …
1988-89 Macworld & The Fishbowl Story
The first time I took our company to exhibit in a trade show we brought along a big plastic fish bowl with a sign …
1988: Focus on What Was Right
(Reposted from timberry.bplans.com) Years ago we were coaching a soccer team of six-year-old girls. That was me and two of my teenage kids. Another …