Beating Expectations – Consistent and Regular Outperformance

Over at the 500 Hats blog, Dave McClure writes that Failure is hardly the worst thing that can happen to you in Silicon Valley.

To all of us who strive for unlikely outcomes, it is this dual challenge of consistent and regular outperformance which is our real nightmare. In fact, it’s almost certifiably insane to sign up for such a goal – like agreeing to break a world record, and then keep breaking it over and over again, while maintaining perspective and focus, as well as the emotional stability necessary to lead and grow your team. Who the hell believes they can do that? Who the hell isn’t afraid they’ll falter, somewhere along the way?

Read the Full Story.

Video: New Era Strategic Thinking for Startups

In this video, Fadzli Anuar from New Era Strategic Thinking discusses tips for Startup success.

The best people always want to work for the best company. This does not translate into the best paying company. We are now in the age of Gen-Y and this group does not go for the best paying job or even the company with the best name. Gen-Y’s are looking for empowerment and happiness.

Read the Full Story.

Video: How Russian Startups Get Going

In this video from the Russian tvTechnopark program, Entrepreneur David Yan from ABBYY and others discuss their experience starting companies.

Video: The Year in Startups with Rafe Needleman and Robert Scoble

In this video episode of This Week in Startups, Rafe Needleman and Robert Scoble discuss the entrepreneurial highlights in 2012.

Calxeda Startup Finding Success in the Storage Market

Over at GigaOM, Stacey Higginbotham writes that ARM-based server Startup Calxeda is finding success in the storage market.

As the market for scale out computing, storage and networking changes the demands made on IT equipment, Calxeda and others are seeing an opportunity that may have begun in servers and the cloud computing environment, but certainly isn’t stopping there. No wonder Intel is trying to catch up with chips of its own. So far, it’s recently announced new Atom-based chips haven’t made the cut for most customers I’ve spoken with (the lack of integration of the entworking and processing hardware is a problem), but in 2014 it will have a new, integrated SoC as well. Then, the competition will really get interesting.

Read the Full Story.

Video: Andy Bechtolsheim on Risk and Pursuing Startups

In this video, Andy Bechtolsheim discusses founding Sun, risk, and how to decide when to pursue a startup opportunity. He also tells the story behind being the first to invest in Google.

What’s it Really Like Working at a Startup?

Over at the Cloudability Blog, Doug Gould writes that about the many reasons that working at a Startup is so different than your typical first job.

Startups need talented people, not specific job titles. This means that you can approach a startup you think is doing something amazing and sell them on YOU. If you get them hooked, you immediately come in doing what you want to be doing. And what you want to be doing can change drastically in a really short time frame. At a startup, you have the opportunity to explore new things you might never have considered doing, and you’ll be exposed to new things that you could end up loving.

Read the Full Story.

Video: Sparking Innovation with the X Prize and Singularity University

In this video from This Week in Startups, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis some of the world’s biggest challenges including illiteracy, cancer, alzheimer’s, and renewable energy. Peter explains the roots of his fascination with space and breaks down the requirements for acceptance into his Singularity University.

A number of exponentially growing technologies will massively increase human capability and fundamentally reshape our future. This warrants the creation of an academic institution whose students and faculty will study these technologies, with an emphasis on the interactions between different technologies. Our mission is to assemble, educate and inspire a new generation of leaders who strive to understand and utilize exponentially advancing technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.

Video: How Small Investors Get Access to Tech Startups

In this video, Secondmarket Chief Strategy Officer Jeremy Smith discusses angel investing and partnering up with AngelList.

With Quirky, All Your Startup Needs is $10 and an Idea

Over at ABC News, Ross Rubin writes that while Kickstarter simply facilitates the raising of cash to fund Startup efforts, all you need with Quirky is an idea and $10 for a filing fee.

If an idea is lucky enough to be picked by the community and pass Quirky’s approval process, Quirky not only puts its in-house team of designers and engineers to work, but tries to get placement for it on the shelves of retailers who are Quirky partners. These include Bed, Bath and Beyond; Target; Amazon.com; and The Container Store.

Read the Full Story.