A Smart Bear

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The true meaning of common idioms

March 15, 2010 Satire

Non-native speakers of English tell me that the basic rules of grammar aren't too hard to learn, but the idioms are murder.

So I figured we should have a bit of fun at the expense of the English language.

Don't worry, it will get over it.

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Employed with a side of startup

March 8, 2010 How-To

Most people start their first company while they still have a day job.

It makes sense: You don't need loans or funding and the worst case is you learn something.

Actually, that's not the worst case. Read on to learn how to start a business on the side with maximum success and minimum risk.

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Startup Fitness

March 5, 2010 Essays

We need to unhealthily obsess over our creations. But take this too far and your productivity drops off the cliff.

Exercise increases total productivity.

A little goes a long way. Here's a bunch of advice about how to get started.

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Pick one and own it

March 1, 2010 Essays

What if your company were allowed only one advantage over the competition?

Hanging your hat on just one advantage that you can own completely is stronger than diluting your message across many advantages.

Here's an exercise that will make all your sales calls and marketing material stronger.

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CapitalFactory: Your startup gets $20k cash + 20 mentors for a summer

February 26, 2010 Announcements

Help me spread the word about this program!

I'm a mentor and investor in CapitalFactory, a seed-stage startup mentorship program in Austin, TX. Each year we pick 5 companies to participate in a 10-week summer program: $20k in cash, $20k in services, and 20 mentors, culminating in Demo Day.

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Enough with the "expert" guilt

February 22, 2010 Essays

I'm sick of being admonished that success is predicated on spending the next 10,000 hours of our lives becoming "an expert."

I'm sick of hearing about how I should be molding my life in the image of Michael Phelps or Albert Einstein, because the only thing that separates me from genius is identifying my strengths and working really really hard.

I'm calling bullshit.

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New moderators and flair on Answers OnStartups

February 19, 2010 Announcements

The startup community over at Answers OnStartups has really taken off! Dharmesh and I started it just a few months ago and it's already helped thousands of people.

We've just blessed four new moderators and added the ability to promote yourself with flair.

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