Winter conference season is ramping up already! I’m excited to share my farm’s approach to #CIScoring at this Chicago conference. Nov 12-14 join me by registering here: ter.li/qley04

Founders: Here's how to structure pilots that actually close: - Max 30 days - 3 mandatory training sessions - Weekly usage metrics reviews - 2 required use cases completed - Success criteria defined up front Charge 25% of annual fee for the pilot. No more endless trials.

Every successful start-up had a Magical Sales Rep in the early days: * often from a non-traditional background * >really< got the product, + every use case * knew how use the product to >truly< solve prospects' problems * clever enough to work around big gaps * part evangelist

startups: free pilots are a net negative free pilots are a net negative free pilots are a net negative

Every single headline that says "Trump backs down from his instincts" leads markets to rally. Perhaps that tells us something about the value of his instincts.

I still think it's weird that so many people are like "I was radicalized by policy mistakes the government made in 2020. So in 2024 I voted for the guy who was president in 2020."

Warning ⚠️: According to the Nature Index, Harvard is the only US institution in the global top 10 for research output. If its infrastructure is dismantled, the entire top 10 will be Chinese.

Engineers-turned-PMs keep making the same psychological error in stakeholder meetings. They assume corporate environments reward merit the same way engineering teams do. After studying this pattern for years, I've identified the core disconnect that nobody discusses:

Pretty much the worst thing to do is happening: instead of brain draining the world now the best startups will happen outside of the United States Colossal blunder at the dawn of the age of intelligence

Thanks Ben McDougal - this was a lot of fun. Iowa’s startup ecosystem has made some important strides in the last decade, and so many people and orgs have contributed to it. But there’s also so much more to do! Excited to see where the future takes us!

Laughing in front of cages designed to hold migrants and refugees, many of whom came to this country fleeing extreme violence and poverty, and hoping to raise their children in a more compassionate country. And many of whom followed all the legal procedures to enter the country.

If you voted for this, remove all the Jesus shit from your bio immediately.

Everyone working in a STEM field should read this - ‘writing is thinking’ nature.com/articles/s4422…

Vanessa McNeal - Life Coach Clayton Mooney Clayton Farms Salads Y Combinator Nic Roth Studio Ryan Snaadt • Video Business Owner The Situasian Mac TheDealtHand 1 Million Cups Des Moines Laban Njūgūna 1 Million Cups Midwest 1 Million Cups Grand Island ZSCA VentureNet Iowa Chris Snider Drake University Alex - Armchairfuturist.eth Nicole Crain Iowa ABI Jon Van Der Veer Erik J. Dominguez Tiffany Tauscheck DSMpartnership Mike O'Donnell Iowa State University CIRAS - Iowa State University Gerald Beranek Maxwell Schaeffer iowarocknroll Hats Protocol 🧢 Nouns.eth Chris Dixon Raid Guild ⚔️ Coinbase 🛡️ SEED CLUB Pods Ethereum carllippert Rachelle Keck Grand View Univ. Lolas Fine Hot Sauce Steve Walsh 818 Derreck Stratton NBA G League Home Builders Assoc. IowaSkilledTrades Abena Sankofa EP100 🎙️🎞️ Brad Feld BradFeld.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com Whatta wild way to wrap Season 2! Thanks again to Brad Feld and to ALL who made this creative season such a gift. #YDNTP

People who cheat on their spouses are more likely to cheat at work, too. Evidence: Marital infidelity predicts 2-3x greater odds of professional misconduct among CEOs, financial advisors, and police officers. Integrity is not a 9-5 job. Character counts in every part of life.

Founders: Discovery call red flags checklist: 🚩 No clear pain metrics 🚩 Can't name decision maker 🚩 No similar tool spend 🚩 No timeline pressure 🚩 Won't share budget range Any 2 flags = unqualified. Save your time.

Ten years ago the leading Republicans in the United States including then Senator Marco Rubio were hitting then President Barack Obama over “The perception that Obama has rolled out the red carpet for Putin” newsweek.com/obama-putin-me… A decade later Trump literally did it

MIT asked 153 execs with enormous AI budgets what they actually want from an AI partner. They didn’t want "cutting-edge AI" for the sake of it - nor some "revolutionary platform." They just asked for someone who: a) understands their actual workflows b) can guide effective

Battle over, SAFEs won. When it comes to the first $ into a startup, nobody is using convertible notes anymore.

How I present the P&L Plan to the board. -Context: prior year -Map to ARR: include waterfall on same slide -No games: include following year tops down model -Common-sized: % of revenue for easier review -Quarterly: no hiding back-loaded growth