There’s been a lot of conversation about Steve Jobs passing on the ex-NeXT email list (the former employees of NeXT Computer, Inc.).  I shared the following perspective in response to Steve sometimes being a harsh person to deal with. I think that in some ways, this harsh background was part of my training ground for [...]

A handful of us that worked for Steve Jobs in the past were quoted in this article at Mashable.com I have great gratitude for the opportunity to work with Steve and everyone else at NeXT Computer from 1989-1993.  Thank you Steve for instilling in me the belief that a small group of us can change [...]

For more info see these post: Prelaunch of a network of entrepreneurs in Antofagasta (in Spanish) A report of tonight’s activities with support from Leonardo Maldonado, Estuardo Robles, Bijoy Goswami, and Steve Golab            

You might know of the work that I started in Chile in 2003 – which was to become the basis of Tech Ranch Austin- the “Enterprise Teaming” (trademark!) framework that I originally took to Chile so many years ago.  Well the Tech Ranch Austin has been growing, and we’re starting to duplicate this framework and [...]

In the workplace as in many parts of life, I have found that there’s a simple distinction that guides what I tell many a new entrepreneur into their first startup.  This distinction is conformity versus discipline.  Being an employee requires that the individual conforms to someone else’s directions. Day by day activities are directed by [...]

One of the biggest issue that every entrepreneur must face is dealing with the “down” times… times when something (possibly) negative has happened, that distracts him/her from the key objective that they were focused on, to dealing with the unexpected. The recent Tech Ranch Move, which was unexpected, is exactly that. Yes, we had a [...]

Interesting to read the following article- given that so many young entrepreneurs get press for high flying Internet startups- but quietly in the background older entrepreneurs are building high growth, heavy innovation startups.  See the following for details: According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, people over the age of 35 made up 80 percent of [...]

The following article talks about how certain entrepreneurs affect how “lucky” they are in business success.  Its a really interesting read, with a simple meditation (see the quote below). They are the people who say to themselves: I am humble enough to say I don't know how to make better/perfect happen on my own; I [...]

Doug Erwin, Former Chairman and CEO of The Planet gave the closing keynote today at today’s Rice Alliance 8th Annual Information Technology / Web Venture Forum.  He’s been very successful across multiple ventures over the last 35 years. I felt so compelled by his wisdom that I wanted to share it here. Here’s his 12 [...]

Many have asked me what’s brought me to Chile this time.  As I sit here in Antofagasta, Chile, I wanted to share this recent New York Times article that frames in the discussion.  Power in the 21st century is about networks. Over the next 10 years.  The individuals, companies, and nations that have the strongest [...]

Over the last few days I have come to believe that the system is broken. Some of you know that I was assaulted last February 2009. The last year and a half has been a healing experience for me. Its also taught me to be patient as I thought the court system would move forward [...]

It doesn’t take much time to profoundly impact science and the world.  Dr. Konstantin Novoselov devoted 10% of his time to “crazy things that probably won’t pan out”. One of these experiments did… that he’s now being recognized with the Nobel Prize. The style of Geims lab which Im keeping and supporting up to now [...]

Its hard to ever know how seeds once planted will grow. This and next week represent an exciting reconnection of my work with Chile.  For context, in 2003, I took an early version of what was to become the blueprint of Tech Ranch Austin to Chile.  I was convinced that I needed to open the [...]

Entrepreneurs…. this is a call as a reminder… there’s no small game to play with regard to being an entrepreneur.  I’ve often been told of the following quote from Marianne Williamson (often attributed to Nelson Mandela) where Marianne tells us flat out to stop playing a small game.  In the words of a spiritual butt-kicking, [...]

A recent discussion around the Bootstrap Austin Network is worthy of sharing here, for it rings true for every entrepreneur trying to make a difference through his/her venture.  An entrepreneur was contemplating legal action on an issue that was not core to his business.  Several entrepreneurs got into the discussion. Barry Thorton, founder of Clear Cube [...]

There’s a recent article that several people have forwarded to me given that it rings true to what I am talking about around the Tech Ranch Austin all of the time…  Called Getting your startup out of Starbucks, James Reinhart has a point that he’s singing to the choir (me) about. The whole point here [...]

One of the great things about being a connector is that I get to listen in across many different people- what they are saying, what they are finding interesting, and if there is any correlation among these topics of conversation. Recently, there’s been one meme that has gotten tweeted and talked about by quite a [...]

Looking back to 2009 many great things happened with the concepts that I’ve been calling the Enterprise Tribe, with the most exciting being Tech Ranch Austin.  2009 was all about transition, transitioning from a handful of theories to actual startup success at the Ranch.  2010, though, is about growth.  That is, taking what we have to [...]

Over the last few months, we at the Tech Ranch Austin have been supporting entrepreneurs in launching their ventures.  With the following announcement, we’re taking it to a whole new level.  See details below about the Venture Forth program.  Its time to start the venture that you’ve been thinking about. Do you have an idea [...]

Today’s Austin American Statemen has an article honoring the contribution that Betty Sue Flowers has been making to Austin and the world- especially as she takes on her next adventure- moving from Austin after 45 years of being here, to be with her love, former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley. Betty Sue Flowers had a [...]

This is Kevin- I am doing ok. By now, you might have heard that I was attacked on Friday night. All is good. I was able to walk to the emergency room after the attack, and for the most part I have been in really good spirits since. The attack was senseless, and I don’t [...]

Randy Komisar of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers shares insight in this short clip on how to find your passion and how to pursue it.  Key insights: Don’t look for a specific passion, but build a “portfolio of passions”, and then map them into the opportunities in front of you Use your values and what [...]

Its interesting to see how knowledge from our past experience prepares us for the future.  Over a year ago I wrote about a complementary currency system coming together to create greater opportunity between entrepreneurs. I never envisioned at the time of that writing that the economic conditions might just present themselves where such a system [...]

As a part of today’s Tech Ranch Austin announcements- We have been selected by Microsoft to administer a program to give access to technology startups to the full suite of Microsoft tools for free.  Read further details here about the program, and apply through the Tech Ranch Austin website.

There are two important events happening in the Austin startup ecosystem this week and next: Austin Business District’s Open4Business Conference- November 11- with five high impact tracks including Sales & Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Business Law, Sustainability UT Austin’s Ready to Commercialize event November 17th and 18th- reviewing technologies that are coming out of the [...]