Bright Possibilities

Category: Startups

  • Pursuit of Perfection – Design, Architecture, and Re-architecture in the world of software

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    Murali
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    Excellence is a Journey. Perection is the destination. Often we have deep discussions about the desire to pursue perfection. An engineer walks up and says “I really do not like these shortcuts, I have this full design and I want to implement it.” The leader responds, “Yes, I understand. How long will it take to implement…

  • Startup Decks and selling Stories – lessons from Zuora

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    Murali
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    Every startup faces the problem of explaining themselves to the investors and customers alike. Startups live at the edge of uncertainty exploring new ideas and have to thoughtfully present their case. Recently I came across the pitch deck from Zuora – Subscription SaaS company. See the deck here and a good commentary about this deck is here. Nearly…

  • Bridge the world of difference in Olympics

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    Murali
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    Over the past two weeks International Olympics 2016  is in full swing. As of Aug 20, 2016, The USA is leading the medal tally with more than 100 medals. Kudos to all the fantastic athletes, coaches, parents, organizations, and organizers for propelling USA to the top of the charts. In daily life I observe parents and…

  • Ideas to business – another batch starts

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    Murali
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    Two days back I attended the introduction event run by 9-mile labs. Another batch of enthusiastic and energetic individuals talked about their ideas. There were 9 companies chosen for summer cohort that begins in July. Each company had a unique idea on how they are going to change the world. Ideas are hard, turning these…

  • Hi Robot, help me with my daily chores, please …

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    Murali
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    Yesterday I was talking about some ideas with my wife. The topic of robots came up. She rightly challenged me that these robots are not mostly about doing things that are not directly helping with daily items.I agree with her. Earlier this year, Melinda Gates wrote about the paucity of time in the Gates Notes annual…

  • Startup Ecosystem in Seattle – perspectives

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    Murali
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    Today I was reading Sandi MacPhearson’s Medium article discussing Startup Ecosystem mentions that Seattle is lagging behind other places. Compass’  group report on global startup ecosystem provides more depth. Over the past year I had been more exposed to startups in Seattle area. Now that I am in a startup and advising a few startups, I can reflect on the learnings. Seattle…

  • High school students apply for summer internships

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    Murali
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    Spark SIP connects aspiring high school kids in the Greater Seattle area to internships with small companies, universities and enthusiastic coaches. This year I joined this program as both an advisor. I am gratified to see several entrepreneurs step up to sponsor projects including Sensoria, AppSheet, 9-mile labs, 6crickets, and Quantyzd. The season has started very well – we…

  • Build to last longer

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    Murali
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    Today I read an excellent article on building weatherproof companies. The author focuses on founder CEOs and advices them to think about longevity through learning fast, strong culture, real board / advisors, an excellent execution cadence, and handling the monsters of the mind. There are two principles I had held high in my work –…

  • Investing and Prioritizing for Products without shouts – CSI method

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    Murali
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    In big companies and small companies, we are always brimming with many ideas but limited time or people to get work done. There are many ways to organize the work list and at many different granularities. A few years back we were in a product planning session with literally 1000+ items to consider. Yes, spreadsheets are great…

  • Energy, engagement and early success in startups

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    Murali
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    In the past week, I spoke with founders and co-founders of startup companies. These companies are pursuing projects in diverse areas including internet-of-things, software-as-service for invoices and shipping, robotic games for consumers, novel application of sensors for physical environments, etc. The founders are bright, focused, and exude energy in their missions. They are mindful of the challenges…