(This is the second in a two part post.  You should probably start at part one which contains a framework for thought.  Part two contains recommendations and my philosophy for first-time entrepreneurship). The most basic principle of business is that profit is revenue minus costs.  Try considering all fixed costs as a rate — especially [...]

(This is the first in a two part post. Part one contains a framework for viewing the world.  Part two contains resulting recommendations). Apple’s app store taught me that living in New York City is expensive.  How expensive? $1.25 an hour. Consider that the rent for my (rather modest) Brooklyn apartment is roughly $900 a [...]

This post about competitive dynamics has been stewing in my mind for months now and it’s still a work in progress.  At its heart is a framework for thinking about a common type of tech company:  the aggregator.   The aggregator takes disparate items, gathers them, and presents them as a unified front. Aggregators can exist [...]

Lions, Tigers, and Spyware on Phones, Oh My! Mobile spyware is the focus of the tech media’s latest frenzy. It started when a hacker discovered that the Pre sends back location data about users to Palm.  Next, a blogger ‘discovered’ that certain iPhone apps also phone home.  The frenzy came to a head when ReadWriteWeb [...]

…or “So You Think You’ve Got a Million Dollar App Idea” (this piece also appeared on Silicon Alley Insider) As a number obsessed techie and ex-management consultant, market sizing and research were a big part of my launch preparations for Exit Strategy NYC. Since launch, I’ve received many questions from people struggling to estimate the [...]