MBA Mondays: Next Topics

Back at the end of April I wrote a post asking for ideas for the next few topics for MBA Mondays. Out of that came the series on People which I followed with a series on Sustainability. It's time for a new series and I want to check in with everyone to see where you'd like me to go next.

The Disqus thread from that post in late April are full of suggestions so you might wade into them and see which suggestions interest you most. Or simply leave a comment with a topic you'd like to see me do a series on.

#MBA Mondays

Comments (Archived):

  1. RichardF

    Arnold’s comment was the second most liked in that post and it get’s my vote:”We don’t need business plans but we certainly need market approaches.A series by CEOs on how they got the first 1000 engaged users is one answer”

    1. William Mougayar

      I second that.

    2. awaldstein

      Discovering a market is not just marketing, it is the core of business itself.I’d still love to see this series from people not only who have done it but who are doing it today. Or again.Something to think about Fred.Not all CEOs are naturally adept at a post form. A 30-45 minute video interview, one a week, with the CEO taking on the moderator role of the comment stream when posted would I bet really work.

      1. fredwilson

        You are right that an interview would be better. I will think about how to do that

      2. andyidsinga

        Fred interviewing / chatting with various folks is a fabulous idea ..could even do it as a recorded google hangout.I would love to watch Fred and GothamGal talk business in one of these “interviews” !!

      3. LE

        “30-45 minute video interview”A good idea. Also important that it be transcribed. You can read that info much quicker than watching someone say it. Or at least skim it which you can’t do with video even when indexed.

        1. RichardF

          so true about the video, I’d also like the audio to automatically be uploaded to an avc account on soundcloud to create a podcast. I’d like all videos of lectures/fireside talks to be converted to an audio only stream, it’s not like you are missing much , unless Fred gets pissed at something and start banging his hand on the table!

      4. Drew Meyers

        I’m in private beta right now, but am tackling the first 1,000 users challenge as we speak ๐Ÿ™‚

        1. awaldstein

          Defining engagement not registrations is an interesting discussion.Going through that for my sproject: http://www.thelocalsip.comHave just about decided that pulling down the wall and opening up the service then earning registration may be the way to go.

    3. fredwilson

      Guest lectures!

      1. RichardF

        on google hangouts, yes please!

      2. Korf

        Second the idea of Clay Christensen or perhaps bringing visionaries, innovators, and entrepreneurs in from outside the world of consumer internet in the spirit of the @dolectures http://dolectures.com/ would fit nicely with your current thinking around sustainable business models. People solving problems that exist in the world, rather than just inside iDevices. ๐Ÿ™‚

    4. JamesHRH

      I am not sure that this would not crystalize to ‘keep trying’.But I would be interested to see if I am wrong.

      1. falicon

        Not ‘keep trying’…keep doing. That is the real secret.

    5. Rob

      I’d love to see that.It’s not easy to find information on what strategies did start-ups use to grow from nothing to their first 1,000 users. I guess it varies wildly from start-up to start-up.A bit of focus on start-ups that create marketplaces would be fantastic. I’ve always struggled to understand how to start a marketplace.If you have a product or service you “only” need customers, but with a marketplace you need both providers and consumers, so Fred’s experience and advice on how to get the ball rolling would be invaluable.I remember reading about how AirBnb used Craiglist extensively at the begining (it may not be true, I don’t know), but how did eBay or Etsy attract sellers when there were almost no buyers, and how did they attract buyers when there were so few sellers?

      1. RichardF

        Great point about marketplaces.

      2. awaldstein

        Great topic. There won’t be one answer though.

        1. Rob

          Thanks for the link! Do you happen to have some more ๐Ÿ™‚ ?

          1. awaldstein

            This is the only one I have worth sharing.It hits on some key issues but while instructive to tear apart your model at an early stage, pre funding, the model looks way more amorphous and some of these pieces are not formed enough to me evaluated IMO.I really love the marketplace model. Hard. Unknown in many of the pieces. Magic when it works.

          2. Rob

            It really is a challenging model, and as you say it feels like magic when it works.Thanks for the link and thanks to Bill for his “10 factors” framework. It could be very useful for people without much experience in this area (myself included).Fred said in the “Networks and the Enterprise” post that one of USV’s favorite kind of networks are marketplaces (http://www.avc.com/a_vc/201… , so I’d love to read what he has learnt along the way.

          3. awaldstein

            Fred has more board experience than anyone I know of in this model.His insights are well worth following especially because he understands the early model, the model before he is ready to consider funding it. He is very unique in that knowledge.This blog is obviously very focused on the funder on out perspective. It’s important to do some translation from the entrepreneur on in perspective.They are not always the same.

    6. Kirsten Lambertsen

      +1I just emerged from an accelerator program, and the biggest challenge for all the start-ups was distribution (customer acquisition).It’s really instructive to hear the different ways that different businesses and founders have solved the problem of getting their first 1000 (10,000?) users/customers.While taking Fred’s Skillshare course, it was easy to see that many participants had not spent enough time on this most-important issue.I would be super-psyched to see this covered ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. falicon

        The program is already complete? How did it go for you? I would love to hear a post-mortem on the experience if/when you have time!

        1. Kirsten Lambertsen

          Hi! Yep, Thursday was Launch Day (aka Demo Day). It’s actually been 3 months – time flies!You and I need to schedule a face to face beer now that I’m back ๐Ÿ™‚ I’ll DM you on Twitter.

          1. falicon

            Cool! Is there an online video of the demo day anywhere? Would love to check it out if possible ๐Ÿ˜‰

          2. Kirsten Lambertsen

            Not yet – but it’s in process. I’ll share the link when it’s available.

      2. RichardF

        Its a really tough one for web start ups, particularly with all the start up noise, which only seems to be getting worse.

      3. JamesHRH

        ‘Distribution’ has always been the biggest issue for any startup & it will always be the biggest issue.

  2. takingpitches

    In line with the “atomic unit=monetization unit” point from last week’s discussion and the foursquare discussion last night, a broader series on the different monetization models that have proven to work and not work on internet/network businesses, whether content, marketplaces, social, etc. (Certainly, it’s a key issue that we and I am sure others are facing: we know we are creating value, but really trying to focus in on what are the best ways to monetize it while building a business that is sustainable for customers, investors, and us.)

    1. kidmercury

      #upvoted

    2. fredwilson

      Monetization is a great idea. My partner Brad hates that word. Maybe we call it business models or revenue models

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        It is a crap terminology – I like to think of it as ‘making a living’ ๐Ÿ˜‰

        1. Mark Essel

          Business Respiration

          1. Wavelengths

            I like your term. This is just a little tangent. Be patient through the ad. I just drove back from Austin to West Texas, so it’s even a little more resonant for me.http://www.youtube.com/watc

      2. takingpitches

        It’s not monetization — in some contexts, that could have the wrong tinge to it in terms of your relation to your customers.Revenue models is better. Sustainable revenue models — ones that are in harmony with, i.e., sustain your startup mission and do not undermine it and as Carl says, allow you and your investors to sustain yourselves ๐Ÿ™‚

        1. fredwilson

          great. we solved what to call it. phew!

      3. Richard

        What about “pricing models” ? Does classical microeconomics apply? Do the concepts of the laws of supply and demand, economic profit, normal profit, theory of equilibrium, elasticity, etc. apply to our space? What have we learned about “mobile microeconomics” over the five years?

      4. Jerome Camblain

        Would MonEtsyzation sound more acceptable for Brad? Apart from this joke if think it’s a great topic. The most fascinating reason I love this industry is smart people management and new business model creation… and the real one is to be able to exchange on cool topics with my teenagers.

    3. JamesHRH

      Fred has a ton of insights, but nothing is more powerful that atomic=monetization for social media.This would be a great series.

      1. awaldstein

        Honestly I have no idea what this means.Please clarify.

        1. Pete Griffiths

          It means that there is a natural affinity between the core social object of a social network and the best way of advertising on that network.Hence: the atomic unit of twitter is the tweet and their ad unit is the sponsored tweet.the atomic unit of tumblr is the post and their ad unit is the sponsored post.the atomic unit of google is a search and their ad unit is the sponsored search resultAnd:the atomic unit of facebook is the status update but their current ad unit is old style IAB ad units beside the feed.The key idea is that well crafted natural ads are not seen as interruptive by the user and in an ideal world will add value to the user’s experience rather than detract from it.

          1. awaldstein

            Thanks for spending the time on this. I had just gotten off a long flight home and a bit dense.Great discussion. I look forward to engaging because this presumes that the core model for social nets is media and that successful revenue models for social net is some next gen ad.Maybe you are right but I hope not as I find that the ads on twitter, tumblr and google while in certain levels are not as interruptive, hardly part of the natural experience for users.

          2. Pete Griffiths

            The key questions would appear to be:a) are they as interruptive? – I agree that that they are not as ‘out of format’ and interruptiveTHENb) do they add value? – Google always insisted on this and indeed the ranking on paid search results reflects the click response by users as a proxy for such value. It is harder to evaluate some other ‘native’ formats but I think you will find that those who have experience with such environments as Twitter and FB are happily recording much better click thrus than the more traditional FB banners.c) even if they add value will they continue to garner better click thrus or will users in fairly short order tune out this ad format as they have others (Andrew Chen wrote about this on the “Law of Shitty Click Throughs”)etc etc a fluid situation

          3. awaldstein

            Sounds like this post by Fred has started in the comments before he writes it.The reason why this is important is that social nets like Facebook at least today are transactionless. For whatever behavioral reason people don’t buy on the platform.Media is what they have to build a model on.

          4. Pete Griffiths

            Yes – I think that relates to Fred’s point about commercial becoming social being a stronger transaction model than social becoming ecommercial.I think it is to do with the expectations people have of the environment. I go to Amazon to buy stuff and FB to ‘socialize.’ I think this primary purpose is pretty wired into us.

    4. ShanaC

      Revenue models sound fun.

    5. William Mougayar

      That seems like a winner idea for sure. There’s probably at least a dozen various models that deserve their own drill-down.

    6. David Miller

      I like the revenue model idea … As part of that series, and for each revenue model, I’d like to see a discussion of the team skills, organization structures, sales comp plans, optimal customer size/segment, etc., are most important for each model’s success.

      1. falicon

        perhaps stages and timelines for executing on a given revenue model as well…So for example, if you are going for an ‘ad supported model’, what scale do you really need to target before focusing on that revenue model? And what’s the reasonable investor expectation in terms of time and money to get to scale before actually switching focus from hyper growth to hyper revenue?

        1. Pete Griffiths

          Excellent point. Revenue models are scale dependent.

  3. Jeff T.

    The transition of a tech business from idea/pre-customer/pre-rev stage to that first substantial raise (large seed or series A) to launch/revenue generation and how the investor pitch changes pre-launch to post-launch.

  4. Nathan Guo

    I’d be interested in a series on strategy. How do you decide what opportunities to pursue professionally/personally?

    1. fredwilson

      That’s a good suggestion

    2. JamesHRH

      Very different topics.Warren Buffet’s stated personal goal is to increase the # of people who love him.Not anywhere in the Berkshire annual letter, that I can see!

  5. Korf

    Hey Fred – Thank you again (and team at SkillShare) for the fantastic Sustainable Business Model Class and the generosity with your time and insights. One topic we tossed around in the class was understanding market opportunities, market sizing, and market timing (why now?) for start ups. Or, another way to explore the topic might be the idea of jobs to be done http://tcrn.ch/SHllsb from Clay Christensen which has been getting a lot play lately.

    1. fredwilson

      I will look into that

  6. Carl Rahn Griffith

    @umairhDon’t miss this excellent piece by @nikluac on the hijacking of biz and mgmt. http://bit.ly/Uj8pbv

  7. jason wright

    The dark secrets of venture capital please

    1. fredwilson

      I have been trying to shine a light on them here at AVC for almost a decade

  8. Brandon Burns

    Community & Audience Growth Tactics.I took a very good Skillshare class** where the professor urged, “A good product will not automatically crate users.” He then shared tactics that 1) are not commonly discussed, but amazingly effective, 2) demonstrated that there’s a severe gap between the default ways people think of creating and audience and the stuff that actually works.Base posts, separated by stage:- Pre-Beta Launch: Drumming Up Anticipation- Beta Launch: Engaging a Starter Community- The Nebulous Middle: Creating a Self-sustained Growth Engine- Established Product: Scaling Into a Wider AudienceOther post ideas to dig deeper into specific areas:- Email & Other CRM Tactics- Chasing Viral Activity: How to know if its right for your product- Targeting Narrow vs. Wide Customer SegmentsEveryone says narrow, but there are examples of products that, in search of a wider audience, didn’t do this, and started by appealing to several niches (Skillshare โ€” entrepreneurship, tech, design, food, life hacks) or appealing to completely general audience (Foursquare)… and still grew / scaled successfully.- Manual vs. Digital MethodsCreating a community can be very manual, such as building relationships with people IRL to drive online, or mostly digital, such as using sharable content as a driver. Both have their pros, cons, and quirks. Digital content: curated vs. user free for all? Manual relationship building: go after existing organizations with an audience, or heard individuals you know and meet?……..**The Skillshare class: http://www.skillshare.com/L

    1. fredwilson

      I am getting a 404 error on that pageWho was the teacher of that class?

      1. Brandon Burns

        Class: Learn How To Get Your First Million UsersProf: Michael Geer, Founder @ CauseCart

        1. Korf

          Hoping he does a virtual class soon. How did you like the class? Sounded like a good one.

          1. Brandon Burns

            was awesome. best point was that what most people think of as far as growing an audience is really PR, and that’s very different from user acquisition.press, blogs posts, fancy home pages, videos & other content… these all help convert investors and industry people, but joe schmoe doesn’t care. unless you’re an existing brand, at which point you’re just reconnecting with your existing audience by getting in front of their face.you can be a successful SVP at google, and have no clue how to build something new starting with zero users. the tactics are totally different. growing an audience from nothing is a skill set all its own.

          2. Korf

            Totally 100% agree – PR helps generate awareness but conversion and adoption is a completely different story.

          3. Kirsten Lambertsen

            Me, too. I’ve been keeping an eye on this one a long time, hoping to see an online version.

        2. fredwilson

          Thanks

    2. ShanaC

      I’ve been meaning to take that class. I’m glad it was worth it!

  9. Brandon Burns

    side note: i posted a comment that’s “awaiting moderation.” i’m a regular! why am i being treated this way! disqus has got some tweaking to do on that algorithm.:o)

    1. fredwilson

      You are right about thatI will look into this

      1. Korf

        disqus had a hiccup in the last hour or so … alls well now.

        1. Brandon Burns

          yeah, i figured that when i got an email that i never requested asking me to reset my password.thanks for the heads up!

      2. LE

        At least you don’t ban people like they do on hacker news. And for the most trivial things. They actually do that. Both “slow banning” and “hell banning”. Slow banning is where the site is slow for anyone who has been “slow banned”. “Hell banning” allows someone to post comments but only they see their comments nobody else does.

        1. Drew Meyers

          the “bozo” button…we thought about doing this at zillow while I was there but never pulled the trigger to build it. not sure if they have it now or not (it’s been almost 3 years since I worked there)

    2. JamesHRH

      Tilt you head the other direction in your avatar, see if it helps ๐Ÿ˜‰

      1. Brandon Burns

        ha! you never know, its the little things that count… :o)

    3. ShanaC

      because moderation in the background can be wonky….

  10. John Revay

    Why not reach out to say Clayton Christensen, or other people that teach MBA courses and ask them for current topics. It would be interesting to hear Fred’s view of some of these current topics.

  11. Carl Rahn Griffith

    Demand generation – pipeline – via old and new methodologies. Whither, sales/lead generation?

  12. Tom Labus

    when, how to use “outsourcing” when establishing a team/product/company?

    1. fredwilson

      I think I have written about this one. I believe you should avoid it at all costs

      1. PhilipSugar

        We share that view.

    2. Korf

      complicated … can be useful in very early stage – create a prototype at very low cost before you staff up.

  13. JamesHRH

    1) Making Magic – how do you get the right Idea, People & Product to appear?2) Kid Mercury curated series on the history / future of storing wealth & commercial transactions.3) Global Economics – history of & future potential for radical change in the structure of global financial institutions.Some of us actually don’t have MBAs & thought Econ 101 was not a ‘target rich environment for co-eds’ ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. fredwilson

      Econ with Kid. Wow. What a concept!

  14. andyidsinga

    Maybe a series on mentors ..and what you’ve learned from them over the years? ( could even have guest posts about theirs )it was neat the other day ago when you mentioned the Seth Godin had taught you about allowables 20 years ago. Left me wondering what other interesting stories are there.

    1. fredwilson

      ooh. great suggestion

  15. ShanaC

    Business ethics where we discuss case of business ethics questions and different ways to understand the problems where ethics are part of the question.

  16. ShanaC

    A history of the web business in the 90s?

  17. ShanaC

    How to know what to measure for your startup to make sure you can see it become successful…

  18. PJSweeney

    A lot of the current thread focuses on the most important part but least understood facets of business building – sales. How do you sell your first user, your first 1,000 downloads, etc.There are multiple threads you could do for a series – sales basics (as in getting someone to buy something from you), metrics VC/PE value (dissecting sales, vs users, vs time on app, etc), marketing as the new sales function, hiring the right sales team, etc.

  19. Richard

    The art of horizontal and vertical business partnerships.

  20. Matt Mireles

    Hiring. People ALWAYS say “hire great people,” but no one ever explains what greatness” means or howโ€“โ€“practicallyโ€“โ€“you discover, attract and vet those people as an early stage startup. More often, the people saying this are industry veterans with deep pockets and fat rolodexes, ie people in very different situation than your typical startup founder.Actionable advice on this front would be very useful.

    1. LE

      “”hire great people,” but no one ever explains what greatness means or howโ€“โ€“practicallyโ€“โ€“you discover, attract and vet those people as an early stage startup.”Exactly. Same trite advice as “get yourself a good lawyer” or any generality.I can tell you that part of this is effectively selling the person you are attracting. That part is obvious. But the other part that is necessary is to be able to bullshit someone with your vision. (Think Scully). Sell the dream. (In advertising this is called “sell the sizzle not the steak”.Keep in mind that any advice you read or hear about is usually from people who have succeeded that is given the most attention. What worked for them may not have worked for the other 99 people or luck may also have played a role. Or a particular skill that they had in conjunction with the method that they used.In general though to be an entrepreneur there is no play by play giving exact steps (as there is in other professions which are taught in school). You have to be able to improvise and be creative even when you aren’t specifically sure of the direction that you should be taking.Two people that are still with me to this day (10 years later) resulted from the following actions of “identifying”. One person (an attorney) I simply asked a law professor who wrote a law blog in the same industry who he would recommend. He gave me two choices and I picked one of them. Another person I simply saw writing very good technical answers on a mailing list. Both worked out. (Now re-read ny paragraph #4)

  21. William Mougayar

    How about doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) series with the CEOs of some of the USV companies? They would have almost no post, but just comments.

    1. leigh

      that’s a great idea

    2. karen_e

      Where have you seen “AMA” used before? I am not familiar with the acronym but I like the idea. It’s like office hours at college/university.

      1. William Mougayar

        Reddit did an AMA w President Obama about a month ago. Some startups do it with their CEOs. AMA is not new, but online AMA seems to become more popular now.

    3. RichardF

      seconded! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    4. JamesHRH

      They could also POA (Post on Anything).

  22. mgwitham

    Decision Making; explore the methods of making decisions in the different faculties of business.HiringFiringRaising CapitalHow to allocate capital across one’s businessWhen to ‘pivot’ ; when not toCreating Board of DirectorsProduct developmentBrandingCultureCan you talk about frameworks to make decisions?

    1. fredwilson

      Good suggestion

  23. mgwitham

    @fredwilson:disqus You can always join up with @marksuster on This Week in Venture Capital.

    1. fredwilson

      That’s his gig. He does it well

  24. Jeff Jenkins

    I’d like to see a series on failure. Both about why startups fail and what the best practices are when winding down companies at various stages

    1. fredwilson

      I think most fail because they don’t find product market fit

      1. Jeff Jenkins

        Yeah, I think that that part has probably been covered pretty well elsewhere. The mechanics of what happens is more what I’m interested in (but maybe that would involve divulging sensitive info)

        1. fredwilson

          No. I can walk folks through that

      2. Korf

        Is it product/market fit or problem/solution fit? … I really like how Steve Blank gets his students thinking about the market (is it big enough? – do enough people share the same problem?) for the “solution” or “hypothesis” before putting too much energy into the product (or idea).

    2. leigh

      oh, i just suggested that too (winding down) before i saw this ๐Ÿ™‚

  25. Zachary Toering

    How about doing MBA Monday case studies on specific public companies or start-ups? This could facilitate a deeper understanding of previous posts as well as new community insights.

  26. Tim

    Great post as always

    1. fredwilson

      ??

  27. jschless

    Would definitely love to hear something on company culture and it’s importance and then oversight on it. As you’ve been exposed to many businesses , I think you’d have an excellent opinion on this.

  28. leigh

    I don’t mean to be all negative but sending out cheques to shareholders for tech company that failed this week. I think at some point a post on how to fail well (or at least the best of the worst) and include any thoughts on family and friend funding (which i would personally NEVER do again)

    1. fredwilson

      oy. tough one.

      1. leigh

        get to see the best and worst in pple for sure.

  29. Dasher

    I vote for: Building moats

  30. Wavelengths

    You recently did an MBA Monday that addressed issues in the startup and early-stage company arena that discussed terms like liquidity, working capital, and short-term and long-term debt.I am struck by how many people in the everyday world have no idea of those terms, yet their household survival depends on understanding the concepts. If you talk to “Joe America” about financial education, the first thing he will talk about is “budget,” and the next thing will be “pay off debt,” and the next thing will be “savings.” But that simplistic view doesn’t address the realities of everyday life, especially in an economic, job, and weather-related crisis environment. Budgeting is great, if you know your monthly (weekly, whatever … ) income, but it has no meaning when your job prospects or living situation are up in the air–very much like a startup, as well as a reflection of many people’s lives right now.I knew a woman who worked as a well-paid hair stylist who wanted to “pay down debt.” She didn’t really know how to do that, so her strategy was to pay more on a different bill every month. One month Visa, one month the mortgage, one month Sears, etc. When the water heater blew up, she didn’t know what to do. She had no concept of long-term debt (“good debt” because of low monthly obligation) versus having to go to “Payday Loans” to cover the cost of her water heater because she paid an extra month ahead on her mortgage.I knew another woman who was spending approximately $500 each month to keep her paid-off vintage BMW roadworthy, and that sum included towing fees when the car broke down on the interstate. I suggested that a monthly car payment on a new car might be much less costly, and her not-so-valuable BMW was a reasonable trade-in. I also noted that she’d be safer in a car that didn’t break down every 3 weeks or so.The utter failure of the “system” to educate ordinary folks about these concepts leads to poor money management, and hostility toward those who are in business who have to make hard decisions about whether to pay the employees and office overhead, or cut back on staff to buy important equipment.Could you consider a series matching up these concepts with everyday life? I see that even MBA grads may not translate those ideas into their “kitchen-table economics.” Yeah, it might be a short series, but it might be fun.Also, pound on the issue of gross vs. net profit. That might seem absurdly obvious, but when a small-business owner says the shop grossed $250 K, Mr. Joe Average thinks the shop owner took home a quarter of a mil, whereas the reality is that the shop rental, inventory, two assistants, and misc. business costs meant the business owner had an effective salary of under $60K. (For example.)Few average citizens have any idea of the concept of business costs, risk, etc.Although this isn’t strictly on point with your position as a VC, I’ve seen that this elementary background is lacking for a lot of people, including politicians, government officials, and policy makers.Perhaps this crowd would have a lot to contribute to the series.BTW, thanx for the decade of revealing those deep, dark VC secrets.

    1. fredwilson

      the layman’s MBA?

      1. Wavelengths

        Nice way to put it.I’m thinking, though, a lot of people who may be educated to understand the concepts in the business world still may not see the same issues at home. They stay stuck in “budget, balance checkbook, save, pay down debt.”I’ll bet you’d get some lively discussion around this. And probably some eyes would open.

    2. Korf

      Great suggestion! – Home Depot MBA.

  31. Wavelengths

    Dag nabbit. Disqus lost me there. I’ll copy my post so any commenters can get my attention directly.Thanks for the forum, and for the opportunity to contribute.You recently did an MBA Monday that addressed issues in the startup and early-stage company arena that discussed terms like liquidity, working capital, and short-term and long-term debt.I am struck by how many people in the everyday world have no idea of those terms, yet their household survival depends on understanding the concepts. If you talk to “Joe America” about financial education, the first thing he will talk about is “budget,” and the next thing will be “pay off debt,” and the next thing will be “savings.” But that simplistic view doesn’t address the realities of everyday life, especially in an economic, job, and weather-related crisis environment. Budgeting is great, if you know your monthly (weekly, whatever … ) income, but it has no meaning when your job prospects or living situation are up in the air–very much like a startup, as well as a reflection of many people’s lives right now.I knew a woman who worked as a well-paid hair stylist who wanted to “pay down debt.” She didn’t really know how to do that, so her strategy was to pay more on a different bill every month. One month Visa, one month the mortgage, one month Sears, etc. When the water heater blew up, she didn’t know what to do. She had no concept of long-term debt (“good debt” because of low monthly obligation) versus having to go to “Payday Loans” to cover the cost of her water heater because she paid an extra month ahead on her mortgage.I knew another woman who was spending approximately $500 each month to keep her paid-off vintage BMW roadworthy, and that sum included towing fees when the car broke down on the interstate. I suggested that a monthly car payment on a new car might be much less costly, and her not-so-valuable BMW was a reasonable trade-in. I also noted that she’d be safer in a car that didn’t break down every 3 weeks or so.The utter failure of the “system” to educate ordinary folks about these concepts leads to poor money management, and hostility toward those who are in business who have to make hard decisions about whether to pay the employees and office overhead, or cut back on staff to buy important equipment.Could you consider a series matching up these concepts with everyday life? I see that even MBA grads may not translate those ideas into their “kitchen-table economics.” Yeah, it might be a short series, but it might be fun.Also, pound on the issue of gross vs. net profit. That might seem absurdly obvious, but when a small-business owner says the shop grossed $250 K, Mr. Joe Average thinks the shop owner took home a quarter of a mil, whereas the reality is that the shop rental, inventory, two assistants, and misc. business costs meant the business owner had an effective salary of under $60K. (For example.)Few average citizens have any idea of the concept of business costs, risk, etc.Although this isn’t strictly on point with your position as a VC, I’ve seen that this elementary background is lacking for a lot of people, including politicians, government officials, and policy makers.Perhaps this crowd would have a lot to contribute to the series.BTW, thanx for the decade of revealing those deep, dark VC secrets.

  32. jmorf

    Perhaps a one off, but I’d love to see something on “Focus”, particularly once a company has some market traction. It can be very tempting to go in all kinds of different directions once things feel like they are “working”. I don’t believe it’s been covered in an MBAM post…

  33. Joel

    Entrepreneurship, innovation or the actual start of a business. I think there is a lot out there in terms of “coming up with an idea” but practically, how can this be better polished and implemented? based on the start-ups that you’ve seen?

  34. Aviah Laor

    Priorities

  35. Ryan Frew

    +1 on the monetization piece.From a selfish point of view, I would like to see Fred cover some thoughts/advice targeted towards college students/younger adults. Although the commenters on AVC don’t seem to usually fall into that demographic, it seems that he would have interesting perspective as a parent and an investor in Twitter, Foursquare, Etsy, Soundcloud, Tumblr, and other previous portfolio companies that are hot amongst the younger crowd. Struggling to articulate exactly what kind of thoughts/advice would be most helpful though. Also don’t think that this is necessarily an MBA Mondays topic, but wanted to throw my 2ยข in.

  36. Matt Zagaja

    Another issue: how do you handle some of the real life issues that come with being an entrepreneur? It seems cool to spend months making an app but what about paying for health insurance? Are there options for dealing with student loan debt when you have no income?

  37. JaredMermey

    Synergies.Many people have incredible ideas. Many can build excellent products. But for a business to be successful there has to be incredible synergy between technology, user experience, demand, monetization, etc. This includes at early stages to prove viability and as you scale to insure you can profit.The one bit of advice I share with friends brainstorming startups — beyond telling them to look elsewhere for guidance — is to make sure all of these things line up.

  38. Bigdon

    FAILURE Is the topic that I would like to hear more about.Long time listener, first time caller.I would like a series (maybe not MBA Monday) that deals with FAILURE(s). I’ve read guest posts from some amazing business people and I also have read the comments of some amazing business people, I would like to hear how they deal or have dealt with business failures.1. What happens when everything goes wrong and money runs out?2. When do you pivot or give up entirely?

  39. ZachWa

    Can you discuss making angel investments and what the right way to approach small entrepreneurs is about taking a percentage in their company. For example, how much should they give away in seed stage and how do you value a company with no revenue and no real product yet?

  40. Kathy Chang

    I second takingpitches’ suggestion on highlighting different business models (and your view on why it worked for those specific companies)Also, a post series on common business mistakes that lead to company failures, particularly among young founders would be super useful. We read a lot about successes in the tech-world but little about failures.