What is the role of an MBA at a technology startup?

by Michael Quinn

Many skeptics are questioning the value that an MBA brings to an early-stage venture. These concerns have only increased as some of the most successful recent technology startups, such as Facebook, Google, and Dropbox, were started by engineers. Has the MBA lost its value in the fast-paced world of technology?
I don’t think so. In fact, I believe that the lean startup methodology may increase the value of an MBA. Lean principles encourage entrepreneurs to utilize hypothesis-driven development to avoid building a product that no one wants. In the early stages of a venture, fast development iterations and frequent customer feedback is vital. While engineers obviously play a pivotal role in executing fast software iterations, hypothesis testing is only as good as the hypothesis being tested. This is where an MBA can add value.

Engineers are taught to objectively look at a well-defined problem and attempt everything they can to try to solve it. After all, it was Thomas Edison that said, “I didn’t fail; I found out 2000 ways not to make a light bulb but I only needed to find one way to make it work.” Most engineers pay minimal attention to the “user experience,” as long as they have “solved” the problem. If users can’t figure it out, that’s their problem. However, MBAs are trained to handle uncertainty and ambiguity. The “case method” trains an MBA student to dig deeper to understand all aspects of a situation from multiple perspectives. Therefore, MBAs are equipped to ensure that engineers are prioritizing and solving the right kind of problems, those that are the most meaningful to their potential customers.

Engineers enjoy solving new and difficult challenges, as opposed to monitoring metrics. On the other hand, Wall Street MBAs pore over annual reports to extract as much data as possible to produce accurate financial forecasts. That same Wall Street analyst, with a little training in the lean startup methodology, would be equally adept at poring over metrics such as the customer conversion funnel, CAC, and LTV that are so critical to understanding and predicting user behavior.

So what does this all mean for a graduating MBA? One way to improve the perception of MBAs in startup circles is to demonstrate the true value created by a cross-disciplinary approach. Utilize strategy frameworks to identify the best position within the value chain for market entry. Conduct customer interviews and receive user feedback. Exploit your operations background to identify the process bottlenecks and use the Toyota Production System’s “5 Whys” to diagnose the root cause of customer frustration. Leverage your marketing skill set to analyze the customer purchase decision process to ensure proper customer segmentation and understand their willingness-to-pay. Employ your leadership skills to grow the organization with a culture from the start that people want to be a part of.

Doing only one of these things adds minimal value to an early-stage venture. However, combining the complete MBA toolkit with the lean startup methodology can greatly accelerate the process of reaching product-market fit, which even the most relentless engineer will appreciate. That being said, once you have defined the problem to solve, the most important thing you can do to earn an engineer’s respect is to get out of the way and let them do what they do best.

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Identifying the “Right” Startup for You

by Jeff Buening

I’ve spent the better part of 2 years now at HBS developing a sense for what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. Whether through attending speaker series, joining tech/start-up clubs, pursuing start-up ideas of my own, or extensive coursework I’ve taken (The Entrepreneurial Manager, Social Entrepreneurship in the Biz Sector, Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism, Entrepreneurial Finance, Launching Tech Ventures, Digital Marketing Strategy, etc.), I’ve covered countless data points and case studies on startups that have both succeeded and failed. And I’ve been fortunate enough to listen firsthand in class to many of these entrepreneurs discuss and diagnose the reasons for their successes and failures.

One topic that consistently pops up unprompted is how and why the entrepreneur decided to start her particular business and, in some cases, leave that startup to pursue the next one – effectively, it’s the decision criteria an entrepreneur applies to start (and stay in) a particular business. Many times, these criteria come in the form of industry focus, nature of the target customer, product-market fit, ability to cheaply test and iterate the product, etc. The nature of these criteria typically varies across a wide spectrum of factors, ranging from personal interests to more tried-and-true pragmatic business needs. In every case, the discussion leaves me pondering the appropriate decision criteria I should apply to my own startup ideas. In essence, what are the critical components that a start-up must meet in order for me to pursue it?

I’ve been actively brainstorming and pressure testing numerous startup ideas of my own since coming to business school. Needless to say, I’ve spent countless hours banging my head against the wall trying to come up with the perfect idea. That process in itself has been somewhat rewarding in that it’s helped me better identify problems and needs in the marketplace that could benefit from business; but it’s also forced me to think about my criteria in a more formal and organized way. I’ve effectively developed a handful of criteria in my head over the past two years, and I’ve been fortunate enough to come up with two separate startup ideas that I’ve been able to pursue, but I’ve yet to notate my criteria down on paper… So why not use this blog as that avenue?

Listed below are some of the specific criteria I currently maintain for evaluating whether to pursue a startup idea… I separate the factors between ‘must-have (MH)’ and ‘nice-to-have (NH)’, as well as classifying them by type of type of factor. I encourage all readers of this blog to comment with additions, challenges, edits, etc.

Personal/General:

• The business is not exploitative or slimy in its customer value proposition (MH)
• The business ultimately serves a broader social need that makes a very positive impact on some sector of the world (NH)
• The company enables me to get my hands dirty doing, building, and managing a lot of different things across the business/ops/mgt functions (NH initially – MH long-term potential)
• It creates something disruptive/innovative/Not yet done – as opposed to incrementally improve an already existing product (MH)
• It solves a complex, difficult (and potentially messy) problem in the world that requires a lot of time & sweat equity and creates barriers to entry (NH)

Market

• Huge potential customer base (MH)
• Huge $ market $10B+ - (NH)
• Limited competition (NH)

Business Model

• For-profit (MH)
• Can scale through existing distribution channels on the web, etc – Not dependent on strategic partner (NH)
• Viral component (NH)
• Easy to test cheaply, early, and often (MH)
• Recurring revenue model (NH)
• Negative Working Capital model (NH)
• Low upfront capital requirements (NH)
• Limited ‘network’ dependence (NH)
• Cash-flow generation from the outset (NH)

Stage/Team/People:

• Funding - Seed or Series A (NH)
• Revenue – from 0-$10M (NH)
• Between 5-50 employees (NH)
• Talented, & social people with strong experience, connections, and intentions (MH)

Industry:

• Consumer web/tech company that does the following:
• Solves an annoying problem, makes life easier, and/or makes something valuable more affordable, accessible, and achievable (MH)
• Solves a problem/need that I personally have as a consumer (NH)
• Relates to a field/service/product that I am naturally passionate about (NH)
• Pure play web/tech service or Web/tech-enabled service (MH)
• Potential sub-categories:
• Digital Media, Travel, Health, Sports/Athletics, Education, Food/Dining, Local Deals, etc. (NH)

Location:

• Fairly flexible but aiming for one of the below locations - in no particular order (NH):
• SF/Bay Area, LA, Chicago, NYC, Somewhere abroad

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The Case Against Non-Technical CEOs

by Michael Belkin

Thousands of ideas are envisioned each day, but only a select few come to fruition. Despite a CEO’s wide-eyed optimism for finding the perfect idea, early stage entrepreneurship is largely about execution. Consider Facebook vs. MySpace, Google vs. AltaVista or Dropbox vs. every previous online backup solution. One doesn’t have to look far for companies who have established themselves not by inventing new business models, but by excelling on superior execution. While some businesses can outsource IT or cordon it off to a skilled CTO, the more a company relies on its technology the more important it is that the founders have technical backgrounds. I propose a simple test, if your business can’t serve a single user or customer without software, the founders should know at least the basics of coding.

As access to capital and business advisors increase, the relevance of non-technical CEOs continues to diminish. With the seed of a good idea and a couple all nighters, an engineer can create a beta, iterate, and have thousands of users (plus usage analytics) before an MBA can say, “pitch deck.” It’s really like an architect who doesn’t know structural engineering. Though one can create beautiful pictures, an architect’s success comes from creating landmark buildings, not drawings. Further, the artistic vision is often influenced by what is physically possible, and knowing the practical implications of seemingly minute decisions can make the difference between a project being scrapped or built.

This isn’t to say that business training is useless to a startup. The ability to critically think about a business model, problem solve, form partnerships, and focus on a greater and profitable vision is essential and something that MBAs are more equipped to accomplish than their tech savvy cohorts. While a group of engineers can often fall into the trap of locking themselves in a room and over-engineering, the businessman’s “voice of reason” often helps a young company define its hypotheses, stay lean, and become profitable.

Commonly, bidding CEOs hope to find the right technical co-founder to implement their vision. However, this can prove to be difficult for an early stage venture with little funding and an untested concept. Engineers can create amazing products because they code projects they are passionate about. Inevitably some of that excitement is lost when one is implementing another’s vision.

An MBA who knows how to code can quickly apply his business acumen to define a business model, create an MVP, iterate, attract users and get investors. Further, understanding the software developer’s mindset is critical to a CEO’s ability to manage a technical team and grants her respect in the technical community. Given these benefits, one would expect an into computer science course to be on every tech-entrepreneur focused MBA’s checklist. However, only recently have business schools started to embrace this view. Instead of asking students to fight against the grain, business schools should support and encourage students to supplement their learning with such practical training and thus regain the relevance of the MBA as technical entrepreneur.

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Creating Your Online Persona, Part III: Blogging Best Practices

by Brandon Giles (personal blog)

This post, the third in a series, focuses specifically on blogging best practices and tools. Part I offered general advice on managing your online persona; Part II offered tips on how to get started in blogging.

How to Keep a Reader’s Attention

Even though blogging appears to be the Wild West, thought leading bloggers explain there are some general rules of the road.  Chris Brogan released his 10 blogging tips in 2008, tips that ring just as true today.  They are:

1. Write to be helpful.
2. Be brief.
3. Tell a story.
4. Connect others, if appropriate.
5. Share. Often.
6. Don’t overthink it. (It’s a blog, not a dissertation.)
7. But be thoughtful.
8. Don’t be mean.
9. Publish often enough to build a relationship.
10. But be mindful of your audience’s time.

Examining this list there is clearly a balance act taking place.  However, the general premise remains that a primary reason to blog is to share your thoughts and experiences to HELP others.  Try not to focus on what you could possibly get out of it or the message will come off as fake.  If you are truly helpful to others, they will want to follow you and be more than willing to assist you in the future. 

Show your Readers Who You Are

I have been reading the weekly newsletter “Thoughts from the Frontline” by John Mauldin for over four years and it continues to be one of my favorite, must reads.  John is extremely insightful, is plugged into a great network and shares the macro-economic issues he finds thought-provoking.  However, what I find unique about what he has done with the newsletter over the years and more common in bloggerdom is share aspects of his personal life.  This makes John more vulnerable but also much more authentic.  Even though I have never met John, reading about his fishing trips with friends and extended family Thanksgiving dinners, I feel as if I know him.  Not everyone will be comfortable with such an approach but for those who are, it could be quite beneficial. 

Content is King

Most of the top bloggers either create new, interesting content or are early to cover a topic in a new way.  To get a feel for the top bloggers and why they have been successful, this article by SiteSketch101 overviews the 15 most influential bloggers of 2010.   Without unique or valuable content it will be very difficult to sustain traffic and build followers over time. 

Make a List

Create and maintain a list in MS Word or elsewhere of the topics that you think would make interesting blog material.  Then, write on the topic that you believe would be the most timely or that you have the bandwidth to write with that week’s schedule.  A tip I received from Rafael Corrales of Learnboost was to make a note on your smartphone or email it to yourself when a good idea comes to mind and then revisit it when you have free time.  Rafael said, “that allows the ideas to "slow cook" so that I usually have a bit more content when I get to sitting down and writing”.

Length

Length will depend on the topic on which you are writing.  If it will take a good amount of content to cover the more robust blogging topics on your list.  Therefore, as mentioned in my first post, break that blog into multiple pieces and publish them over a period of time.  If you are like me, you probably feel like you never have enough hours in a day to get everything accomplished.  So keep it short and make it easier on yourself.  From the regular bloggers I spoke to, they normally spend 30-45 minutes to write each post.  Then, they re-read it, check for spelling and add any links they couldn’t easily locate during the first draft.  My first blog post took me over two hours but the process is substantially easier by my fourth post.  Darren Rowse of ProBlogger did a simple study years ago and found that people generally spend 96 seconds on each blog they frequent.  A good rule of thumb I have heard is to keep posts between 500 – 1,000 words, to assist those of us with a mild form of ADD. 

Pictures

As mentioned above, I know personally that I am easily distracted.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I see a full page of text, to the extent that I give up without even starting to read.  Pictures not only hold attention longer and break up text but are great to illustrate the point you are trying to convey. 

What do to After you Hit Post

Responding to Comments

Harsh Agrawal, a Delhi, India based entrepreneur and pro blogger shares a great list of 15 tips for newbies to blogging.  The tip that I see as most critical in his list is the importance of responding to comments.  Once you hit publish, your job has not ended, it has only just begun.  Remember, a goal of blogging is to create a community where people share and are engaged.  Without responding to comments or questions about your post, you cannot achieve that engagement.  For me it’s also a fun part of blogging.  I get excited anticipating what people will say and will learn whether people are generally in agreement or think I am full of shit. 

A good tool I learned about from a Mark Suster blog contrasting commentary applications was Disqus.  Disqus is an easy to install application that links up with your blog to optimize engagement and commentary.  It emails you when new comments have been made (or someone responds to your comment), allows you to turn off comments after a certain period of time and provides faces and background behind those commenting. 

Reader-Friendly Tools

You can also install tools that make it easier for your readers to receive or share your message.  Installing Feedburner allows readers to sign up to receive your blog by RSS or email when posted, without having to check back to your site or see the post on Twitter.  Tweetmeme installation allows readers to Retweet your post. 

Tracking Stats

After you get your feet wet, if you are serious about blogging it is important to have a feel for how much traffic you receive, where it is coming from and how well engaged they are.  This will help you optimize your message and its focus and gauge how you are doing over time.  Google Analytics is a comprehensive and FREE service and the first tool to consider.  The tools give you the capability to see which platform (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) traffic is coming from, so you could decide where you might better market your blog.  In addition, you want to look at new vs existing readers to see how much new traffic you generate over time.  Lastly, you want to look at what links and parts of your webpage people visit.  This will illustrate where people believe your blog offers the most value.  This service is also a powerful tool available to small business websites, also for free.  CrazyEgg and StatCounter are two other commonly used free tracking services. 

What to Read

Blogs about Blogging

1.      ProBlogger:  Blogging best practices, tips and strategies. 

2.      Mashable: A mix between blogging and news in social and digital media.

Entrepreneurship Blogs

1.      Steve Blank:  The entrepreneurs prospective.

2.      Venture Hacks: Entrepreneur tips and insight.  Note that they don’t post often. 

Tech Blogs

1.      TechCrunch:  The site is a group edited blog that profiles startups, breaks news in the tech space and reviews new products. 

2.      Hacker News: Rafael suggested this site for those who are time constrained.  It is a community where people up-vote good posts, thereby creating a value filter on content.

3.      VentureBeat: Tech site focused on innovation.

Finance Blogs

1.      Dealbreaker: Late breaking news, rumors and happenings of the finance/banking world.

2.      Felix Salmon:  Financial blogger strong in quant.

Macro-Econ/Business Blogs

1.      The Big Picture: Quantitative and macro econ focused blog by Barry Ritholtz. 

2.      Calculated Risk:  Very timely economic analysis based on government and organizational data releases.

Blogs to look at for Best Practices

1.      A VC:  The blog of venture capitalist Fred Wilson. 

2.      Chris Dixon:  Entrepreneur and early-stage investor.  

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Creating Your Online Persona, Part II: Getting Started in Blogging

by Brandon Giles (republished from his personal blog)


Most of us have read at least a limited number of blogs, regardless of how busy you are.  If you are like me you probably enjoy using blogs to obtain a diverse set of opinions, better educate yourself about a given industry or topic and simply read about things you find interesting.  The challenge is that even after I had read countless blogs I was no less intimidated to start blogging myself.  Rather than jump in with both feet and make countless rookie mistakes I decided to first learn more about what constitutes good blogging.  I am confident I will still make many mistakes along the way, but I chalk that up to the learning process.  To obtain insight I scoured the internet to find out what thought leaders were saying about blogging, spoke with my friends and classmates that blog frequently and then interviewed entrepreneurs and VC’s for their advice.

Blog Location

If you took to heart my first post in this three part series, you have already gone out and purchased your own domain, www.FirstNameLastName.com, or something similar.  Remember, the internet becomes more user friendly by the day.  Therefore, if you have a common name, try to snag it before someone else does.  They will not only own the desired domain but also could use it to pollute your SEO.  Think college senior week photos or the rhetoric of Michael Moore.  If you do not have the cash to lease your domain or are not interested in doing so, not to worry as there are free blogging options.  The top four web-based free sites are Tumblr, Blogger Posterous and WordPress.  Pick the site that you feel most comfortable using.  Here is a good overview of the strengths of these blogging platforms by Jason Fitzpatrick on Lifehacker.  One simple difference is that both Posterous and Tumblr have tailored their products around micro-blogging and easy compatibility with other forms of media such as videos, pictures and links.  Meanwhile, Blogger and WordPress are more traditional, full length blog platforms. 

Hosting
Normally you are required to choose from a number of hosting providers and pay a monthly fee (~$4-10) to host your domain.  However, my friend Shiyan Koh pointed out that for purposes of setting up a blog, the major hosting providers will do the hosting for free.  You simply go to the domain registry (ex. GoDaddy) and change where the Domain Name Systems (“DNS”) servers are pointing.  A DNS can be thought of as a phonebook of the internet.  Thus, you are aligning your phone number (the IP address) with your personal phone (your personal website).  Here are the links to the blog specific instructions for DNS set-up.  Tumblr - Blogger - Posterous - WordPress.  Once you have pointed the domain name servers to the correct host, it will take up to 72 hours for the update to take place.  At that time you can access your blog website, complete set-up and then design the layout of your site. 

Once your blog site has been set up you will also want to fill out a short bio about yourself and post a picture.  Also, be sure to link your blog to your Facebook and Twitter profiles.  In the future, the blog will automatically push links to Facebook and Twitter every time you publish a new blog post.  This not only saves time but builds your blog readership quickly by tapping into existing professional and social networks that exist on these other platforms. 

Getting Started

This is the tough part at which time most newbie bloggers suffer from writers block.  My initial feeling was that I needed to have some great, groundbreaking and compelling material to make my first blog post a splash.  However, after scouring the net, experienced bloggers point out that it takes time and credibility to build a following.  Therefore, it is best to start small and within your comfort zone.  As your comfort level increases you can then branch out.  An easy starting point is to blog about your industry or another topic that you are passionate about.  Blogging about either of these areas will allow you to continue the conversation past the original blog post because you will have a deep knowledge base and enjoy writing on such topics.  Because I love all things fitness related, worked in financial services and am passionate about search-funds, these are my easy entry points.  That said, if your intent is to project your professional persona, be sure to balance your blog post’s in that direction. 

In addition, if you are currently in school, especially a top graduate program you are sitting on a fertile ground of blogging topics.  New market trends and developing industries, presentations and interaction with leading CEO’s and entrepreneurs and the opinions of classmates all make great material for your blog.  Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you are sharing the obvious or that your audience is already aware of the topic.  I have found that I have become desensitized to the depth and quality of experiences I am afforded at HBS.  Having the opportunity to hear from VC Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, entrepreneur Brian Scudamore of 1-800-Got-Junk or COO Cheryl Sandberg of Facebook are very interesting events that people will love to hear about.  I know that I would benefit from exposure to this content after graduating in May.  So go ahead, use this material to make your start.  These same topics are also great material for interesting tweets. 

Authenticity

Simple, be real. Don’t pretend to be something that you are not.  People will easily see through it and you will lose credibility.  Entrepreneur and blogger Mark Suster says it perfectly in his recent blog on why startups need to blog. 

Don’t try to sound too smart or too funny.  Just be yourself.  People will see who you are in your words.  If you try to make everything too perfect you’ll never hit publish.  If you try to sound too intelligent you’ll likely be boring as shit.  Most blogs are.  I hate reading blow hards who try to sound like they’re smarter than the rest of us. Be open and transparent.  Get inside your reader’s minds.  Try to think about what they would want to know from you.  In fact, ask them!

Don’t be offensive – it’s never worth it to offend great masses of people.  But that doesn’t mean sitting on the fence.  I have a point of view and I’m sure sometimes it rankles.  But I try to be respectful about it.  Sitting on the fence on all issues is also pretty boring.  And don’t blog drunk.  Or at least don’t hit publish ;-) Mostly, have fun.  If you can’t do that you won’t last very long.

Building an Audience

You can’t expect a Field of Dreams affect, “if you build it, they will come”.   The first step is to create the auto-update feeds through Twitter and Facebook mentioned above.  Then, place a link to the blog in your email signature and on your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook profiles.  In addition, tell your family, friends and colleagues about what you are doing and ask them nicely to check it out. 

Consistency is a key to building a successful and sustainable blog.  Most new bloggers get super excited about blogging, write three or four expansive blogs in the first two weeks, realize the time commitment and then take three months off before writing their next post.  There is a high likelihood that in this three month break you will lose a good percentage of your audience and will have to start the process over again.  Therefore, instead of writing one long blog, break it up into two or three micro-blogs.  This makes it both easier for your audience to read a shorter blog and saves material for a more consistent publishing.  The major blogging sites now allow you to write multiple blogs at once and then specify a future publish date.  For example, because next week will be very busy for me as I finish my projects and papers I have already written the third blog in this series.  It will provide my readers reading even though I will be up to my eyeballs in other work.  Lastly, think strategically about the time of day in which you publish your blog posts.  For example, if you publish late at night there is a good chance that so many other Facebook and Twitter posts will accumulate that people will not notice your latest post.  However, if you post during the middle of the morning (9am) or mid afternoon (2pm), people are more likely to see the update and check out your posting.  You should also use this same strategy for sending emails to increase response rates. 

Thoughts?  Coming soon is the third post in the series analyzing blogging best practices. 

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Managing Your Online Persona, Part I

by Brandon Giles (republished from his personal blog)

Why Care?

It is becoming more important than ever to actively manage your persona on the internet, particularly if you operate in the fields of entrepreneurship, venture capital or marketing. In general, persona management is more crucial in industries where your value and success depends on personal human capital and others perception of that value. However, digital footprints have a material impact on everyone. Beginning back in 2007, an ExecuNet survey found that 83% of recruiters already used internet searches to evaluate job candidates, with 43% of recruiters eliminating candidates because of what they found.

“How-to” Guide

As an aspiring entrepreneur I sought to learn more about the tools, platforms and best practices before busting out onto the Blogging scene. I heard from nearly every guest in my Launching Tech Ventures entrepreneurship course at the Harvard Business School (#hbsltv) that blogging was critical to establishing yourself, but had no idea how to start. Intimidated at first, I decided to read up on the subject and present a “how-to” guide for those new to the concept or looking to break into the blogging world. This post is the first in a three part series through which I will present a “how-to” guide and draw upon the knowledge of those who actively manage their online personas, serious bloggers, entrepreneurs and VC’s. This post specifically focuses on the first steps of managing your online persona, pre blogging.

Managing Platforms

Multiple mediums exist through which to manage your online image. This universe includes Linkedin, Facebook, your personal blog, your personal website, Twitter and Quora, among many others. To begin you want to get a feeling for what information about you currently resides on the web. Here is a list of some easy steps to get started:

1) Open up Google and search for “your name”

As my Technology and Operations Management professor and former CEO of Arrow Electronics Steve Kaufman would say, “You can’t improve what you can’t measure”. Similarly, you have little hope of creating and shaping your persona if you don’t know what is out there. After all, this is exactly the first thing a potential employer, financier or potential date is going to do. Based upon what you find you may spend time disassociating from someone else with your same name, reshaping inaccurate or unflattering information about yourself or taking steps to prioritize information about “you” vs. those that share your name. If I type in my own name “Brandon Giles” I immediately learn that I shares names with a professional country singer and multiple college basketball and track athletes. Therefore, I need to spend time improving my Search Engine Optimization (“SEO” discussed below) and creating new, high value content.

To get a feel for your current online persona use the free tool provided by Reach Branding Online ID Calculator, www.onlineidcalculator.com. This tool is easy to use, takes about 5 minutes to complete, walks you through the standard Google search process, and upon completion provides a 4-quadrant matrix depicting the level or relevance and volume associated with “you”. Based on these findings, the site also provides suggestions on how to increase the purity and diversityassociated with your persona.

2) Familiarize yourself with how others you respect present themselves

There is no shame in asking for pointers or copying the process or style of others. Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora and blogs all have un-written etiquette rules. By imitating their ethos you don’t take the risk of straying too far from center early on. Don’t worry, over time you will begin to develop a unique voice as you pick up on the things you like and dislike. What you should care about is the tone that you present. Be aware that different platforms exude different tones that will shape how your message is consumed. However, the most important aspect of tone comes from the blog posts, tweets, etc. that you make. Try to make this tone balanced and consistent. This means being authentic and not overly professional or personal. Your audience likes to see that you are human and multi-dimensional. If you look at your blog posts or twitter feed and see that 95% of what you share is one or the other, make an effort to share more from the neglected area.

3) Monitor changes to your persona

Go to www.google.com/alerts and set up a tracker to alert you when new content is posted with your name. This way, you won’t need to manually perform or remember the Google check (discussed above) in the midst of your hectic life. This is a proactive approach to managing your persona and knowing what information is in the cyber universe without being caught off-guard. As an aside, Google Alerts is also a great tool for tracking a developing industry or keeping tabs on a competitor.

4) Optimize your personal Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”)

• Claim your own name on LinkedIn. You NEEDto have a LinkedIn profile. While Facebook embodies your social life, LinkedIn represents your professional avatar. My friend Katharine Nevins (@katharinenevins) pointed out this easy and FREE trick to claim your own name on LinkedIn. Log into LinkedIn, click on “profile”, “edit my profile”, then “edit” to the right or your “public profile” domain name. Change the existing domain name to claim your own name. For me it is http://www.linkedin.com/in/brandongiles. This will allow my profile to climb on internet search engines. Also, your profile should include descriptive content, explaining what your responsibilities were in a given position and the type of work your company performs. Think of your LinkedIn profile as your online resume. To risk stating the obvious, everything you state on LinkedIn should be accurate, without gross exaggeration and you should also complete your profile as completely as possible. 
• If you don’t yet have Twitter, set up an account. Complete your profile, “follow” your friends, get them to follow you too and then start tweeting. Then tweet about things that you find interesting in your professional, educational or personal life and that you think others would find interesting in as well. University or graduate programs are fertile grounds for creating tweeting material from class take-aways, guest speakers and student debates. It is also important to get re-tweeted. This is easy to do when you have a core base of friends with similar interests that “follow” you and then you want to get into the conversation mix of a hot or up-and-coming topic. Examples would include tweeting about a keynote speaker at a large conference or at interesting events such as at the Technology, Entertainment and Design (“TED”) conference or South-by-Southwest (“SXSW”). A good way to get found by people not in your immediate friend group is to use hashtags (#symbol) which others search for such as #hbsltv (HBS Launching Technology Ventures Class), #sxsw (South-By-Southwest Festival). This is the Twitter equivalent of SEO. Also, following others will often lead them to follow you back, improving your credibility. Finally, referencing other people using @ mentions (e.g. great blog post, @bjgiles) gets them to follow, retweet, or @mention you back. Remember, one of the greatest features of Twitter is the ability to get up to speed on and industry and learn from thought leaders. Take advantage. See best practicesand etiquette guide from thought leader Chris Brogan @chrisbrogan. 
• Start a Quora Account. www.quora.com. Just as in Twitter, set up an account and start following your friends. The key is to be helpful and answer questions intelligently. When you sign up you have the ability to link your profile to fields that interest you. For example, I chose entrepreneurship, skiing, Men’s Health, running and Marquette University because these are areas I am interested in and passionate about. 
• Protect your privacy. This is an angle to protect your SEO. Check your Facebook privacy settings and be sure that at a minimum your photos are available to “Friends Only”. Then, review the groups to which you belong and things you “like” to verify they don’t paint you in an unflattering light. “HBS Bus Stop Flipcup Champions 2010” or “Tea Party Patriots” page links in your profile will cause viewers to judge you in one way or another. Why take the chance? Buy your own Domain Name. If it is available buy your domain name. For example mine would be brandongiles.com . Unfortunately for me, the country singer I mentioned above already owns the rights to that domain name. If you are in this position be sure that your first and last name are somewhere in the domain name, and consider using a middle initial. I purchased www.brandonjgiles.com. Godaddy is an easy place to both lease the rights to the domain as well as have the company host your site online. Note that you can first buy only the domain name and then have another provider host your site. There are also many more cost effective options to buy domains out there. No matter what site you chose to buy your domain, go to RetailMeNot to search for coupon codes to save between 20-70%. My purchase of a 10 year lease of www.brandonjgiles.com cost me $76.70. For those less math inclined, that’s only $7.67 a year. 
• Links: Create links on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other profile pages back to your personal website or blog. This is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. The link back to your website should be exactly the same as Your Name. For example, my links should read “Brandon Giles”, not anything else. You also want to encourage friends to help you with this process as well. Even if placed in a less prominent place on their site, it still adds tremendous value. Your group of friends can support one another in this process and increase your SEO’s at the same time. 
• Share your work. If you have timely, well written papers and projects, share them online. The broader the topic and greater the relevance to a large audience, the better. By posting these work products online you not only boost your SEO but demonstrate to potential employers or investors that you are competent or have a passion for a given space. Sites that help facilitate these postings include Slideshare and Scribd.  

More to follow in the next 2 posts on getting started in blogging, etiquette and best practices. What are your top tips for persona and SEO management?

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More Advice from Class of 1999 MBA Entrepreneurs

by Tom Eisenmann

I recently wrote some former students from the HBS MBA classes of 1999 and 2000, asking what advice they'd give to current students considering an entrepreneurial path. In a prior post, I shared their responses to the question, "Do you have any regrets about founding a firm upon graduation?" Below, I present their advice to current students.

In 2000, Rod Harl co-founded GiftwareExchange, an online B2B marketplace that connected gift stores with product suppliers. The business never gained traction, and after several career twists and turns, Rod is now President of Alene Candles, a business he and a partner purchased in 2008 that manufactures custom candles. Rod shared this advice:

Ample low-cost funding can compensate for founders’ weaknesses. In such periods I might endorse aggressively pursuing new businesses regardless of your experience or the quality of your idea. Playing musical chairs, you can make a lot of money. But outside those periods, entrepreneurship is about creating value for your customers before yourself.

HBS doesn't teach about handling failures, which represent a very large proportion of outcomes. Be aware of the personal risks associated with starting a business. Many of my classmates attached themselves so strongly to their startups that it cost them their life savings, marriages, or years of their professional lives. This should not dissuade a true entrepreneur, but it is rarely discussed. 

When Guy Miasnik co-founded AtHoc in 1999, the company provided a browser toolbar that presented alerts and updates from online content companies — akin to today's RSS. After some early pivots, AtHoc identified an attractive opportunity in emergency mass notification systems. Guy, still AtHoc's CEO, shared this advice about founding a firm:

The decision is not so much a matter of timing or financial upside. It is about the passion to create something new, to shape the world in ways you believe it should be, and to lead those around you — co-founders, investors, employees, customers, business partners, and media — to accept and adopt your vision. It is about incredibly positive thinking despite many rational negatives. It is about willingness to work extremely hard; to be relentless and persistent while still being flexible as you listen and learn.

As you go down the entrepreneurial path, you should build skills in two areas. The first is sales. Getting a customer to buy your product means you’ve learned how to gain trust, convey value, and extract commitment. The second is product management. 

As you embark on this path, don’t forget your family. Your partner’s buy-in to an entrepreneurial life style is crucial, and your family will help you keep things in perspective in good times and bad.

In 1999, Joel Silver launched SalesDriver.com, which provided incentive programs for sales reps. After Joel sold SalesDriver in 2001 to a larger marketing services firm, he served as President of Indigo Books & Music, a leading Canadian retail chain founded by other entrepreneurs in 1996. Joel offered this advice to current students:

Entrepreneurship is life changing. It is exhausting. Every decision is yours. There is no "down" time. It takes smarts and tenacity. It will test every relationship you have.

Be conservative and raise more money than you think you need. 

Know your customer cold. Customer insight — not being first with technology — will carry you to success. 

You will meet a lot of smart people who will give you advice. Take it. But don't assume anybody, despite their pedigree, knows your business better than you do. 

You will attract people who want to be part of a great team and work really hard. That is the best currency you have.

Dispense money from an eye dropper. Find the ugliest, cheapest space. Go to Goodwill for furniture. Use chipped coffee cups. You will gain investors’ respect. 

Just ship! Your first product needs to do one thing well, but it can suck in other ways. Version 2 will be good. Version 3 needs to be great

In 1999, Nikitas Koutoupes, co-founded eBricks.com, an online B2B marketplace for construction supplies which was absorbed through a series of mergers into Sword CTSpace. Nikitas, now a Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners, shared this advice: "Ambition and humility are not mutually exclusive. You don’t know what you don’t know, so hire well."

In 1999, Sasha Novakovich co-founded GetConnected.com, which provided advice for consumers shopping for voice, internet access, and video services. GetConnected successfully morphed its business model from a destination site into a private label service for brick-and-mortar giants like BestBuy, then sold its technology to a rival after eight years in operation. Sasha, now planning her next move, said, "Make sure that you have the best possible founding team: people with relevant, non-overlapping skills and experiences, who you trust and respect. Make sure there is a clear reporting structure and division of responsibility. A great team can take an okay idea and turn it into something phenomenal. A weak team can kill a phenomenal opportunity."

Returning to Argentina after graduation in 1999, Alex Abad co-founded Certant, which provided website development services. The firm failed in the recession that followed, and Alex is now the founder of Advanced Organic Materials. He said, "Entrepreneurship is a long and sometimes painful process. To succeed you need to have a passion. This has been the difference between my two startups. The second company I started is a chemical manufacturing company. I am a Chemical Engineer. Now, I enjoy everything I do."

In 2000, Richard de Silva co-founded Siteburst, which hosted and distributed online video for content companies. The service failed after online video emerged more slowly than expected, and Richard is now a partner at Highland Capital. He offered the following advice to aspiring MBA entrepreneurs:  "It’s important to be honest with yourself. If you feel compelled to start a business because it seems fashionable or you have seen others having fun, you should join a young company or a fast-growing bigger company and develop functional expertise — until you feel compelled by a market need."

One former student, who asked to remain anonymous, launched a failed consumer Internet venture that was truly ten years ahead of its time: a successful variant of his idea exists today. He offered this advice to current MBAs debating whether to launch a firm upon graduation:

Recruiters like to see big names on your resume: Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay. Getting a job at these companies is a lot easier while you are at HBS than it will be after you graduate. Today these companies are courting you. A year from now you may be explaining what you ‘learned’ from your failed startup experience. 

Back in the web 1.0 era, the goal was to raise a huge first round and spend it quickly, acquiring users via large portal deals and banner ads. In the web 2.0 era, product is marketing. Now, with low technology costs, the goal is to do a lean start-up and get breakout user traction before raising serious VC money. After all, great products sell themselves, right? Just look at foursquare and Twitter. It’s easy!

In fact, one could argue that it is harder today than it was back in 1999. Back then, you had a fighting chance to get to scale using your VC war chest. Today, you’re expected to have product pixie dust that magically spawns a million users through spontaneous virality based on your insanely great product. 

So what would I do if I were graduating this year? Taking these two points together, I would take a job at Facebook, and do my start-up on the side. At Facebook — or Twitter or Zynga or a similar company — you will learn about product management, and you will meet the developers and UX people you’ll need to know if your start-up takes off. You can build your business at night and on the weekends, and see if it gets traction. And if it doesn’t take off, so what? You work at Facebook. You’re a stud. When you are ready to move on, recruiters will be calling you, and magically you’re on the HR buy side again!

To be clear, I’m not saying don’t start your business. Life is short. I’m just saying you should think about doing it in this less risky way.

Finally, Craig Carroll co-founded eGrad, which provided on online channel for established brands to market goods and services to college graduates. After morphing eGrad's model and selling the company to a larger student marketing firm, Craig is now founder and CEO of Rezolve Group, which provides services that help families secure financial aid for college. Craig shared this advice:

As a founder, you don’t have much control over exit timing. You take on responsibilities to investors, employees, and clients. If things aren’t going well or you aren’t enjoying it, you just can’t just extricate yourself. Understand the ramifications for your personal and family life. 

There are real benefits to being entrepreneurial when you are young. It is easier to deal with the stresses while you still have energy and no children. Sure, you may be less experienced, but energy, optimism and a touch of naivety can more than make up for that.

There is no formal career path. You truly make your own destiny, but I have seen many friends struggle with the transition from a failed venture and the uncertainty of “What do I do next?” 

The best entrepreneurs have an indomitable spirit and are resilient in the face of adversity. Every new venture really is a rollercoaster of successes and setbacks that test your emotional fortitude. Aspiring entrepreneurs need to ask themselves if their personality and mental strength is really suited to this.

The HBS definition of entrepreneurship as “the pursuit of opportunities beyond resources currently controlled” is more than just a platitude. For me, it sums up perfectly what I do day-to-day. You need to be inventive, creative, opportunistic, persuasive because you rarely have enough resources. Embracing this definition helps me in my role. 

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