Imagine taking the stage for the opening keynote of your own customer conference. Hundreds (or even thousands) of your users in front of you. Enjoying that super cool inflection point where you can literally see the community you’ve built right in front of your eyes… And at the same time, unlock a hidden series of growth levers that your competitors (who shied away from the whole conference thing) will never have a chance to pull. Pretty cool, right? Here’s a

Conferences, summits, meetups and masterminds. All things that involve you zipping up a Samsonite, kissing your family goodbye, and investing a few thousand bucks for the chance to connect with your fellow entrepreneur (while perhaps picking up a key insight or two). And maybe you absolutely thrive at these events. Or perhaps like so many others you shrink up and do your best to become invisible. But regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, one thing is absolutely certain.

Building an audience BEFORE you launch is something that I’ve done for every one of my companies and is a question that I get asked about all of the time. There’s this misconception that people think that if you can launch a product – then you’re automatically going to have success. "If you build it, they will come" is NOT true. Are you familiar with Basecamp (a product from 37signals)?

Isn't it annoying that as soon as you finish something, people always want to know "Whats next? You could've just finished climbing a mountain, running your first marathon, or selling your company... and the only thing they want to know is... what's next?!! After Clarity got acquired (Dec '14, but only announced in Feb '15) I was bombarded with this question everyday. For me, it was a conscious decision to take some time off. A whole year. After hustling back to back for

About 10 years ago I started organizing Founder Dinners after reading a book called, Never Eat Alone written by an amazing individual, Keith Ferrazzi. This book set my life on a different path. Since then, I’ve organized over 300 meals, bringing together close to 1000 entrepreneurs and CEO’s, both at home and everywhere that I’ve traveled. The power of bringing people together to break bread and have great conversation...

There are an estimated 49,256 people that move to San Francisco each year. I made that move in September 2008. To say that it was an easy transition would be a freakin' lie. After 3 weeks I hit a wall and almost returned home.

3 years ago I had the great fortune to be connected with Jeff Rosenthal, one of the co-founders of Summit Series. It changed my life. It's events like Summit that reminds me how polarizing passionate individuals are and how they truly posses the power change the world. Last year during Summit at Sea, Peter Diamandis gave an inspiring talk that ended up getting used in the video below. His words continue to inspire me to think bigger, work on problems

Where will you be July 13th? I'll be co-hosting the International Startup Festival in Montreal with some of the brightest and smartest minds in the startup world. The startup festival is a two-day conference on the business of startups. It brings together industry veterans and fresh faces, thought leaders and technology giants from around the world, for a series of lean, fast-paced events. It includes startup launches, inspiring keynotes, and deep-dives into hot sectors like mobility, social networking, and gaming.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at fbFund REV demo day watching 20+ startups pitch to a room of over 100 investors and seasoned entrepreneurs. What's interesting is the pattern I started to see emerging.  Some of the best startups not only had the strongest pitch, but also had an amazing person selling! Here's 5 characteristics I noticed and why I think they're the most important when pitching your startup. Have a presence Command the room Tell a story Solid eye

I just got back from the TechCrunch party at www.lewebparis.com. It sucked.  Last night was definitely better (MySpace sponsored).  The music was great, the people we're lively, and everything seemed too click. That being said, here's what I've learned over the past 2 days by attending LeWeb 08.