Decision Making… The Power Law: Energizing Returns on Chance in Innovation and Investing 7 Jan 2026 The Power Law reminds us to think bigger. People systematically misperceive long tail risk, which creates arbitrage opportunities for those who manage uncertainty well. We discuss five strategies to identify…
Investing… Impact Investing: Socially Responsible Investing Reimagined 4 Jan 2026 IImpact Investing is a hot market. Long the domain of development finance institutions, impact investing has moved mainstream, with the likes of Bain Capital, Calvert, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill…
Corporate… New Year’s Resolution: The Two Purposes of Forcing Functions 2 Jan 2026 Happy new year! The holiday season is a time of reflection. I hope that past year was a good one and wish you even more success in the year ahead!…
Decision Making… Entrepreneurial Intent: No Regret Decisions 21 Nov 2025 Entrepreneurship is a latent trait lying dormant in many and activated by intent to identify an opportunity and launch a startup. As fortune favors a prepared mind, this article presents…
Corporate… Cultivating Cohesive Startup Boards to Thrive in Crucible Moments 19 Nov 202522 Dec 2025 In 2000, amidst the DotCom bust, I was asked to mediate a dispute between a CEO and his Board. The company, having raised $100 million and on the brink of…
Financial… Chess, Computers and the Time Value of Money 19 Oct 2025 Venture fund partners are rewarded for Return on Investment. Limited partners in venture funds focus on Internal Rate of Return. Interests are generally but not always aligned. Differences emerge when…
Management… When to Launch Your Startup: Fortune Favors the Prepared Mind 13 Oct 2025 Entrepreneurship awakens when ambition converges on a lucrative opportunity. Insight inspires latent entrepreneurial intent. This describes a four-step process to convert passion into the skill and insight needed to launch…
Investing… Founder’s Dilemmas: Strategies to Avoid Pitfalls that can Sink a Startup 28 Sep 20257 Jan 2026 Founding teams must align on three Rs: Relationships, Roles & Rewards. Startups that do have resilient founding teams but misalignment on any of these are hidden, ticking bombs that explode…
books… Founder’s Dilemmas: Noam Wasserman 20 Sep 202521 Nov 2025 “If entrepreneurship is a battle, most casualties stem from friendly fire or self-inflicted wounds.” The Founder’s Dilemmas is the bible that all aspiring entrepreneurs should read before starting a company.…
Investing… Seeking Alpha: Second Level Thinking in Venture Capital 9 Sep 2025 Contrarian thinking is required for investors to outperform the public markets. Innovation also relies on contrarian thinking. Yet the Gartner Hype Cycle shows that mimicry is prevalent in venture capital.…
Financial… Total Available Market: Assessing Opportunity in Emerging and Invisible Markets 4 Aug 202512 Aug 2025 TAM can be a valuable tool for founders, but it is often misused, especially when startups pursue markets that do not yet exist. This article explains how founders and investors…
Investing… Seeking Alpha: Thesis Driven v. Thematic Investing 28 Jul 2025 As noted last week, Investment Filters establish boundary conditions for investment. Investment Filters conserve energy both for investors and entrepreneurs by quickly eliminating over 90% of investment opportunities. But Investment…
Financial… Six Product Market Fit Principles That Drive Startup Success 21 Jul 2025 Product Market Fit progresses through three phases: product, business and financial validation. We discuss six practices that improve startup success by accelerating progress through these three stages. “We don’t have…
Corporate… Who Scorecard: Executive Recruitment and Assessment 20 Jul 2025 Who is your number one problem. Not what. Talent is the key success factor for any startup. No other factor is close. The Who Scorecard aligns views on job qualifications…
Author… Investment Filters: Simple Rules to Hit Investment Targets 20 Jul 202520 Jul 2025 Investment Filters set boundary conditions and provide simple guidelines for investments consistent with fund strategy. Filters coordinate fund activity to focus on investments that matter most while permitting flexibility to…
books… Why We Read: Innovator’s Omnivorous Content Diet 21 Jan 202522 Jan 2025 Books have taken a beating in recent decades. In 2023, 767 million printed books were sold in the United States, down 2.7% from 2022 and 9% from a record 843…
Author… THINK: Make Comments Count 18 Jan 202519 Jan 2025 THINK was the one engraved sign that adorned the desk of Thomas Watson, founder of the world’s most powerful technology company. In the 1950s, IBM had over a 50% market…
Author… Be Exothermic: Igniting the Startup Flywheel 16 Jan 202523 Jan 2025 Last week was a reawakening of sorts. A four-hour drive for my first in person business meeting since last March seemed a minor inconvenience after a lockdown that included nearly…
Author… Founder Fit: Insight Driven Innovation 16 Jan 202523 Jan 2025 Founder Opportunity Fit Framework Venture investors profess preference for industry disruptors, yet this review finds that investors more readily back incremental innovation with credentialed founders than industry disruptors sponsored by…
Startup Cairns 