Jed Christiansen's Blog - Latest Comments

Re: $20 Billion – and a relaunch of Seed-DB

Nick Such — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 11:12:20 -0000

Super interesting data, thanks for sharing (once again), Jed!

Re: Startups want operators – what about Special Forces?

Todd Connor — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 15:34:41 -0000

Jed,
We launched The Bunker here at 1871/ Chicago to help early stage veteran owned companies. There is more about that here: http://www.chicagotribune.c.... Hit me up at todd@bunkerincubator.com and let's collaborate. Thanks for all you do for fellow veterans.
Todd

Re: Startups want operators – what about Special Forces?

Joe Kay — Sat, 20 Dec 2014 04:24:07 -0000

Hi Jed,

I've recently left the forces (not ex Special Forces though I'm afraid) and founded my own startup called Enswarm. I have already met a few other ex forces guys who have done the same but as you say, none so far from the Special Forces.

To answer some of your questions, would I ever hire an SF operator? Yes definitely in the future, but we are in the very early stages of our business and not hiring yet.

I would say that SF guys are probably not thinking about the startup route too much when they leave. The career transition/resettlement process didn't even mention the possibility of trying to join a startup when I left 2 years ago, it's all aimed at starting your own business or getting a more normal job. If that is still the case it may be worth trying to get involved in the career transition process to let people know that the startup world is an exciting place to be, and they don't have to come up with the initial idea.

On the roles front, operators tend to be generalists so they would be suited to COO/CEO roles where their teamwork skills are best suited. I'm happy to have a coffee with the individual that you talk about if you want to give him my details.

Re: Startups want operators – what about Special Forces?

Ben Brabyn — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:50:11 -0000

Great questions Jed! Here are my suggested answers:

1 - How to hire ex-military operators
Military training and experience provide unique opportunities to develop the adaptability, teamworking skills, determination, comfort in uncertainty and analytical rigour that mark out a great startup operator. For plenty of evidence look at the role of military veterans (and military technologies) in startups in the US and Israel.

Better still - these people are relatively easy to hire - you can engage them through many networks on LinkedIn, resettlement agencies and volunteer organisations like www.heropreneurs.co.uk (disclosure - I'm one of their volunteers). As seasoned public servants they are used to working hard for modest remuneration, so consider what will really motivate them. Finally, beware of frauds. A surprising number of people create fictitious military backgrounds - check their networks to ensure you're not employing a fantasist.

2 - What roles should a service leaver consider?
When I left the Royal Marines in 2000 I looked first for a role that would give me a quick guided tour of the private sector - and help future employers and investors to understand me. Management consultancy and investment banking both seemed to fit and I was offered a job at JP Morgan. Sure enough I had the opportunity to learn about several different industries very quickly. I started my first business a year after leaving the Corps, blending my new professional experience with my military background and co-founding with a friend who I had met during Commando training. I combined this with doing an MBA to fill in some of my skills gaps and as a hedge in case the startup failed.

This combination worked well for me - consolidating military experience in a large civilian firm, then starting up while continuing education if possible. Helping employers and investors understand in their own terms what your background means is a high priority, so understanding their perspective and needs is essential.

Several of us were invited to talk about this at the British Library in 2012 - here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/pla...

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

jedc — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 13:41:12 -0000

just sent it now!

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

jedc — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 13:41:01 -0000

just sent!

Re: Frustration with a taxonomy for startups

Arun — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 15:50:50 -0000

Jed, we could also capture some data on how start ups evolve and transition from one of the taxonomic categories to another. That would provide key insights around how the markets are evolving.

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Steve Kroll — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:47:52 -0000

Should be neat to check this out and see how it works. Here's my email: http://i.imgur.com/h69I2Cu.png

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Jake Coventry — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:23:19 -0000

Would love an invite. Great post by the way. Jakeycov@ gmail thx

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

jedc — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 10:33:57 -0000

just need your @gmail.com address!

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Louise Pryor — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 08:13:37 -0000

Me too!!

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Jan Matern — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 07:30:56 -0000

Thanks! Would love a google inbox invite :)

Re: Joining Techstars

jedc — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:58:57 -0000

Thanks, Ben! Yep, it's an exciting product to build. I like that it's both very quantitative but also encompasses/drives a lot of in-person engagement.

Re: Joining Techstars

Ben Brabyn — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:53:11 -0000

Congratulations on the move Jed! I look forward to seeing Techstars Vision increasing the engagement between startups and corporates.

Re: Introducing Seed-DB: a database of seed accelerators and their companies

Pete Cooper — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 04:15:08 -0000

Great work. Have blogged on anydex.com and sydstart.com and shared on silicon beach australia forums and a fair bit of social media. If you are ever in Sydney look me up.

Re: Introducing Seed-DB: a database of seed accelerators and their companies

George I — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:51:20 -0000

Good work, Jed. Looks good.

I've just had a very quick scan of the site. Some immediate feedback. On the 'accelerator data' page, is there a way to freeze the top (header) row on the table, just so you know what you're looking at, as you scroll down the page.

Re: Introducing Seed-DB: a database of seed accelerators and their companies

Gil Mayron — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:44:20 -0000

Excellent List and data!

Re: Five baseline assumptions on seed accelerators

IanWilson — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 06:58:51 -0000

Interesting post Jed, I saw your quotes in the WSJ too.

The Paul Graham mathematical argument seems odd? Taken to its logical extreme, where X = 100% then the company could be infinitely better off, except you have no equity in it.
In reality you need to have enough equity remaining to leave you with a reasonable amount of equity after another couple of rounds of dilution.
You would also reasonably expect your business to be several orders of magnitude better off after coming out of YC, for example, even after selling 6% of the equity, rather than a percentage better off.

Re: A sad milestone

Istvan Camargo — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:50:23 -0000

The world is really small. My wife had the same experience that you.Reading your post I might feel what happens (she does not like talking much about it). Very beautiful your text, Jed. Thank you, man!

Re: A sad milestone

We — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:37:59 -0000

Your dad sounds like a great person.
My father is diagonosed from cancer and dont have much time left. He is really a great person and the most humble person I ever met. My friend, family all love him and respect him a lot. Now suddenly I am remembering all the great time I spent with him. Even the faintest of memories are coming alive. Well I hope rest of the time will be the best time my family had together. I still hope he may survive longer and for this i am doing some research about it on net. I hope I can help him.

Please pray for him.

Re: A sad milestone

Jenna — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:38:34 -0000

This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing it.

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Vera Comment — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:40:14 -0000

I read that piece and all I took away from it is 2 things: 1) it's a problem (which you acknowledge) and 2) his own wants (which is what everyone else wants too - including yourself).

The difficulty in achieving the goal due to the laws of nature is irrelevant - and many nerds are toiling away in their garages right now trying to improve the capacity to size ratio (because it will make them RICH) Else, how do you explain +~70% capacity in the new iPad with a DISPROPORTIONATE increase in size/weight? Look at the Droid Maxx (?) - one of the primary selling features of which is "all day" battery (or the longest life of any phone).

Laws of nature be damned - people are figuring it out.All I took way from your piece is: this is what we all want, but it's not going to happen (easily) because it's hard. If it was easy, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The fact that it's hard is REASON people are working on it." I worked for years with lead-acid, Nickel-Metal-Hydroxide, and Silver-Zinc batteries; each has their own styles of deficiencies."I think you might be taking it a little personally.MG is not criticizing the way it works today. He's saying it's time to pick up the pace. Disruptors need to be set on high, not medium.One of the crowing achievements of American technology was getting to the moon and back. That was one of the hardest things we've ever done."we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.."

we got to the moon in less than 8 years after that speech. But you don't think anybody's going to figure out how to build a better battery anytime soon?

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Rupert Stubbs — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:57:44 -0000

I think you're being a bit harsh. In many ways what he's pointing out is precisely that Moore's Law doesn't apply to battery life - and that's why it's becoming more of an issue.

As for the "disruption" bit - I really don't think he meant that it was easy. Or that people weren't trying their hardest to solve it. Disruption can also mean bringing a completely new way of defining the problem - for example, as smartphones accumulated more and more function keys to make them do more, the solution to making a more powerful smartphone turned out to be getting rid of the keys altogether.

Probably the answer is unlikely to be one major tech breakthrough, but - like the rapid increase in recent car fuel consumption - a mixture of new ideas and "slow and steady" tech development. But we can dream.

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

rjw — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:57:04 -0000

He doubles down on thinking that his attitude is key to new battery technology here: http://parislemon.com/post/...

You know what else is ripe for disruption? Flying cars.

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Simon Ly — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:15:12 -0000

Well played, Jed. I guess it must be easier to spot talent than it is to understand the talent needed to create something.

Jed Christiansen's Blog - Latest Comments

Re: $20 Billion – and a relaunch of Seed-DB

Re: Startups want *operators* – what about Special Forces?

Re: Startups want *operators* – what about Special Forces?

Re: Startups want *operators* – what about Special Forces?

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: Frustration with a taxonomy for startups

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: The super-magic productivity button in the new Google Inbox

Re: Joining Techstars

Re: Joining Techstars

Re: Introducing Seed-DB: a database of seed accelerators and their companies

Re: Introducing Seed-DB: a database of seed accelerators and their companies

Re: Introducing Seed-DB: a database of seed accelerators and their companies

Re: Five baseline assumptions on seed accelerators

Re: A sad milestone

Re: A sad milestone

Re: A sad milestone

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Re: MG Siegler proves he doesn’t understand hard tech

Re: Startups want operators – what about Special Forces?

Re: Startups want operators – what about Special Forces?

Re: Startups want operators – what about Special Forces?