StarkRavingVC.com | Greg Gottesman's Blog

A COVID-19 Response for Those WFH

I visited my favorite Pioneer Square Teriyaki place two days ago around noon. Normally there would be a long line of customers waiting to order at the counter and roughly 40 people eating lunch. I saw less than a handful.

COVID-19 is already having a profound impact on our local businesses and non-tech workforce in Seattle.

Workplace closures have left Seattle devoid of people who normally would be eating at restaurants and buying from local stores. After seeing a 90% drop in his business over recent weeks, Tom Douglas announced he would temporarily close 12 of his 13 restaurants and lay

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Posted on March 13, 2020 by greggottesman · Leave a comment

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Part Trois

I have come to love participating in Career Day at West Mercer Elementary. The third, fourth and fifth-grade students were at it again this year, coming up with startup ideas unfiltered by the societal baggage that kills creativity for most of us as soon as we hit adulthood.

Like in past years, as part of my three sessions, I explained what a venture investor does, laid out the criteria we use to make investments (team, product, market, business model and timing) and asked each of the students to pitch a startup concept (their own “$1,000,000,000 idea”). Elementary school students like

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Posted on February 1, 2015 by greggottesman · 3 Comments

Lessons in Entrepreneurship, Seahawks Style

In that miracle masquerading as the NFC Championship game last Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks taught entrepreneurs and all of us in the startup world five of the most important lessons about starting and building successful companies.

1. Nothing ever goes as planned.

For the first three-and-a-half quarters, nothing worked for the Seahawks. Quarterback Russell Wilson had thrown four interceptions and couldn’t run the ball. Penalties killed every promising drive. The Seahawks were down 16-0 at half and 19-7 late in the fourth quarter, and it wasn’t that close.

Every startup leader knows the feeling. Your product breaks in unexpected ways at unexpected times. You lose customers

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Posted on January 23, 2015 by greggottesman · Leave a comment

Spare5 Harnesses the Collective Power of Everyone

“Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.” –John F. Kennedy

Most experts who wax about the ongoing mobile revolution focus on the growing power and functionality of our smartphones. I have always believed the more important change has less to do with our increasing access to these new brains and more to do with ones we already have.

Human beings have so many talents and insights that in a feature phone world were difficult to expose. Today, anyone with a smartphone can produce high-quality, specialized work 24 hours per day. As an example, I am writing this post on

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Posted on January 9, 2015 by greggottesman · 1 Comment

Stop Spending Time with People Looking for Reasons to Say No

“Um, excuse me, I … I think you forgot my bread.” “Bread, two dollars extra.” “Two dollars? But everyone in front of me got free bread.” “You want bread?” “Yes, please.” “Three dollars!” “What?” “No soup for you!” — George and the Soup Nazi, in “The Soup Nazi,” Seinfeld

I spend far too much time trying to convince people to say “yes,” especially people who are looking for reasons to say “no.” I think of myself as a pretty good salesperson, but I don’t think I have ever convinced someone to change his or her mind

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Posted on November 14, 2014 by greggottesman · 2 Comments

Best Product Nominee: The Dirty Diaper

I love great products.

Not just tech products, either. Game of Thrones is a great product, which is why I feel the need to blab on and on about it until I nauseate those who haven’t gotten hooked yet.

With summer approaching, I feel the need to share with you another truly great product: the Dirty Diaper. The Dirty Diaper is the result of roasting a marshmallow with chocolate shoved into it. Done correctly, you are treated to a toasted marshmallow with hot melted chocolate inside. Think new-and-improved cousin to the s’more, sans graham cracker.

I can’t take credit for this revolutionary dessert.

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Posted on June 4, 2014 by greggottesman · 1 Comment

To Protect Legitimate Interests, Seattle Should Cap All Forms of Innovation Immediately

In a 9-0 decision Monday, the Seattle City Council voted to cap the number of UberX, Sidecar and Lyft drivers on our streets — to protect the legitimate interests of taxi companies and the revenue they create for our city.

So, I thought we should come up with 10 other important limits that we as a city can and should place on new technology-based business models. Here they are:

To protect the legitimate interests of the U.S. Postal Service and keep the price of stamps reasonable for our citizens, the City should … Continue reading →

Posted on March 18, 2014 by greggottesman · 38 Comments

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Part Two

Sequels are rarely better than the original. But there are exceptions. Being a sucker for happy endings, I liked Rocky II more than the Oscar-winning original. Speaking of great sequels, I was back at West Mercer Elementary this morning for Career Day, meeting with third, fourth and fifth graders and listening to their startup ideas.

My session was entitled “Your Billion-Dollar Idea.” Like last year, I explained what a venture capitalist does, laid out the criteria we use to make investments (team, product, market, business model and timing) and gave each student the opportunity to pitch

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Posted on January 23, 2014 by greggottesman · Leave a comment

A “Breaking Bad” Guide to Entrepreneurship

I just binge-watched all six seasons of Breaking Bad. If you haven’t downloaded the AMC show (but plan to soon), prepare yourself for experiencing someone else’s mid-life crisis, with healthy doses of terminal illness, murder, infidelity and drug-dealing thrown in to keep it interesting. Spending time with chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-kingpin Walter White, his family and the surrounding characters is exhausting and engrossing at the same time. The characters (and Walt especially) are more complex than any you have spent time with on the TV screen.

Instead of reviewing the show, as others have done far better than I could, I

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Posted on December 3, 2013 by greggottesman · 2 Comments

Pole Dancing and Self-Censorship

“You better check yo self before you wreck yo self.” –Ice Cube, “Check Yo Self”

I was snooping through my son’s middle school yearbook recently when I came across a disturbing inscription from a fellow classmate. This preteen had taken up an entire page to draw a schematic of a strip club, replete with a stick figure woman doing a pole dance and another stick figure woman giving a lap dance to a stick figure man. How do I know that he intended it to be a lap dance? Mercifully, he handwrote “lap dance” with an arrow pointing to the stick

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Posted on September 30, 2013 by greggottesman · 4 Comments