10 Startup Advice Columns for 2016

K4Connect founder and serial entrepreneur Scott Moody penned this piece days before he underwent brain surgery in March 2015. We know now that the surgery was successful and he’s back to work building an Internet of Things company transforming senior care, but these thoughtful and contemplative words put both life and business in perspective.

Inspired by an increasing number of intros to Triangle residents new to the area and interested in the startup community, ChannelAdvisor founder and chairman Scot Wingo started a series of columns helping those folks navigate our ecosystem. He’s still unveiling portions of the report, but you can read the initial post and all the updates here. This post is great for finding resources in the community for yourself or your employees.

Local developer and entrepreneur Sean Johnson reacts to famous words by the Y Combinator founder, that the best ideas are bad ideas. Instead, he argues that the best ideas are “too good to be true” ideas and companies with those are the ones to work for and invest in. 

Userlite founder David Ogden reacts to another local entrepreneur’s musings about the lack of funding in NC by giving some advice for entrepreneurs building companies and local people investing in them. 

ExitEvent Founder Joe Procopio looks 10 years down the road at what he hopes the Triangle startup ecosystem will look like. But a key way his vision will come true is if new people step up to lead the way toward it.

RocketBolt co-founder Aaron Dinin tried a different tactic than lunch or coffee for trying to land key meetings to help grow his company—milkshakes. Read about what happened when he asked for a different kind of meeting. 

Conserve cash. Code (with an undisciplined rage). Don’t follow the playbook. And more advice for building startups that can exit one day, from Joe Procopio’s bi-weekly column. 

The Startup Factory venture associate Lizzy Hazeltine kicked off a column series in 2015 about her adventures learning the venture capital industry, and as a young female. The rest of her columns are here.

Joe Procopio argues that critics should be careful what they say about the Triangle startup community and others in it. The ecosystem may not be established enough to handle it. 

In another biweekly column, Joe Procopio argues why we should be focused on advising and mentoring entrepreneurs, because even if they haven’t landed on the next great startup idea today, they might some day. And especially with help and mentorship from others more experienced in the community.