Comments for Geoff Lewis

Comment on Presentation on Acquisitions @ SXSW – Monday March 11, 11am, Four Seasons Main Ballroom by T G Nelson

T G Nelson — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:55:13 +0000

2013 is a no go for me and I would appreciate sending me a copy of your presentation.

Comment on Presentation on Acquisitions @ SXSW – Monday March 11, 11am, Four Seasons Main Ballroom by Matt Mireles (@mattmireles)

Matt Mireles (@mattmireles) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 19:14:08 +0000

Will this video be posted online? Pls say yes.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by Alan Masarsky

Alan Masarsky — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:20:18 +0000

Great post, Geoff. I too fell victim of credential-seeking. It wasn’t until I had suffered through the obstacles of starting (and failing) in my entrepreneurial ventures that I stopped chasing the credential, and started to chase after the right product.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by eileen @ www.familiesgotravel.com

eileen @ www.familiesgotravel.com — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:18:20 +0000

It’s really easy if somewhat cynical for me to say that this is the pitfall of believing the only people with good, backable ideas are 22 years old. When you’re young and just out of school and don’t have the life experience to appreciate what goes into things, it’s easy to get caught up wanting the glamour job, the sexy degree the “cool credential” — you want to be in with the “in” crowd however you define that. You would never need to tell a 40 YO entrepreneur to focus on creating value and not on gathering credentials because A) they probably already have some real credentials and B) they just know better.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by Ching

Ching — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:56:03 +0000

I agree with your point but why not leave him to apply for it? IF he gets in, he might learn a thing or two about credentials vs the balance of having great ideas,team,execution.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by piplayan (@piplayan)

piplayan (@piplayan) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:22:09 +0000

Geoff,
This is a great article.
Couldn’t agree more, when you say
” If you’re in it to build a successful Company, the credentials will come to you, eventually. But if you’re in it primarily for the credentials, you should consider law school. “

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by douglastreadwell

douglastreadwell — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:29:25 +0000

Why is it hard to find a cofounder in the Bay? I know a ton of people looking to start startups. Email me at therealepicureanideal@gmail.com.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by Geoff Lewis

Geoff Lewis — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:16:43 +0000

Yeah, definitely not trying to second guess Paul Graham here (he is far smarter than I am), but I think there are negative implications to the YC “Without Idea” application track that may not be in their consideration set right now.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by Geoff Lewis

Geoff Lewis — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 23:59:12 +0000

Thanks. I’m really impressed by your progress over the past month, btw.

Comment on Are you building a company, or your credentials? by Jonathan Jaeger

Jonathan Jaeger — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 23:57:54 +0000

I guess time will only tell whether you’re right or wrong. Hard to second-guess Paul Graham sometimes, but I definitely agree with your rationale. When an accelerator accepts a company, they have a limited window into the people behind the company (or at least not a perfect vision). Hard to tell execution potential on just looking at past work unless that person is well-established.