When you start a technology company, your first few years are usually one long string of pivots. Some of these will be big pivots, and some micro. A lucky few will find that one of their pivots worked really early and they become famous. But, for most people, a startup is an act of dogged determination and resilience through adjustments until you finally find your thing that sticks.

One of the primary reasons why startups fail is that the founders simply get tired and give up. It’s exhausting to keep pivoting, sometimes it’s literally life threatening to keep going. However…

Developing a clear perspective about what “starting something” is really all about

The true survival rate of most startups is quite low. We usually only hear about the rarefied few who have actually made it all the way through: companies like Airbnb and Doordash who recently reached the pinnacle milestone of having IPO’d to liquid equity. But these sorts of success stories are few. For most founders, it's a journey of unrelenting challenges for several years, before the company simply stops operating due to acquisition, merger, or bankruptcy. One of the things that most of the successes have in common…

I’ll never forget the feeling. It was 1987. I was 7 years old. Intense worry, fear, and confusion had me pacing around my house in Jersey City. The night before, a gang who called themselves “The Dotbusters” attacked our home while we were out for dinner. My parents tried to shield me from what they graffitied on our garage, but I had to know. My memories are blurry on the specifics but I remember “leave this country or we’ll kill you” and other violent threats plastered on the crisp white paint. They also blasted our living room window. I recall…

“Don’t take anything for granted.”

It took our species tens of thousands of years to get to 1 billion humans on Earth. That happened in around the year 1800. Just 220 years later, we’re now at 8 billion humans. There are some harsh realities that will surface in the wake of our exponential growth curve. The gross depletion of Earth’s resources is inevitable. We must face the responsibilities and challenges that our children’s generation will face over the next 100+ years. I remain a staunch optimist. I believe in the limitless potential of our species and world. Improving our odds…

How do you keep composure when nothing is certain?

We were holding onto our hats, riding fast into 2020. I celebrated my 40th birthday on January 2nd which I was fortunate to share with great friends. It was a new decade for me and the world — “the roaring 20s”, we called it. Our company Bizly had great momentum. We galloped into January and February, doubling our revenue and customer count in just a few weeks. Our product was ripening and excitement filled the air. My last flight in February was a trip to London where we competed at a…

Work smarter, be happier, get further ahead.

Honing my Jedi skills
Mastering Non-Verbal Communication

Over the last decade, we seem to have forgotten that a significant share of our communication is conveyed non-verbally. Humans use facial expressions, body language, and other non-verbal cues to evoke emotion, meaning, and care. This type of communication is enormously impactful, particularly for founders.

For example, a simple message like “we could do better” can mean completely different things when written vs when communicated face-to-face. The feelings of care and mentorship that may be underlying the message are often lost in written form. Recipients of…

Bizly’s takeaways from business travel’s most tech-forward show

New York | October 22–23, 2019

We had a great time at one of the leading business travel technology conferences in North America. Over 300 corporate buyers in attendance, 13 leading technology innovators presenting, and a vibrant community of hospitality groups, innovators and thought leaders. Some of our takeaways from this year’s big show:

1. User experience is gaining ground. With presentations by Pana, HRS Invisible Pay, our company Bizly, and TripActions; it is clear that the employee experience is gaining mindshare and importance to all corporate buyers. …

Since introducing Bizly to select enterprise customers last year, we’ve been hard at work advancing our product and supporting thousands of events. From recruiting, training, and education to team-building, sales, and marketing, employees are building more of their own events to succeed and get ahead. Hundreds of millions of working professionals depend on in-person gatherings to do their life’s best work, yet until now, they’ve lacked modern technology to create efficiency and unlock the power of these events.

Bizly is a new kind of enterprise software that allows any employee to build great in-person meetings and events. We use the…