Agreed: hardware is dead (re-post)

http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/15/hardware-is-dead/

"...I think this leads to an important conclusion: No one can make money selling hardware anymore. The only way to make money with hardware is to sell something else and get consumers to pay for the whole device and experience.

Obviously, Apple sells more than just hardware. It sells iOS. It sells the Apple Brand. It sells the ability to give someone over 60 an iPad and not require nightly IT support calls from that person. It sells a bit of magic. And people will pay $400+ for that.

Amazon is also clearly way ahead on this model. At the Kindle launch event last week, Jeff Bezos highlighted that Amazon does not make money on the Kindle, it makes money on the content it sells on top of the Kindle. There is a growing awareness of this model in the web..."

On succeeding at lofty aims

"...The first step in dealing with the workload is putting in place the support structure that allows you to focus your energies on key priorities and issues where you can add the greatest value to the business..."

The Myth of Work-Life Balance - John Beeson - Harvard Business Review
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/the_myth_of_work-life_balance.html?cm_sp=most_widget-_-default-_-The%20Myth%20of%20Work-Life%20Balance

Highlighting the legendary Jobs

Money Quotes, Steve Jobs-Style | Epicenter | Wired.com
http://m.wired.com/epicenter/2011/08/money-quotes-steve-jobs-style/

“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” —Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998

Start-up stories - a conference all about analyzing past scenarios

Originally found on Fred Wilson's VC blog. The event and its live broadcasts seem like great opportunities to broaden one's business case-study base. I'm interested in the failed cases, as a way to increase my understanding of the variety of factors contributing to failure.

A VC: Startup Lessons Learned
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/05/startup-lessons-learned.html

Start-ups: creating an ownership structure

A well thoughtout StackExchange post by its very founder, a guy named Joel, which answers another user's question about the proper ways to approach the division of individual stakes in a newly formed venture.

Surely there are countless other approaches, yet this looks like a reasonable set of logic to guide any team through their first attempt at self-employment.

"Forming a new software startup, how do I allocate ownership fairly? - OnStartups - Stack Exchange"
http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/6949/forming-a-new-software-startup-how-do-i-allocate-ownership-fairly/23326#23326