PNTM, A Conversation with Howard Morgan

Wednesday, May 17, 2017
5:45 PM 7:45 PM 17:45 19:45

Google Calendar ICS

PNTM is having a conversation with First Round Capital cofounder, Howard Morgan.

6:00 Networking and food
6:20 Welcome and sponsors
6:30 Guest speaker: Howard Morgan
7:00 Q&A with Howard
7:20 Community discussion followed by Networking
7:30 Happy Hour

If you don't know of Howard, here's the opening of his Wikipedia entry:

"Howard Lee Morgan is an American venture capitalist, philanthropist, socialite, angel investor, author and contributing writer for Business Insider. He also serves as the Chairman, CEO, Director, Board member or advisor for an assortment of companies including Franklin Electronic Publishers, Arca Group, Idealab, Math for America and managing partner for First Round Capital with partners Josh Kopelman, Chris Fralic, and Rob Hayes."

Source:: https://www.meetup.com/Philly-New-Tech-Meetup/events/238402745/

Trajectify

Startups and Small Businesses sometimes find themselves at the edge of a chasm. With success in developing and growing their business, a stage is reached where they find that the "next step" is a big one! Trajectify partners with the entrepreneur to build momentum and trajectory to be able to cross the chasm.

We offer private and group (Mastermind) coaching and hold frequent events and seminars.

Trajectify is founded my Mike Krupit, veteran of eight startups. Mike has helped dozens of companies grow and mentored and advised hundreds more.

Recent Resources

Leadership, Personal Development

How You Look Is Part of How You Lead

Leadership, Personal Development

Most founders and executives I work with are uncomfortable talking about how they look. It feels shallow. Not the point. I get it. They started their companies because of a vision, not an ego. By the time they're working with an advisor, they're wrestling with real problems: who belongs in which seats, how to build accountability, how to run a leadership meeting. Thinking about personal image can feel self-indulgent by comparison.

Leadership, Personal Development

Organizational Dev

You Can't Scale the Company Without Scaling the Culture

Organizational Dev

Founders tend to think about a major transition as a singular event. You prepare, announce, close, and now you're a different company. In my experience, the company starts changing well before any of that happens. I've been through this several times now, and the details were different every time. The weirdness was pretty consistent.

Organizational Dev

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Not Every Idea Deserves to Be Fully Baked

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Sometimes exploration is worth it. Sometimes you just spent a week of the team’s attention answering a question the founder could have tested in an afternoon. That is the part I think leaders underestimate. Ideas do not only cost money. They cost time, focus, and brainpower long before anyone approves a budget. The question I’d want answered is: how much of the organization does this idea deserve yet?

Growth Strategies, Leadership

If Everyone Is Playing Defense with their Goals, Nobody Is Trying to Win

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Ask a room of leaders why they set goals and most will say accountability. That answer creates the problem. Goals exist for alignment. The company needs to reach a number, so this group does this, that group does that, and together the math works. Everyone is pointed in the same direction. Focus comes second. A good goal tells you what to say no to.

Growth Strategies, Leadership

Leadership, Organizational Dev

If Ten People on Your Team Agree, Nine of Them Are Unnecessary

Leadership, Organizational Dev

The instinct to build a team that moved in the same direction, at the same pace, with the same set of perspectives is limiting. Consistency is created at the expense of range. The goal isn't alignment of strengths. It's coverage. The most dangerous teams I've seen weren't the ones with conflict. hey were the ones with none. Where every conversation ends in agreement. Where nothing gets surfaced. Where the people who see things differently may have learned to stop saying so.

Leadership, Organizational Dev

Leadership

Shiny Object Syndrome Will Break Your Company. It's Also What Built It.

Leadership

The same restlessness that makes it hard to stay on plan is what made them start the company in the first place. The wandering mind, the refusal to be satisfied with what already exists, the ability to see something before it exists: that's not a disorder. That's the source.

Leadership

Leadership, Organizational Dev

The Bridge to the Moon

Leadership, Organizational Dev

If you're building a company, knowing your role isn't optional. The visionary needs someone who will build what they see without getting in the way of the seeing. The integrator needs someone who will point at the moon and mean it and keep pointing at the same moon long enough for the bridge to get built. The mistake I see most often: trying to be both or hiring someone who mirrors you when you need someone who complements you.

Leadership, Organizational Dev