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Posts by Rand Fishkin:

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“You Can’t Do It” is Powerful Motivation

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
From age 20-26, I was, quite possibly, the world’s worst entrepreneur. I dropped out of college two classes away from graduating. In a typically low financial risk business – consulting – I managed to rack up hundreds of thousands in debt building, well, nothing. Wracked by credit card and equipment loan debt I had no idea how to pay back,…
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The Algorithm + the Crowd are Not Enough

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
In the last decade, the online world has been ruled by two, twin forces: The Crowd and The Algorithm. The collective “users” of the Internet (The Crowd) create, click, and rate, while mathematical equations add scalability and findability to these overwhelming quantities of data (The Algorithm). Like the moon over the ocean, the pull of these two forces help create…
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A Cautionary Tale from the Startup World

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
A few years back, several close friends of mine worked for a remarkable startup. Their trajectory was incredible, growing from $0-$75+ million dollars in their first 4 years and becoming a recognized brand name in the process. At its height, the company employed more than 130 people and their products reached customers in dozens of countries. After being featured in…
Startups

What I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Company

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Every year that I’ve run SEOmoz, I’ve thought to myself “Who was that idiot they let run this place last year?” _ It’s not that every decision I’ve made has been terrible, or that I’ve brought the company to the brink of destruction, but it is true that the quantity of unexecuted opportunity has outpaced our growth substantially, and that’s…
Startups

Rise of the Celebrity Investor

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Nearly everyone in the startup space has recognized the rise of a new class of VC and angel investor over the last few years. I’ll call them the “celebrity-investor” because much of their reputation stems not necessarily from their accomplishments (though most have achieved and invested in remarkable things) but from their personal brand – often centered around a popular…
Marketing

6 Lessons Learned from a Frank M+A Discussion

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
As a first-time entrepreneur, many of the issues I face with my startup are “for the first time.” Acquisitions definitely fit into that bucket. While I don’t have first-hand experience, I recently received some advice that resonated strongly and am sharing it here. This information and my takeaways/perspectives come (mostly) via an excellent dinner panel discussion this week hosted by…
Personal

Editorial Guidelines for this Blog

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Many have posited that the brilliance of Twitter is in the limitation provided by 140 characters. This “restriction” in fact “frees” (some) contributors to be uncommonly communicative, creative and profound in the shortened medium, and builds expectations for consumers of the content. In much the same fashion, I believe this blog can benefit from some ground rules laid at the…

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