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Instigator Blog

Lean Analytics, startups, angel investing, product management and more!

There’s a Difference Between Perseverance and Willing Something into Reality

March 16, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz

I’ve tried willing my startups into success. Turns out, it doesn’t work. You can’t will things into reality (as far as I know at least.) And that sounds obvious, but I guarantee you when you’re right in the middle of your startup, somewhere between the post-launch euphoria and the wiggles of false hope (as described […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

This Much I Know is True

March 6, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz

I’m a big believer in intellectual honesty. We emphasized it at Year One Labs by pushing teams through a lean startup methodology. And when I reflect back on my failures, there were clearly times when I was lying too much to myself. Having said that, I also think founders need to be capable of lying […]

Filed Under: Personal Development, Startups

A Week in the Life of a Parent-Entrepreneur

February 10, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz

In 2007 I wrote a post about what it was like raising a family and starting a company at the same time. Back then my second son, Quinn, had just been born, and I was starting Standout Jobs. I distinctly remember having fundraising conversations with investors while pacing outside the Children’s Hospital where my son […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

Schoolwork, Dating or Hacking Side Projects: Pick Two out of Three

January 25, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz

My history with hiring university students and recent graduates for technical positions has not been a good one. In my first company (~15 years ago) we tried hiring recent university and technical college graduates for junior developer positions. I was struck by the near carbon copy similarities between most of the resumes. Very few of […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

Kids and Computers

January 17, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz

I got into computers fairly early because of my father. He went back to university in 1986 in his early 40s and did a BSc. in Computer Science. I was 11 years old. Our first computer was a PC of some kind; I don’t remember what it was, but I remember it was expensive, $7,000+ […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

Imagination and Practicality

January 3, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz

Watching my two kids play, it’s striking how different they are. My younger son (4) turns everything into a make-believe game. Give him two sticks and suddenly they’re space ships. Give him a handmade car (which we built recently at the Halifax Art Gallery; it’s meant to be Jeff Gorvette from Cars 2) and he’s […]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Personal Development

Change

October 25, 2011 by Ben Yoskovitz

I’m just starting the process of changing a great deal in my life. It starts with my professional life, where I’ve taken on a role as VP Product with GoInstant. That’s the catalyst for a lot of other change as well. Most of the moves I’ve made in my professional life have been fairly drastic. […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

A New Challenge and a New Opportunity: Joining GoInstant

October 24, 2011 by Ben Yoskovitz

Recently I announced that Year One Labs was mostly complete; at least our active incubation phase. Instead of rehashing that, I’ll just re-publish this part of that post: Year One Labs was the perfect antidote to my experiences just prior to starting it (which involved trying to build a company in the recruitment space during […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

How to Have Startup Swagger Without Being a Complete Asshole

April 8, 2011 by Ben Yoskovitz

You need a sizeable ego to succeed in the world of startups and venture capital. Without that ego propelling you forward it’s going to be hard to wake up every morning, take the risks you need to take, and aggressively go after what you want. You won’t be able to negotiate from a position of […]

Filed Under: Personal Development

Lying to Yourself is a Leading Cause of Startup Failure

February 16, 2011 by Ben Yoskovitz

Although I did complete a Psychology degree at university, I’m no psychologist. And I’m no self-help guru either. But the more I think about startups and entrepreneurs, the more I think that one of the leading causes of startup failure is lying. Not lying to other people, but lying to oneself. People lie to themselves […]

Filed Under: Personal Development, Startups

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Ben Yoskovitz

Founding Partner at Highline Beta, a hybrid venture studio and VC firm that works with large, ambitious companies to identify new areas of opportunity through internal and external innovation.

Previously I was VP Product at VarageSale and GoInstant (acq. $CRM), and Founding Partner at Year One Labs.

Angel investments include: Breather, Spoiler Alert, SendWithUs and others.

My bio »

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