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Here at RunMyErrand we are all about community. That’s why we’re proud to have partnered with some of the best local businesses serving Boston’s communities. Below are four new featured partners, who are enjoying FREE advertising on the front page of RunMyErrand.com.  Whether it’s picking up your hound from the groomer or delivering roses for an anniversary, our runners can help individuals and businesses crowdsource their needs.

The Boston Neighborhood Network calls our work with small business partners a “no brainier”. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your small business, drop us a note at biz@RunMyErrand.com or check out our business page on RunMyErrand.com.  It’s no commitment, no obligation, and takes about 30 seconds to get started!

Brookline Booksmith

As the name implies, the Brookline Booksmith is located on Harvard Street in Brookline. This independent book store has been around since 1962 and was named “Best Bookstore” by Boston Magazine in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. With a large collection of both new and used books as well as a gifts section, this local bookstore took on Barnes & Noble…and won! If you’re in Coolidge Corner, definitely check this place out!

Four Preppy Paws

When Heidi Barraza had trouble finding a collar for her “preppy” dog Cuchufli, she started Four Preppy Paws, a store for high quality, durable pet supplies. Today, Four Preppy Paws sells collars, leashes, harnesses, and even matching belts for owners! The store also has a “Paws for a Cause” collection whose proceeds go toward charity.   If you have a preppy dog, you can find Four Preppy Paws merchandise online, in boutiques across the country, or right here in Beacon Hill.  They also carry a wide variety of specialty dog food, and who wants to carry that 40lb bag home, when you can just have it delivered?!

Jeana’s Dirty Dog Salon, Inc.

Even dirty dogs like to feel pampered and Jeana’s Dirty Dog Salon is the place to bring them. Located in Cambridge, this groomer promises a fun and social atmosphere for your pooches and kitties that keeps them relaxed and comfortable during their beautification. The experience and quality service makes owners feel great as well. After an appointment at Jeana’s Dirty Dog Salon, your pet will leave feeling as good as he or she looks.

Central Square Florist

Family run, Central Square Florist has been serving Metro Boston for 80 years and 3 generations. This local shop offers an arrangement for every occasion, personal taste, and price. Deliveries are made 7 days a week and hours are extended during holidays. Show your Boston sweetheart you care and order from Central Square Florist.

I continue to enjoy my book, Founders at Work.  A few nights ago, I read through the interview with the founder of del.icio.us, Joshua Schachter.   One of his comments (pp 230) really leaped off the page, grabbed me, and shook me with both hands ….

I have never had a great deal of trust for people who don’t execute on core ideas.  I understand the value of needing someone to deal with that kind of stuff — someone’s got to do the VC pitch and there’s got to be a CFO, etc.  But the guy who says, "I have a great idea and I’m looking for other people to implement it," I’m wary of — frequently because I think the process of idea-making relies on executing and failing or succeeding at the ideas, so that you can actually become better at coming up with ideas.  It’s something you can learn.  It’s a skill, like weightlifting.  That failed; that worked; continue.  You begin to learn how to make ideas.  So if you are someone who can’t execute and all you can do is come up with ideas, how do you know if they are any good?  You don’t really know if it’s a good idea until you’ve executed it.  You need to understand the cost of execution and so on.

I probably liked this quote so much, because I can identify with it.  I have an idea.  I know how to implement it.  So, here I am, giving it a shot, executing, and time will tell if it is any good or not.  Remy is actually not the first idea I’ve executed on either, and in previous attempts, I’ve learned how to quantify what it really takes to put a project together.  The time it takes, the skill level involved, what to think about, etc.  I can definitely see how past experiences have influenced my execution this time around, in a positive way.

On to the chapter about Ann Winblad Cofounder, Open Systems and Hummer Winblad.  It’s nice to see some women founders being interviewed.  I’m always curious to see what their perspectives have been and if they differ from their male counterparts.  The other female interviewee I’ve read so far is Caterina Fake, cofounder of Flickr.  That was a really interesting chapter because Flickr started eons away from where it is today.  In the interview she describes an experience where her cofounder, who happens to be her husband, was told not to bring ‘his wife’ to VC meetings.  Lovely.

I had read the book, Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur, by Dermot Berkery, while still at IBM, but I didn’t want to raise any "red flags" at the time, so I kept it quiet.  Aside from the fact that the word "serious" in the title cracks me up, as if to say, if you are not "serious", you are wasting both your time and the authors by reading this book, it was an excellent read!  Well written, especially for the reader coming from a completely different place, technology, versus having a business background.  I would highly recommend it as a first read, just to sort of get your bearings on the whole process.  The content was unassuming, and everything was explained from the ground up.  I have to admit, I was drawn right into this fascinating, strange, new, world of venture capital, and actually thoroughly enjoyed it as a beach read during the last vacation to Puerto Rico.  It was recommended to me by a friend that works at a VC firm, the author and this friend are both Harvard Business School graduates.

I’m glad I read it with a highlighter in hand, so now I can go back and quickly look at points or ideas I found important the first time through.  There are some good case study examples, which is helpful in thinking about how to apply those concepts to what I want to do.  There is also an entire section on valuing an early-stage venture, where it describes the difficulty in applying the traditional valuation techniques and gives perspectives on how valuations are decided in these cases.

Pick it up if you are a *serious* entrepreneur … or even just a programmer, with an idea, and you want to learn what the whole VC funding process is all about!

I am loving this new book that I picked up.  Founders at Work, by Jessica Livingston, is a collection of interviews with the founders of some of the most famous technology startup companies.  I am about 1/2 through the 472 pages, and my favorite stories so far have been about how Paypal and Hotmail got started.  At the end of chapter 1, after reading the following quote by Max Levhin, I knew I had picked up a good read:

I think the hallmark of a really good entrepreneur is that you’re not really going to build one specific company.  The goal – at least the way I think about entrepreneurship – is you realize one day that you can’t really work for anyone else.  You have to start your own thing.  It almost doesn’t matter what that thing is.

Yep, you could say that struck a cord with me!  It has been interesting to hear the stories how some of these companies happened by accident.  Hotmail for instance was started with a completely different context in mind, and then they needed a way to share emails and data while one of them were still at work … hence, webmail was born.  It is also fascinating to hear about these brilliant teams of people that have come together, all with different skill sets, strengths, and weakness, and that is what helped them to succeed. 

Having started at Iris Associates in 2001, it was interesting to hear about the "old days" from the words of Ray Ozzie.  Having started just before IBM aquired Iris Associates, the original founders had already moved on, yet their names and stories continue to be spoken legend around Westford 5.

I am really enjoying the interview style format, where in each chapter Livingston talks with a founder from a different company.  It makes it a quick read, and one that you can put down and come back to quite easily.  I am getting a lot out of this book, overall.  Not only is it inspiring to hear stories of these great successes, it is helpful to hear about the bumps in the road they hit as well, and to try to gain perspective from their experiences.  Big Blue always placed much emphasis on its mentoring program, and this reads like an entrepreneur’s mentoring manual.  Livingston asks the good questions, and I am soaking up as much as possible!