Yesterday Doug Banks of Mass High Tech posted a great response to the Greylock leaving Boston autopsy found on Xconomy.  Suffice it to say, there's plenty of debate over the health of Boston's entrepreneur ecosystem and many are tired of the Silicon Valley vs. Boston debate and hate.  As Doug Banks wrote, "Does New England still have work to do? Of course we do." I totally agree, which is why I'd like to highlight 3 things we can do better in Boston.

I am a firm believer of learning from past and present successful Entrepreneurs. One of the greats, Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart, if alive today would be the richest person in the world times TWO – being twice as rich as Mr. Bill Gates. I watched a documentary on his life and observed 5 true points of a creating a successful business: 

Who are the faces behind a company? How did the company get started? These are common question you may have about startups you see and hear about. If you don't get a chance to personally meet the founders, you're unlikely to ever know their story. That's where we're starting Founder Fridays. 
 
Each week, we'll profile a different startup (with ties to Boston) through a simple interview that highlights some of the simple questions that make all the difference for a startup like, "How did you meet your co-founders?" and "What was the best advice you ever received?"
 
This week, we have Ashish Kundra from myzamana, who has created a dating site for the South Asian community.

Have you ever noticed that girls always seem to travel in groups at night?  Or that smaller guys at the bar always seems to act tougher when “their boys” are around?  Not so much a coincidence.  People are very much a product of their community (or “tribe” as Seth Godin might point out).  In fact this concept of “community” is a very powerful one.  It’s a pretty democratic idea when you think about it.  Community is what empowers petitions and protests to be such powerful tools.  Community is the power of people.
 
In fact, social media and web 2.0 websites have only made this idea of tribes even more powerful.  Why else would there be well over 40 pages of open “Community Manager” Jobs?  Why would I do what I do at Grasshopper Group and Jason do what he does for oneforty?  Because it works…and businesses need to care about their community now more than ever.  Here are a few reasons why if you don’t have a community manger…you need to hire one:

Starting a company and being your own boss seems like the best occupation. With the local support in the Boston community and a creative team, starting a venture has become more appealing. Once you get the ship running, here are 5 questions to keep you from sinking.