I took a break from GuildCafe for a couple hours on Thursday morning–I was invited to give a lecture at WPI on entrepreneurship. For my talk, I decided to put together a list of ten things to speak about. You can watch me on video or view the PowerPoint deck containing my list of ten things to think about when starting a company.

The most “controversial” point I listed was “Avoid the unhappy and unlucky,” based in part on one of the more enlightened elements of the recent book The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene. I think it’s true that good companies are built by passionate optimists who love what they’re doing. Such people are naturally happy, and the “luck” they’ve experienced is just a manifestation of their hard work.

I think WPI is doing a great job of educating students on some of the more exciting areas of computer science, and their Interactive Media and Game Design department is producing some great students. If at least one person walked away from my talk feeling inspired to get involved with a startup, then I feel like it was worth it.