Jason Calacanis started a company, Weblogs Inc., and sold it to AOL for $25 million. And he has some ideas on how to build a successful startup. But Mark Cuban started a company, Broadcast.com, and sold it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion. So you'd probably rather read Cuban's "Rules for Startups" post — though not all 707 words of it. Here's a version you have time for:

• Don't start a company unless its an obsession you love.
• If you have an exit strategy, its not an obsession.
• Hire people who will love working.
• Know how your company will make money.
• Know your core competencies and pay up for people. Outside core competencies, hire people cheap
• Shoot yourself before you spend money on an expresso machine.
• No offices. There is nothing private in a start up.
• As far as technology, go with what you know.
• Keep the organization flat.
• Never buy swag.
• Never hire a PR firm.
• Make the job fun for employees. Reward them. My first company, I would walk around handing out 100 dollar bills to salespeople.

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