Founders and Fundraising
What Are The Five Signs It’s Time To Sell Your Company?
A couple of years ago I was advising a CEO. “Mark” had bootstrapped his company to profitability. Mark’s company began by providing consulting services. Then Mark’s company provided IP to its customers along with consulting services. Mark’s company had grown to become a multi-million dollar revenue company. But Mark had become increasingly worried lately. [Do…
Read MoreWhat Do VCs Notice When You Pitch Them?
The CEO was wearing a polo shirt and he sat down in the middle of our big conference room. There were about ten of us from the venture capital fund in the room with him. The CEO didn’t stand up like the other CEOs I’d seen present did. Instead, he stayed rooted like a plant…
Read MoreWhy You Need Fanatical Cofounders
I’m in the middle of reading Phil Knight’s (the founder of Nike) great autobiography “Shoe Dog.” Actually I’m listening to the book on Audible, and I’m transfixed. [Do you want to grow your? business Maybe I can help. Click here.] I just can’t stop reading/listening. In fact, I’m going to go for a run once I’m done…
Read MoreWhat Are The 11 Painful Things You Need To Do As CEO?
I was talking to a Venture Capitalist early on about our company. Out of the blue the VC looked at me and said, “Well you’re the CEO, so you get to deal with investors like me. “And that’s why you get more stock than the others.” Do you want to become a better startup CEO?…
Read MoreHow Often Should You Follow Up With Investors?
“I haven’t heard back from ‘Robbie,’” I told one of our existing investors, Gill. “It’s been a few days, and I’m beginning to worry.” “Stay on him,” Gill said to me. “He (Robbie) tends to get really busy.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Okay, I will.” Robbie was…
Read MoreWhere Do You Learn The Most About Being A CEO?
‘If I knew you weren’t going home for Thanksgiving, I would have asked you to have Thanksgiving with my family,” One of my college roommates, Paul, said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Thanks Paul,” I said. “I need to study. That’s why I didn’t go…
Read MoreWhat’s The One Trait All Successful Entrepreneurs Have?
We were literally down to our last dollar. In fact, truth be told, we didn’t even have a dollar. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Times were so tough that every week I had to get down on my hands and knees and beg our investors for enough…
Read MoreWhen Should You Stop Giving Equity To Your Team?
I was in a board of directors meeting for a company I am advising. The discussion moved to stock options. One of the investors, “Michael” said, “We should set the strike price as high as possible so employees that quit will not exercise their options.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe i can…
Read MoreWhat Are The Early Signs Your Startup Is In Trouble?
“There is no negotiation on this term sheet,” “Raul”, the Venture Capitalist, said to me. I was stunned. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. There’s always negotiation, isn’t there? Everyone negotiates, right? Not this VC. The terms we were given were horrible. I tried everything I could to…
Read MoreWhat Do You Need Besides Talent To Start A Company?
One of the most technically talented people I ever worked with was “Doogie.” Doogie was, and probably still is, a brilliant engineer. He was creative, and he was always coming up with novel ideas for how things should get done. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. And energy?…
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