How A CFO Can Help You Run Your Company
“I’m really impressed with your new CFO,” I said to “Kevin”, the CEO of a startup I’m working with. “I love his attitude, and I love what he had to say about joining your company.” “You don’t know the half of it,” Kevin said to me. “He’s (the new CFO) hit the ground running, and…
Handling The Bad Days Is Key To Your Success
“As you know, Brett presented to my partnership at ‘Donald Ventures’,” “Raul” said to myself and the other board members at our board meeting. “And the meeting went horribly. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “None of my partners believes we should continue supporting the company,” Raul said,…
Do You Have The Right Team To Scale Your Startup?
“You’re at $5 million in revenue. Since we’re in the last quarter of the year, this is the perfect time to do some long term planning,” I said to “Kevin”, a CEO I’m working with. “What did you have in mind?” Kevin asked. “I love to go through the exercise every year of what does…
Can You And Your Team Achieve Work-Life Balance?
Years ago, I was invited to a presentation for aspiring startups in the Silicon Valley by a VC firm. My company had just been funded, but I wanted to go to listen to some of the featured speakers. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] During the Q &…
What Should Your Startup’s Sick Policy Be?
“When you’re sick stay home. When you’re healthy come to work.” That was the sick policy I had at my company. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I didn’t ask my employees to fill out any paperwork. I didn’t have a maximum amount of sick days. And, for the…
How Do You Fix Your Revenue Forecast?
Of all the many things I got wrong when I started my company, my original revenue forecast was right at the top of my mistakes. Not only was my forecast off, it was off by a lot. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Instead of the $1 million…
Why You Should Be Generous With Your Team
A few years ago, I was in the first board meeting for a startup that just closed its initial venture funding. The company’s founder, “Ray”, had been working with me since the company’s inception, and he asked me to be on the board. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click…
What Should You Look For In A Mentor?
“I want you to meet with Dave,” Mike, the managing partner of the VC fund I was interviewing at to be an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) said. “He does most of our semiconductor investments, so it’s important for the two of you to meet.” I was finishing up a long day of meeting with the…
How Do You Prepare For Investor Due Diligence?
“We won’t talk to anyone you don’t want us to,” “Raul”, a potential investor in my startup, said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I nodded my head. I had already given Raul a list of names, as he requested, as reference checks. In addition, my…
Why Saying “No” Might Be The Key To Growing Your Business
We were in a meeting with an outside business consultant. I was bored stiff and I just want the meeting to end. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Then, the consultant asked a question to our sales managers. The question was, “Who are your customers?” Ken, one of…