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. Instead of the $1 million first year revenue I had forecasted, we did about $100,000. My board of…
There’s a big mistake that almost every startup CEO makes. Sadly, too many of the CEOs I’ve worked with have made this same mistake. I want to help you avoid this mistake. The scary thing about this mistake is that making this mistake has the potential to kill your company. I’ll share with you two…
“You’re going to be working nights. You’re going to be working weekends to get this done,” Maxim’s CEO, Jack Gifford, said to the heads of the various business units of the company. Gifford had come up with a cleaver marketing idea, and he wanted it implemented in a month instead of the three months it…
The first startup I ever invested in had great technology. In fact, it was clear to me the technology was great, but I wasn’t sure how good the CEO was. I decided to invest anyways, and the company failed about two years later. All I had left to show for my investment was a tax…
Investors love asking startup CEOs what the barriers to entry are in your business. It’s a trick question because investors know very well what the barriers to entry are in your business. So, why do investors ask this question if they already know the answer to it? I’ll explain that to you in this video.…
“Whatever you do, never, ever lie,” I said to the large group of startup CEOs I was talking to. Then, I continued and said, “It’s much better to say, ‘I don’t know the answer. I’ll get back to you,’ then to lie.” I was explaining to the group how to raise money for their startups.…
“I have an early investor that wants to liquidate their investment,” “Steve” said to me. “That’s interesting,” I said. “Tell me more.” “They were an incubator we hooked up with. They just contacted me a couple of days ago. I don’t think they really care about the valuation. They just want to sell their share.”…
Growing your startup means you have to grow your team. But that’s just the start of scaling your startup. There’s a second important step that you have to master to effectively scale. If you don’t implement your startup, your startup will not scale. That’s what today’s video is all about. I hope you like it.…
The doorbell rang. It was my co-founder, “Jim.” He was a few minutes early for our planning meeting with my other co-founder, “John.” I opened up the door to my house, and I smiled and said, “Hi Jim.” Jim looked like he had smoke coming out of his head. “I’m pissed!” He screamed a me.…
“If I can just find a great CTO or VP Engineering to be my co-founder I know my startup is going to work,” I said to myself before I started building my company. In fact, I knew even before Jeroen, who would become my co-founder and VP Engineering, joined the company that my startup was…