“Why are you worried about selling your company?” I asked Fred. “You’re just getting started, and you’re worried about selling (your company)? That doesn’t feel good to me.” I had just met Fred, and I was trying to decide whether I was going to work with him. And, an entrepreneur who volunteers they are focused…
“I told “Ray” not to screw it up,” I said to my friend, “Aric”, at dinner. My family and I were in town, visiting colleges for Avery, so we took the opportunity to have dinner with Aric. Aric laughed. Four years earlier, Aric introduced me to Ray because he felt I could help Ray build…
Of all the things that will influence the success of your startup, your company culture is at the top of the list. And, a successful company culture starts at the top with you, the CEO. In this video, I’ll describe the steps you can take to improve your startup company culture. Yes, it start with…
“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” I screamed to myself as I walked to my car. I had just gotten the snot beaten out of me by the partners at one of my investors, “Donald Ventures.” I had been asked to present and update to the partnership by “Raul,” the partner leading…
“I have an optional one for everyone,” I said to the team at our latest all hands meeting, “There have been some requests for an employee culture manual. “And, I don’t know about you, but I hate employee manuals. No one ever uses them. It seems like a tool that HR cooks up because you’re…
If you want to be a great startup CEO, then you’re going to have to learn how to be a great leader. So, what are the keys to being a great leader? In this video, I go deep, as I walk you through the four keys to being a great leader. There’s lots of detail…
I fell into a trap early in my career. I was wildly successful, well respected, promoted every year, and I was getting more and more responsibility. You’re wondering, “What is the problem? That’s what everyone wants, right?” Yes, you want to be successful, but you don’t want to be a jerk. I was a jerk.…
“Now you’ve done it,” “Bob”, the CEO, said to me. Then Bob got up, straightened his tie and started walking out the door. Before he left, he said, “I don’t ever want to have another meeting like this again.” I had been at Bob’s company for about 90 days as the new general manager of…
In order for your startup to scale, you’re going to need improve your startup management skills. That’s what I’ll address in today’s video. We cover a lot of ground in this video including having the right environment to be an effective manager, the unintended effects of your decisions, demotions, and how to effectively manage your…
It was the summer of 2009, and we were closing in on our Series A funding. I wanted to update my fellow co-founders on our progress, so I scheduled a meeting at the local Starbucks. Three of my four fellow co-founders were on time for our 11AM meeting. We were waiting on our Chief Technology…