There was a fellow that I worked with years ago and his name is Harry, or at least we’re going to call him Harry for the sake of the story. Harry was a genius. No question about it. He had a PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MBA. Harry had over twenty patents and counting.…
Imagine being told that your investors want to shut down your startup tomorrow. That was the exact situation I found myself in. When my investors told me I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t go to pieces. In fact I was calm as could be. And, because I was calm, in that same meeting, I was able…
In the over 20 years I’ve been involved in startups, I’ve never seen the competition for top talent as tough as it is now. It doesn’t matter where your startup team is located, your best employees are being poached. And, if you don’t take preemptive action now, your best employees will leave. I’ve worked with…
“Don’t worry, Brett. We’ll support you,” “Raul”, one of our investors, said to me in our board of directors meeting. Raul wanted us to go faster than I had originally planned for. And Raul meant what he said. He was, in that moment, at that time, telling me that he would continue funding us when…
“I want to invest, but I’d like someone else to set the terms,” Bill, a VC interested in investing in our company, said to me. That’s great,” I said, standing up. Bill and I shook hands. “I’ll keep you posted on our progress.” We had just starting raising our Series A funding, and I was…
One of the questions I get asked the most by early stage startup CEOs is, “I think I need a board of directors. What do you think?” In today’s video, I’ll answer all the questions you’re likely to have about startup boards including: What is an advisory board? What’s the difference between a board of…
I’ve had a pretty simple goal ever since I first started managing teams years ago. My friends used to tell me I was crazy to have this thought process. Maybe my friends were right because it is a risky strategy. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Yet, I…
The NASDAQ is down over 30% from its high. Interest rates are rising. It’s only inevitable that the economic environment is going to affect your early stage startup. How? Well, customers may not want to take a chance on buying from you because they’re worried you’re going to go out of business. Raising that next…
One of the greatest lessons I ever got in business was from my mom. She began her career as a successful writer. Then, when my brother and I entered middle school, my mom pivoted and began selling homes in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. My mom started by selling condominiums. Then she…
“My project is going to be delayed by one month,” Richard said to Jeroen, my co-founder and VP Engineering, in our weekly engineering review meeting. Jeroen went through the usual list of technical questions to understand what was causing the delay, and how likely it was that the project was only going to be delayed…