You’re right to worry about the effect of hiring an employee of a failed startup into your company. Maybe the potential employee will bring all the bad habits of the failed startup to your company. And who needs that? However, you’re missing a real opportunity if you don’t hire people from failed startups. I’ll give…
“I know that guy,” I whispered to Dave, the partner that was looking at the deal. It was the first meeting our venture fund was going to have with, what we thought, was a very promising company. “Who is he?” Dave whispered back. “I replaced him as VP Marketing at the company I was at.…
I always recommend that you give yourself six months minimum, preferably one year, to raise money. However, sometimes you’re not so lucky. For example deals can fall through at the last minute, or maybe you had no choice but to wait. Whatever the situation, I’ll tell you what to do in this short video if…
Years ago, I had someone who worked for me that was really bright, really intuitive. I thought he had a lot of potential, but the problem was he didn’t have a technical degree. So, I gave Matt the least technically challenging product line in the company to run. Matt did a great job. The businesses…
You usually have a lot of self doubt when you’re a startup CEO. I certainly did. So wouldn’t it be nice to know if you have what it takes to be a successful startup CEO? I’ll give you my take on what I look for in the people I work with in this short video.…
“I’m thinking I’m going to let “Randy” go,” I told “Raul” who was one of our two investors. Raul nodded, and then he asked me why I was thinking of letting Randy go. “Randy’s having problems working with the rest of the team. I’m going to try and see if I can help…” [Do you…
“What are you doing?” Tina, our controller, asked me. I was in the front lobby of our office, and I had a scissors in my hands. “I’m cutting the ends of the plants, so they look nice. I want everything to look perfect when the investors get here tomorrow.” Cutting the plants so there were…
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when you’re raising money is expecting your investors to do too much. In fact, expecting too much can cost you investors if you’re not careful. So what should you really expect from your investors? I’ll give you my take in this short video. Do You Want…
“That sounds like double-dipping,” I said to “Al”, the CEO of a company I am working with. Al was describing to me his cofounder’s idea of getting paid a commission for using his network to refer customers to Al’s company. I asked, “Isn’t that what we’re paying him for?” “Yes it is,” Al said. “I…
You may have dreams of instant success, fame, and celebrity when you think about your expectations as an entrepreneur. The reality is much different. I’ll explain exactly what you should expect if you are a successful entrepreneur in this short video. Do You Want To Grow Your Business? Maybe I Can Help. Click Here.