“It’s even worse than I thought it would be,” I told Steve. “Everything is completely broken. Revenue is cratering. Product quality is horrible. The strategy sucks. And I think the team needs be completely replaced…. “Besides that, everything’s great,” I laughed. I had taken over one of three divisions the company had three months prior.…
One of the investors in my company described equity as “fuel” for growth and debt as a “retardant” to growth. I don’t think I agree with him. I think the right answer is more about what’s right for you and your company. There is a better way to look at what’s right for you. I’ll…
“What am I likely to hear about you from the people I talk to about you?” That’s was the standard question I asked potential candidates BEFORE I would do front door and backdoor reference checks. Then I would listen to hear what came back from the candidate. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…
The short answer is yes. Yes, you should be worried about the economy tanking. We’ve seen the stocks lose significant value over the past couple of days. Now, stock prices and the economy is not the same thing. The economy can keep growing when stock prices reduce. I don’t have crystal ball, and I don’t…
I have a perfect record when it comes to saving underperforming employees. That’s right, I am 100% successful in not turning an employees performance around. Except for this one time… The company I was working for had just acquired another company, and I was given the responsibility of running this new division. I was fortunate…
“Sex sells,” I told Gill when we pitched him for the first time, “except in the Analog IC business.” Gill nodded his head in agreement. And four meetings later he gave us a term sheet for $11M. If only the rest of the investing community was as easy to convince as Gill… [Do you want…
How Much Should You Share With Your Significant Other About The Craziness Of Being CEO? By Brett Fox Being an entrepreneur can suck. Being the significant other of an entrepreneur can really suck. As an entrepreneur, you are living the roller coaster every day. The swings from euphoria to sadness are there every day. Every…
You know, there’s the old saying that “A players hire other A players, and B players hire C players.” And if only it was that easy because most people think they are A players. The reality is that you should be looking at various data points to determine who is an A player. Here are…
I’ve worked with really good leaders, and I’ve worked with really bad leaders. Good leaders and bad leaders can get people to follow them because of the proximity to power. What’s the point. The better question is what traits must great leaders possess? And there are many traits you need if you want to…
What Should Your Sick Policy Be? By Brett Fox I had a pretty simple policy regarding being sick: If you’re healthy you should come to work. If you’re sick, you should stay home. And I followed my sick policy as CEO as best I could. There were days when, no matter how badly I felt,…