About three years ago I sat through a bunch of pitches with a VC fund I was helping. It was amazing watching every one of the companies presenting make the same mistakes. Here they are: A. You have to get to the point fast. You’ve got seven seconds to make an impression. Seven…
Why Do So Many Entrepreneurs Think Their Ideas Are Worth Billions? By Brett Fox When I started my company, I believed we were going to win. There was no doubt in my mind. When 63 VCs passed on us, and there was only one VC left as a possible investor, I believed we were going…
Can You Legally Remove Equity From A Cofounder You Want To Fire? By Brett Fox Oh it pains me to see the same mistakes made over and over again. Your cofounders have a certain percentage ownership in your company. And they have this percentage without the equity having to vest. You can’t just take the…
How Do Entrepreneurs Like Elon Musk Eliminate Distractions? By Brett Fox When I was younger, I would walk into my office with my coffee and plug in my computer. I would take a quick look at my email, and maybe surf the net for a bit. I have some long term goals that I need…
It’s Tuesday morning at 9:18AM. My heart rate suddenly raced to what felt like 200 beats per minute. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We had just agreed to terms with a new lead investor. We were in the process of closing the funding. And now “Raul”, one of our two existing investors, just…
Is It True That Technical Founders Are More Important Than Non-Technical Founders? By Brett Fox “It’s really hard to find the skill you have in product definition and marketing,” my cofounder, Vice President of Engineering said to me one day. “I think it’s next to impossible to find engineers that have the technical chops and…
Should I Change The Direction Of My Company? By Brett Fox Years ago I was working at a company. The company was doing incredibly well. We were growing at pretty nice clip and the stock price was going up. We were the dominant player in several different end markets. But there was a new market…
Can you believe the best work environment I was ever a part of I used to call “The Pit”? It’s true. And, not surprisingly, the company that had that work environment was the most successful company I ever worked at. The most successful company I every worked at was Maxim Integrated Products. Maxim was a…
Are There Consequences To Firing Someone On The Spot? By Brett Fox There are always consequences when fire someone. Even in California, where employment is “at will.” Years ago, I was running a division of a company. Every Friday the company had an operations meeting that included senior management. The meeting always started at 1PM…
Should A Startup Fire An Underperforming Intern? By Brett Fox Let’s be honest. The amount of money you are going to save over the next month by firing him isn’t the issue. The real issue is a lot more important. Remember, everything you do as CEO is analyzed (and overanalyzed) by your employees: Why did…