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When Do You Know It’s Time To Fire Your Co-Founder?
I was driving back from lunch with “Ken”, my co-founder and VP Sales. We had just had our third heart to heart about Ken’s poor performance. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Ken and I had known each other for over twenty years. We were friends. Our wives were…
Read MoreHow Do You Keep Your Startup From Being Undercapitalized?
“How long is the new funding going to last you?” I asked “Sam.” Sam said, “About one year.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “That’s not long enough,” I replied. You really want your funding to last eighteen months. Ideally, you’d like your funding to last two years. “Why…
Read MoreHow Do You Buy Out Your Co-Founder?
I had four co-founders. I had to fire one of my co-founders within six months of us being operational. This was six months before we had any revenue. Is your business stuck? Maybe I can help. Watch this video if you’re past $1 million in revenue. The negotiation of “Randy’s” exit was simple. It took…
Read MoreHow Do You Turnaround And Rebuild Your Company?
“Bring us up to your level,” Ray, the CEO of Micrel, said to me in his office. Ray was pitching me on becoming general manager of one of the company’s three business units. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I smiled, we shook hands, and I left his…
Read MoreHow Do You Tell Investors Why You Will Beat Your Competitors?
“They brought up companies we didn’t even know existed,” Mike, the managing partner of the venture capital firm where I was an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), said in our debrief after a startup pitched us. Everyone was impressed with the CEO, the company, and we decided to continue forward with the investment. Do you want…
Read MoreHow Can You Stand Out To Potential Investors?
“Did you notice the depth of his answer?” My friend and mentor Dave said to me. “The good CEOs stand out, don’t they.” Do you want to grow your business from >$1M ARR to >$10M ARR or >$100M ARR? Watch this video to see how ready you are. I’d been an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR)…
Read MoreWhy Trying To Limit Your Investors Ownership Doesn’t Matter
One of the greatest lines in movie history was said in the classic, All The President’s Men. The line is, “Follow the money.” Do you want to scale your business? Watch this video to how ready you are. The idea was that if you traced the trail of money, you would find out who was behind the…
Read MoreHow Do You Gain Leverage When You’re Raising Money?
“Congratulations,” I said to “Ray,” I CEO I have been working with. “Getting funding in three weeks is quite an accomplishment.” “Thank you,” Ray responded. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Especially, after what you’d been through in your first two rounds of funding, you deserve a little…
Read MoreWhat Are The Keys To Successful Minimum Viable Products?
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). There’s a belief that it’s the right way to go if you develop an MVP because people are naturally going to buy your product. I want to debunk this idea right now. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help.…
Read MoreHow Do You Position Your Product Versus The Competition?
I’ve been watching a lot of Steve Jobs product launches for a project I’m working on. Jobs communication skills are beyond good. They are also utterly simple to copy. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] In every single product launch, Jobs follows a predictable script. It’s the same…
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