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What Are The 11 Biggest Myths About Being A CEO?
Blossom, Avery, and I were at dinner at Nobu in Palo Alto. I looked over at the table next to us and who’s there but Marc Andreessen and his wife. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] No one was paying attention to them, and no one asked Marc for…
Read MoreWhy You Need Fanatical Cofounders
I’m in the middle of reading Phil Knight’s (the founder of Nike) great autobiography “Shoe Dog.” Actually I’m listening to the book on Audible, and I’m transfixed. [Do you want to grow your? business Maybe I can help. Click here.] I just can’t stop reading/listening. In fact, I’m going to go for a run once I’m done…
Read More7 Tips For Pitching Your Company To Anyone
I’ll never forget how nervous I was before my presenting to a VC for the first time. I was an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) at a VC fund based in San Francisco, and we were going to give a dry-run presentation to Dave and Alain, the two VC partners I was working with. [Do you…
Read MoreFive Reasons Why You Should Avoid Raising Venture Capital
Many entrepreneurs don’t understand the cruel reality of fundraising. Just because you want to raise venture capital doesn’t mean you will raise venture capital. Consider this ratio: 100:1. That’s one investment for every one hundred face to face meetings a typical VC will take. Raising money is unbelievably hard. [Do you want to grow your…
Read MoreWhat Do VCs Notice When You Pitch Them?
The CEO was wearing a polo shirt and he sat down in the middle of our big conference room. There were about ten of us from the venture capital fund in the room with him. The CEO didn’t stand up like the other CEOs I’d seen present did. Instead, he stayed rooted like a plant…
Read MoreHow To Negotiate Like Your Life Depends On it
It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in October. I had done my research. I had waited patiently for a day like this for a couple of weeks. If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero to Pitch Gold now and get expert feedback on your pitch this week. “Thank you,” I said to myself.…
Read More7 Survival Tips For Startup CEOs
“Hey Brett. Congrats on getting your company funded. I’ve heard the horror stories, and I was just wondering how many hours you’re working?” Kent asked me in an email. The horror stories of founders working 100 hours week on end are commonplace. The reality, or at least my reality, was different. If you’re serious about…
Read MoreWhat’s The One Type Of Investor You Absolutely Must Avoid?
Like every industry, Venture Capitalists can be broken into three groups: A. The really great VCs. This is about 20% of the population of VCs. B. The good to mediocre VCs. This is the majority of the population of VCs; about 60% in my experience. C. The really, really bad VCs. This is about 20%…
Read MoreWhat Are The 11 Painful Things You Need To Do As CEO?
I was talking to a Venture Capitalist early on about our company. Out of the blue the VC looked at me and said, “Well you’re the CEO, so you get to deal with investors like me. “And that’s why you get more stock than the others.” If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero…
Read MoreWhat Are The Five Fatal Mistakes That Will Kill Your Business?
Did you know that it took me three founding teams before I was able to get the right team to start my company? It’s true. If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero to Pitch Gold now and get expert feedback on your pitch this week. Team number one failed because my two co-founders…
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