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How Do You Get Execs To Join Your Startup Without Equity?
“I want missionaries, not mercenaries,” The CEO of a startup I am working with, “Jeff,” said to me the other day. He was frustrated because his VP Sales just asked to increase his base salary, that was at the market rate, by over $100,000 per year. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…
Read MoreShould Co-Founders Have Company Credit Cards?
“I think each of the founders should have a company credit card,” “Randy,” one of my co-founders said during an early staff meeting. “it will ease some of the burden on you.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I could tell from the tone in Randy’s voice that…
Read MoreWhat Are The 3 Best Tips For Negotiating Your Term Sheet?
The first term sheet I ever negotiated took just forty minutes in elapsed time to negotiate. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The longest a term sheet took to negotiate that I’ve been involved with was ten months. And the investor was the same investor in both…
Read MoreBuilding An Early Stage Team With No Funding
You’ve just started your company, and you have no money. You know you need to build a team. However, you don’t see any way that you’re going to be able to build a team without any money or funding. It’s the ultimate catch-22. However, this is a solvable problem. In today’s video, I’m going to…
Read MoreWhat Are You Likely To Get Wrong When You Start Your Business?
I had been building semiconductor businesses for almost twenty years when I started my company. I KNEW the playbook inside out about what to expect. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Yet, I still got not one thing, but a lot of things really wrong when I was…
Read MoreUse Your Competitive Analysis Slide To Get Funded
If you want your startup to get funded, then you’d better nail your competitive analysis slide. Your competitive analysis slide is an opportunity for you, the CEO, to shine. Yet sadly, too many CEOs do exactly the wrong thing and don’t take advantage of a golden opportunity. I don’t want that to happen to you. …
Read MoreWhat’s Different Between Successful & Failed Startups?
“VC Fund A just signed the term sheet,” “Ray” said to me this morning. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “That’s great news! Congratulations. That’s a great achievement on your part,” I said. A month ago, things weren’t looking as good. His two existing investors were doing everything…
Read MoreWhat Interview Questions Should You Ask A Potential CTO?
The easy part about hiring a VP Engineering/CTO is finding a great technologist. Yes, that’s the easy part. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. However, you stand a really good chance of hiring the wrong person if you just look for a technologist. It turns out there are…
Read MoreWhat If Another Startup Is Doing The Same Thing As You?
I’m working with a startup right now that has 50, that’s right 50, direct competitors. 48 of the 50 competitors are startups, and the two other competitors are well known public companies. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. That’s a lot of competition to say the least. The…
Read MoreWhat Is The Brutal Truth You Need To Know About Being A CEO?
It’s 7:35AM and it’s cold in the office. I turn on the lights because I am the first person in the building. I walk into my office, plug in my computer, and I take a sip of my Starbucks. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. They got the…
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