How Do You Determine Your Co-Founder’s Salary?

“I think our salaries should be different,” “Jim”, my co-founder, said to me and “John”, my other co-founder, “You should be paid the most, but, I think we should all have the amount of equity.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. That was not the response from Jim…

Read More

What Do You Tell Investors When A Co-Founder Quits?

“What’s your plan?” That’s what “Raul”, one of our two large investors, asked me after I let him know that I was going to fire “Randy”, one of my co-founders. Yes, he also asked my why I was firing Randy. I’ll get back to that later. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…

Read More

Should You Ask An Advisor To Invest?

“I would like you to invest $50,000 in my startup,” “Peter” said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Peter and I had been introduced a few weeks earlier, and I’d met with him a couple of times. I really liked what Peter was doing, and I…

Read More

Do You Need A CTO To Get Funding?

“I like you, Brett. And I really like what you’re (company is) doing,” Jack, the Venture Capitalist, said to me. “However, I think I’ll wait until you have a VP Engineering before I invest.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. In my pitch I had been upfront with…

Read More

What Are The Signs You’ve Chosen A Bad Co-Founder?

If there’s one thing I am an expert in, it’s bad co-founders. After all, the first two teams of co-founders I tried to start my company with didn’t work out. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. There were “Jim” and “John”, my first two co-founders. We worked together…

Read More

The Three Largest Mistakes You’ll Make

“I run out of money in April,” “Steve” said to me. “I think we’re going to add three new customers this month and I can get to ten new customers with my contacts…” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “So you’ve got four months of runway left,” I…

Read More

What’s The Best Way To Manage Your Cash?

“We have to ask ourselves the question, Are we going to be a company that spends freely, or are we going to be a company that manages its money well?” I said to the executive staff in our weekly staff meeting. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. We…

Read More

How Visible To Your Team Should You Be?

One of the smartest things I ever did as CEO was practice, “Management by walking around.” The idea is really simple. You, the CEO, walk around your office, facility, or manufacturing site and talk to anyone you come in contact with. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I…

Read More

What You Shouldn’t Say During A Pitch Meeting?

“You need to sign an NDA,” my co-founder “John”, said to David, the investor we were presenting to. It was our second meeting with David, and John’s comment took me totally by surprise, but David’s response didn’t take me by surprise. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. David…

Read More

9 Hard Lessons You Need To Learn For Startup Success

“It’s the suckiest thing about being a startup CEO,” I said to “Bill”. I could see the sadness written all over his face. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “I can totally relate because I went through the same thing,” I said. “The people you start (your company)…

Read More