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How To Hire Elite Talent When You’re Broke
“He wants a salary of $200,000, but I can’t afford to pay him that,” “Stefan” said to me. “Then he doesn’t fit your company culture right now,” I said. “That’s okay…” Do you want to grow your business? I can help. Click here. “Why is it okay?” Stefan asked me. “And what does it have…
Read MoreHow To Raise Money In A Tough Environment
Raising money is never easy for an early stage startup.. However, raising money in a tough environment is really hard. However it is doable. I should know. I raised my company’s initial funding of $12 million during the toughest startup fundraising environment of the last 50 years; The Great Recession. And I’ve helped several entrepreneurs…
Read MoreHow 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 MoreWhat 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 MoreShould 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 MoreDo 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 MoreWhat 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 MoreThe 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 MoreWhat’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 MoreHow 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…
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