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How Ambitious Do You Need To Be To Attract Investors?
“Give us $11 million, and we’ll build you a billion dollar company,” I said to every investor we met when I was raising our initial funding. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. At the time we were raising our initial funding, the Venture Capital community in the Silicon…
Read MoreHow Not To Create A Pitch Deck
There are some things that you just shouldn’t do when you’re developing a pitch deck for investors. And, there’s one thing in particular that you shouldn’t do that can kill your chances of raising money. Making matters worse, this one thing sounds like a great idea. In fact, you’ll be tempted to pay a…
Read MoreShould You Focus On Product Quantity Or Quality?
“That sounds like death by one thousand cuts,” Rob, the VC I was pitching to said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I had just told Rob that the average customer would buy $10,000 per year of our products and that the average product would sell…
Read MoreHow Do You Convince Great Talent To Join Your Startup?
There are some things you never forget, no matter how long you live. And the meeting “Peter” and I had years ago with Jack Gifford, the founding CEO of Maxim Integrated Products, was one of them. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Peter had just been named Managing…
Read MoreHow Smart Do You Need To Be A Great CEO?
There was a fellow that I worked with years ago and his name is Harry, or at least we’re going to call him Harry for the sake of the story. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Harry was a genius. No question about it. He had a PhD…
Read MoreHow Staying Calm Can Save Your Startup
Imagine being told that your investors want to shut down your startup tomorrow. That was the exact situation I found myself in. When my investors told me I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t go to pieces. In fact I was calm as could be. And, because I was calm, in that same meeting, I was able…
Read MoreWhy Great People Quit Startups
In the over 20 years I’ve been involved in startups, I’ve never seen the competition for top talent as tough as it is now. It doesn’t matter where your startup team is located, your best employees are being poached. And, if you don’t take preemptive action now, your best employees will leave. I’ve worked with…
Read MoreShould You Grow As Fast As Your Investors Want?
“Don’t worry, Brett. We’ll support you,” “Raul”, one of our investors, said to me in our board of directors meeting. Raul wanted us to go faster than I had originally planned for. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. And Raul meant what he said. He was, in that…
Read MoreHow Do You Get Multiple VCs Or Angels To Invest?
“I want to invest, but I’d like someone else to set the terms,” Bill, a VC interested in investing in our company, said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. That’s great,” I said, standing up. Bill and I shook hands. “I’ll keep you posted on our…
Read MoreDoes Your Startup Really Need A Board Of Directors?
One of the questions I get asked the most by early stage startup CEOs is, “I think I need a board of directors. What do you think?” In today’s video, I’ll answer all the questions you’re likely to have about startup boards including: What is an advisory board? What’s the difference between a board of…
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