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What Are Some Signs You Should Give Up On Your Startup?
I drove home from Sand Hill Road. We had just been turned down. Again. This was the 63rd VC that decided not to invest in our company. And this rejection was particularly vicious. We had gone through weeks of diligence, and the last thing we needed to do was present to the full partnership. Then,…
Read MoreWhat’s The Hardest Thing About Starting A Business After You’re 40?
I was in my 40’s when I started my company, so I am somewhat of an expert on this topic. I can tell you what weren’t the hardest things for me: A. It wasn’t experience. When you’re in your 40’s you have plenty of experience. And you’re in great shape if you’ve been in the…
Read MoreWhat Shouldn’t Be In Your Investor Pitch?
You’ve worked really hard creating a really solid investor pitch about your company. You’ve rehearsed your investor pitch, and you feel ready to go. Then you start pitching investors, but something isn’t right. The investor pitch is still not working. Investors are not biting. And the problem is you don’t get a second chance when…
Read MoreHow Long Should Your Startup Pitch Take?
Imagine you’ve been invited to present your company to the full partnership of a VC firm. You bring the executive team with you because you felt it was the right thing to do. You start out your pitch to the partnership. You barely get going before one of the partners interrupts you and says, “Before…
Read MoreWhat Should You Do In Your Startup That Won’t Scale?
One of the biggest debates we had early on was whether to buy an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to scale our manufacturing. I’ll never forget it because it set off a chain of events that changed our company forever. Here’s the story… Two of my cofounders, “Ken” and “Randy”, came into my office about…
Read MoreWhat Is The Best Advice When You Are Partnering With A Larger Company?
I’ve been on both sides of this equation. We did several deals with companies bigger than us including: Companies that were distribution partners, and.. Companies that were manufacturing partners, and… Companies that were possible acquirers. There is one consistent thing about doing deals with large companies: Partnerships with large companies take time. Sometimes deals can…
Read MoreWhat Can You Add To A Term Sheet To Keep From Being Fired?
You’re looking for protection to keep your investors from replacing you. A term sheet is not going to do it. The cold, hard reality is you lose control of your company the second you take funding from outside investors. This doesn’t mean that your investors are going to replace you. Why would they if you’re…
Read MoreWhat Is The Biggest Challenge You Face As CEO Besides Funding?
Let’s say you don’t have funding worries because funding is the biggest challenge startups face. What is the second biggest challenge startups face? I’ll tell you what isn’t the second biggest challenge startups face. It isn’t: A. No market need. And it isn’t… B. Competition. And it isn’t… C. Pricing issues. And it isn’t… D.…
Read MoreWhy Should You Use A Right Hand Person To Fire People?
Any executive that uses a “right hand man” to fire a direct report should themselves be fired. Firing someone is supposed to be a painful experience. You are changing someone’s life, and you should feel horrible. I couldn’t sleep the night before the first time I fired someone. I had just become VP Sales, and…
Read MoreWhat Can You Learn From Marissa Mayer’s Struggles At Yahoo?
I think the lessons are more for first-time public company CEOs that worked at one company for a long stretch of their career prior to becoming CEO. Marissa Mayer spent her whole career at Google prior to accepting the Yahoo CEO position. Google, by anyone’s standards, is a fantastic company with unbelievably strong people. I…
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