Founders and Fundraising
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 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 Nine Facts Of Fundraising You Need To Know
“Hey Brett, I’m going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks. I’ll pick up the diligence when I get back,” Tucker said to me. Tucker was a potential new investor in our company. I could tell he was serious about investing in our company based on the work he was doing. Download…
Read MoreWhat Are The 11 Steps You Can Take When A Cofounder Quits?
I started my company with two co-founders: “Jim” and “John”. I was the CEO, Jim was the marketing guy, and John was the engineering guy. My two co-founders and I had worked together previously. We understood the plan and direction we were going in. We started pitching VCs after working on the plan for about…
Read MoreWhat 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 MoreWhat Do You Do When A VP Quits During Fundraising?
“You can’t tell the new investors that ‘Tommy’ quit!” “Raul”, one of my investors, said to me when I told him our new VP Sales, had resigned that morning. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Your job now is to get him (Tommy) to change his mind,” Raul…
Read MoreWhen Should You Start Planning Your Exit Strategy?
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when I meet an early stage startup CEO who’s focused on selling their company. Inevitably, I’ll ask the CEO, “Why are you focused on a sale now?” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Inevitably, the answer, more times than not, comes…
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