Hiring and Firing

The Ten Things Startup CEOs Need For Success

I’ve built several businesses from zero to over $100 million, and I’ve worked with a lot of CEOs to help them grow their businesses too.  Over and over again, the successful CEOs I’ve worked with have been able to master the same set of ten core skills. That’s what today’s video is all about.  I’ll…

Read More

Building An Early Stage Team With No Funding

You’ve just started your company, and you have no money. You know you need to build a team. However, you don’t see any way that you’re going to be able to build a team without any money or funding. It’s the ultimate catch-22. However, this is a solvable problem. In today’s video, I’m going to…

Read More

What Interview Questions Should You Ask A Potential CTO?

The easy part about hiring a VP Engineering/CTO is finding a great technologist.  Yes, that’s the easy part. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. However, you stand a really good chance of hiring the wrong person if you just look for a technologist.  It turns out there are…

Read More

Why You Shouldn’t Have Too Many C-Level Executives

I was in the lobby of “Donald Ventures” office on Sand Hill Road after I completed my 1:1 with “Raul,” the partner leading DV’s investment in our company. One of the associates at the fund walked by me, and said hello. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I…

Read More

How Should You Keep Employees From Quitting

I was recently asked the question, “What should I do to keep an employee that has quit from leaving.” I was happy to answer the question because I have a perfect batting average as CEO of keeping employees from quitting. That’s right. 0.00%. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click…

Read More

Why You Should Interview Your First 50 Employees

There’s an old truism about that you, the CEO, should be spending at least fifty percent of your time recruiting. The reason recruiting is so important is your startup can’t grow unless you have great talent around you. That’s why I interviewed everyone we hired when we were just starting out.  It didn’t matter whether…

Read More

How To Keep From Hiring Superstars That Kill Your Company

I was just having coffee with a friend of mine. I’ve known Bill for years and I’ve never seen him this upset. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “You wouldn’t believe what my boss just did!” Bill said to me. “What did your boss do?” I asked. “They…

Read More

What Books Do You Recommend For CEOs?

Since I’m biased, and you asked, you could start by reading my book, “Learn How to Take a Punch: Building Your Startup Isn’t a Marathon, It’s a Prizefight.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. While every startup’s journey is unique, I noticed similar patterns in the startups I’ve been…

Read More