Hiring and Firing
What’s The Right Way To Determine Your Team’s Salary?
I’ll never forget one of my investors, “Raul”, asking me how much I was going to pay myself after we closed our $12 million round of funding. I told Raul I was going to pay myself $200,000, well below the market rate of $250,000 at the time. This was significantly more than the zero salary…
Read MoreIs There A Right Way For You To Fire Someone?
There’s a great story in Ben Horowitz’s book, “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”, that I can really relate to. In the book, Horowitz’s company, Opsware, was going to IPO. At the same time, they were going to perform a layoff. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Horowitz…
Read MoreThe Five Traits To Look For In A Problem Employee
“They even got me an apartment to stay in when I went to Shanghai,” “Tommy”, my new VP Sales said to me. It was offhand comment Tommy made about his time consulting with another startup that was based in China. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] But, the…
Read MoreDo You Have The Right Team To Scale Your Startup?
“You’re at $5 million in revenue. Since we’re in the last quarter of the year, this is the perfect time to do some long term planning,” I said to “Kevin”, a CEO I’m working with. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “What did you have in mind?” Kevin…
Read MoreHow Do You Decide Your Team’s Salary & Stock
“He needs to understand that asking for more equity is like pulling on a string,” I said to Adolfo, my co-founder and VP Marketing. We were reviewing what offer package we should give a potential employee, and Adolfo was indicating the applicant wanted more equity. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can…
Read More7 Hiring Tips For Your Startup
“If you can’t recruit, then you can’t be a manager.” Jack Gifford, the founding CEO of Maxim Integrated Products, said that to his management team over and over again as he built Maxim into one of the most successful companies in its space. The key, as I look back on my experience working at Maxim,…
Read MoreDo You Ever Regret Firing An Employee?
“What took you so long?” Every single time I’ve fired someone as CEO, someone on my team has asked me that question. Every. Single. Time. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] And, there’s a good reason I was asked that question. You see.. You, the CEO, almost always…
Read MoreWhen Should You Fire Your VP Sales?
You just hired your new VP Sales six months ago, and now you’re beginning to wonder if you made a mistake. Your previous VP Sales only lasted three months, and now you’re worried that your board is going to lose confidence in you too. What should you do? In today’s video, we go through this…
Read MoreWhat Do You Do When Your Co-Founder Stops Working?
Imagine this scenario. Your co-founder of five years, who owns the same 40% of the company you do, decides he is unhappy with his role, and he stops working, daring you to fire him. Firing him is the easy decision. The tougher decisions are should you buy him out and what should you do with…
Read MoreHow Do You Scale Your Startup?
“Tell me about the other executives?” I asked “Jason,” the CEO of a life sciences startup. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “There aren’t any other executives. It’s just me. That’s why I wanted your help,” he said. “I’ve never scaled a business before.” That was almost four…
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