Hiring and Firing
How Do You Buy Out Your Co-Founder?
I had four co-founders. I had to fire one of my co-founders within six months of us being operational. This was six months before we had any revenue. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. The negotiation of “Randy’s” exit was simple. It took less than one hour to complete.…
Read MoreHow Do You Recruit Your Startup Team?
Years ago, I was in a meeting with Jack Gifford, the founding CEO of Maxim Integrated Products. Maxim’s revenue was around $1 billion per year at the time. Also in the meeting was “Peter”, one of the best engineering managers in the company. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click…
Read MoreHow Do You Fire Your Co-Founder?
I was on edge. I couldn’t sleep. I hated going to the office. That’s how I felt before I took the necessary step of firing my co-founder. Unfortunately, over 50% of co-founder conflicts can not be resolved. I’ve built several businesses to greater than $100 million/year in revenue. And, I’ve helped many startup CEOs successfully…
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 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 Keep Your Best Employees From Quitting?
I worked at two companies in the same industry that had very different views on how to treat their employees. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. The average time employees spent at the first company, Maxim Integrated Products, was over ten years. The average time employees spent at the second…
Read More