Leadership and Management
Should Co-Founders Have Company Credit Cards?
“I think each of the founders should have a company credit card,” “Randy,” one of my co-founders said during an early staff meeting. “it will ease some of the burden on you.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I could tell from the tone in Randy’s voice that…
Read MoreWhat Are You Likely To Get Wrong When You Start Your Business?
I had been building semiconductor businesses for almost twenty years when I started my company. I KNEW the playbook inside out about what to expect. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Yet, I still got not one thing, but a lot of things really wrong when I was…
Read MoreWhat Should Be In A Startup Board Meeting Package?
I’ve never understood why investors don’t tell startup CEOs exactly what they want to see their portfolio companies present in a board meeting. Instead, startup CEOs are left to figure it out for themselves which leads to lots of problems including the board losing faith in the CEO. None of these problems are necessary. I’ve…
Read MoreWhy 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 MoreWhat’s The Right Way To Manage Your Startup’s Spending?
A surefire way to scare your investors and board members to death is to spend the cash you have too quickly on crazy things. In fact, understanding your finances and incorrectly communicating your finances is a great way to get fired. Yet, too many startup CEOs don’t know their numbers and then make matters worse…
Read MoreWhat Should Your Startup Vesting Be?
You and your co-founder start your company, and you divide up the equity between you. It sounds simple enough, right. Then you raise money and your new investors demand you have a vesting schedule for your equity. So the question is are your investors right? Do you really need a vesting schedule for your equity?…
Read MoreHow The Blue Ocean Strategy Can Save Your Startup
With almost comic regularity startup CEOs make the wrong strategic mistake again and again. That mistake is they choose the wrong strategy to enter the market, and, most of the time, their startup fails and they never recover. That’s where the Blue Ocean strategy comes in. In today’s video, I’ll explain the tragic mistake too…
Read MoreCan You Build A $40M ARR Startup With Only $80K?
“It’s amazing what we’ve accomplished considering we started with $80,000,” “Jason,” the founding CEO of a company I’m working with, said. “Now, we’re preparing to sell the company for a lot of money.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Most people don’t get to the level you’ve gotten…
Read MoreWhat Are The Five Skills You Need To Be A Great CEO?
We all want to know the secrets to being a great CEO. So wouldn’t it be great if we actually were able to compare two CEOs in the exact same industry to see why one was better than the other? I was really fortunate to work with two CEOs in the same industry, so I…
Read MoreWhat Are Non-Scalable Actions And Why They Are Important?
“Hey, hey!” “Ken”, our VP of Sales, yelled across the office to me. He was excitedly running around the office. We had done a “soft launch” of our first product the day before. Ken was celebrating because today we received our first order. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.…
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