Leadership and Management
How Staying Calm Can Save Your Startup
Imagine being told that your investors want to shut down your startup tomorrow. That was the exact situation I found myself in. When my investors told me I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t go to pieces. In fact I was calm as could be. And, because I was calm, in that same meeting, I was able…
Read MoreShould You Grow As Fast As Your Investors Want?
“Don’t worry, Brett. We’ll support you,” “Raul”, one of our investors, said to me in our board of directors meeting. Raul wanted us to go faster than I had originally planned for. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. And Raul meant what he said. He was, in that…
Read MoreDoes Your Startup Really Need A Board Of Directors?
One of the questions I get asked the most by early stage startup CEOs is, “I think I need a board of directors. What do you think?” In today’s video, I’ll answer all the questions you’re likely to have about startup boards including: What is an advisory board? What’s the difference between a board of…
Read MoreWhy You Should Obsolete Yourself To Succeed?
I’ve had a pretty simple goal ever since I first started managing teams years ago. My friends used to tell me I was crazy to have this thought process. Maybe my friends were right because it is a risky strategy. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Yet, I…
Read MoreHow Do You Keep Your Development Team On Schedule?
“My project is going to be delayed by one month,” Richard said to Jeroen, my co-founder and VP Engineering, in our weekly engineering review meeting. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Jeroen went through the usual list of technical questions to understand what was causing the delay, and…
Read MoreHow Can You Tell If Someone Will Be A Great CEO?
I’ve worked with over 100 early stage startup CEOs over the last five years. Some of these early stage startup CEOs have built companies worth well over $1 billion. And some of these early stage startup CEOs, that had what looked to be promising startups, flamed out. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe…
Read MoreThe Single Biggest Reason Early Stage Startups Succeed
I am really excited to share with you the reasons why early stage startups succeed. Over the past five years, I’ve worked directly with over one hundred early stage startups CEOs. There are lots of challenges you face as an early stage startup CEO. It’s become clear to me, based on my experience, why early…
Read MoreWhat You Should Worry About As A Startup CEO?
“How much cash do we have left?” I asked Tina, our very able controller. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “We have $197,000 and change left, Brett. That’s enough to run the company for another three months,” Tina replied. “Okay, assuming we close (our funding) on schedule, then…
Read MoreWhy Investors Can’t Fix Your Startup
“We help the daring build legendary companies!” One legendary Silicon Valley venture capital fund exclaims on their home page. “We are in the company building business.” exclaimed another well-known VC fund. I’m here to tell you that all these marketing claims from VCs are just that, marketing claims. VCs can’t help you build your startup.…
Read MoreHow Do You Have Meetings That Matter?
We’ve all been there before. Nobody likes going to meetings and wasting their time. It’s like this: You go to the meeting. There’s small talk, people are joking around, and people are wasting your precious time. This happens when you have a lot of people in the room together. Do you want to grow your…
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