Leadership and Management
Do 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 MoreWhat Should Your Startup’s Sick Policy Be?
“When you’re sick stay home. When you’re healthy come to work.” That was the sick policy I had at my company. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I didn’t ask my employees to fill out any paperwork. I didn’t have a maximum amount of sick days. And, for the…
Read MoreHow Do You Fix Your Revenue Forecast?
Of all the many things I got wrong when I started my company, my original revenue forecast was right at the top of my mistakes. Not only was my forecast off, it was off by a lot. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Instead of the $1 million…
Read MoreWhy You Should Be Generous With Your Team
A few years ago, I was in the first board meeting for a startup that just closed its initial venture funding. The company’s founder, “Ray”, had been working with me since the company’s inception, and he asked me to be on the board. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click…
Read MoreWhat Should You Look For In A Mentor?
“I want you to meet with Dave,” Mike, the managing partner of the VC fund I was interviewing at to be an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) said. “He does most of our semiconductor investments, so it’s important for the two of you to meet.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click…
Read MoreWhy Saying “No” Might Be The Key To Growing Your Business
We were in a meeting with an outside business consultant. I was bored stiff and I just want the meeting to end. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Then, the consultant asked a question to our sales managers. The question was, “Who are your customers?” Ken, one of…
Read MoreWhat’s The Key To Executing Your Plan?
“Now you’ve done it,” Ray Zinn, the CEO of Micrel, said to me. Then Ray got up, straightened his tie and started walking out the door. Before he left, he said, “I don’t ever want to have another meeting like this again.” I had been at Zinn’s company for about 90 days as the new…
Read MoreWhat Titles Should You Give Your Technical Team?
I was fortunate to be involved with one of the most successful companies ever formed in the chip industry, Maxim Integrated Products. Maxim grew to over $2 billion/year in revenue, with net margins approaching 40%. It was a cash machine. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The company…
Read MoreWhat Should Your Salary Be When You’re Just Starting?
“I need to make $60,000,” “Mary”, the CEO, said to me. “Is that too much for me to make?” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Maybe. Maybe not,” I replied. “I can’t just give you a yes or no answer. You have to walk through some steps. “There’s…
Read MoreWhat Should You Never Do When You Start A Business?
My wife and I were going through old videos the other day, and we stumbled upon this video of Avery’s fourth birthday party at our house. I invited Nancy and her son Ethan to the party. Nancy used to work for me a couple years before that. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe…
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