Leadership and Management
Does A Startup CEO Have To Work At The Head Office?
I remember as CEO of my own startup presenting a review of our progress to one of our investors. The whole team was located in one office in the Silicon Valley. I told the partners of this VC firm that we were ahead of schedule on our project development. The partners were very pleased with…
Read MoreWhat Do You When You’re Stuck As A CEO?
I’ve been stuck more times than I can count. Sometimes, I get thrown for a loop like the time an investor pulled his support for our company at the worst time imaginable. Ugh! Then, there was the time we lost a $1M deal. The customer had committed to using us, we had already started building…
Read MoreHow Do You Generate Innovative Ideas For Your Business?
One of the first things I did once we received funding was have a regularly scheduled “Crazy Idea” meeting every Friday afternoon. All the designer engineers, myself, and the VP of Marketing (who had a strong technical background) would get together. The rules were simple: Anyone could bring up any idea they had on anything,…
Read MoreShould You Patent Your Idea?
Getting a patent has nothing to do with your ability to execute. Nothing. Maybe you can get a patent for your idea, and maybe you can’t. Here are a few things to know about what patents can and can’t do for you: A. A patent may not block someone from implementing your idea. I’m not…
Read MoreWhen Should I Delegate My Email To An Admin?
You’re thinking way too corporate here. You have a choice when you are starting a company: Are you going to be company that spends lots of money and burns through its runway, or… Are you going to be appropriately frugal? My vote is for being appropriately frugal. The thought process of being appropriately frugal means…
Read MoreHow Do You Recruit Senior Employees For Your Startup?
The average age of the engineering team at my company was 44 years old. The engineers on average had 10 patents. The team, by industry standards, was considered elite. Now, I assume you want to recruit really good senior people, not just mediocre senior employees. Hiring mediocre senior employees requires no skill. I think there…
Read MoreWhat Should You Do When A Cofounder Quits And Holds Your IP Hostage?
I know the pain too well of cofounders quitting. I had two cofounders (“Jim” and “John”). I was the CEO, Jim was the marketing guy, and John was the engineering guy. We had worked together previously, and we understood the plan and direction we were going in. We started pitching VCs after working on the…
Read MoreWhat Percentage Of Silicon Valley Startups Ever Make A Profit?
I was talking to a friend of mine who had recently sold his company for $300M. He said to me, “Brett, I’ve never been involved in a company that made a profit.” And I would bet over 95% of all startups, including the ones that have gone public, are never profitable. Just look at this…
Read MoreHow Can I Get A Fortune 500 Executive To Be An Advisor?
A person is not great just because they are a COO or a CEO. They are no better or smarter than you are. That being said, treat this person (and all people) with respect. Let me give you two simple tips for how to reach out to a potential mentor: A. You have to give…
Read MoreWhat Moral Obligations Do CEOs Have To Their Employees?
Thank you again, ideal employee, on everything you continue doing. We could not achieve what we want without you. I asked you to be loyal, be a positive force, do your best always, recruit your friends, have the company’s best interest always in mind, own up to your mistakes, don’t wait to tell us about…
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