Leadership and Management
Are There Consequences To Firing Someone On The Spot?
There are always consequences when fire someone. Even in California, where employment is “at will.” Years ago, I was running a division of a company. Every Friday the company had an operations meeting that included senior management. The meeting always started at 1PM sharp with the CEO usually starting the meeting by giving a speech.…
Read MoreShould A Startup Fire An Underperforming Intern?
Let’s be honest. The amount of money you are going to save over the next month by firing him isn’t the issue. The real issue is a lot more important. Remember, everything you do as CEO is analyzed (and overanalyzed) by your employees: Why did you come into work later than usual today? Why did…
Read MoreWhat Are The Main Reasons A Startup Fails After Breaking Even?
I was advising a bootstrapped startup for two years. The startup was at zero revenue when we started working together. They recently got to break even. The future looked really bright for the company. Then the wheels started falling off. The company had a really solid plan to continue growing revenue, increase profitability, and increase…
Read MoreWhat Is It Like As CEO To Downsize Your Company?
I remember when we had to layoff people in order to get our funding closed. We needed the funding to last at least 18 months. So I had to let a lot of really good people go. These were people that helped build the company. These were people that believed in what we were doing.…
Read MoreCan I Fire My Cofounder The Week Before His Shares Vest?
Every CEO on the planet has to ask themselves a really simple question: What type of CEO do I want to be? Do you want to be a CEO that acts with integrity and does the right thing, even if it’s going to cost the company a little bit of equity or money? Or… Do…
Read MoreHow Does A CEO Determine Their Pay?
“So, what are you going to pay yourself?” One of our investors asked me after we closed our funding. I told him the number. “Sounds a little rich to me,” he replied. He would have said that to any number I said. The reality was I had researched what other CEOs of similar companies at…
Read MoreHow To Negotiate Like Your Life Depends On it
It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in October. I had done my research. I had waited patiently for a day like this for a couple of weeks. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Thank you,” I said to myself. I got in my car and I started driving.…
Read MoreWhat Is The Four Step Process To Managing Any Crisis?
“Whatever you do, don’t react,” The investor told me. The investor (we’ll call him the good investor) was driving to our office, and he was going to be a little late to the board meeting. Our other investor (we’ll call him the bad investor) had asked to have the “closed session” of the board meeting…
Read MoreWhen Is The Wrong Time To Scale Your Company?
“We’re in the first stage of a three stage fab expansion,” The CEO proudly told me. It was December 2000, and I was being recruited to run the Communication’s Division of the company. The economic bubble was bursting already, yet here was this CEO boldly proclaiming his company was expanding. “Do you really think this…
Read MoreHow Do You Keep Stress From Crushing You As A CEO?
“I think we should sell the company,” One of our investors said to me. I was meeting with the investor at his office on Sand Hill Road. We were in the process of closing our Series B funding. We had a term sheet from an outside investor that he (and our other investor) had agreed…
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