Posts Tagged ‘CEO’
How You Can Avoid Nine Startup Sales Killers
“It’s too early to hire a VP of Sales!” The VC said to me. “You should be doing the selling!” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “I hear where you’re coming from,” I said. “And believe me, I will be selling.” “’Ken’s’ been part of the company since…
Read MoreHow To Successfully Pitch Your Business In One Slide
Imagine this scenario. You’re in a meeting with a major potential customer. And this one customer can make or break your business. You have to win this deal or your business is going to fail. Or imagine this scenario. You’re raising money. Do you want to nail your investor pitch? Then download the free, Startup…
Read MoreHow Should You Talk About Bad News With Your Team?
“I think we’re getting really close to getting funding,” I said to myself. We had just had another VC pass, but THE WAY VCs were passing seemed different to me. Maybe we were getting close to getting funded. More likely we weren’t. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.…
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 To Win Big Deals When Your Company Is Small
It was the week between Christmas and New Year’s. We had just started shipping our first products a few months earlier. It was dead as a doornail during the last week of the year. Web traffic was drying up. The phones were barely ringing. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help.…
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 MoreHow Important Is It That Founders Have Over 50% Equity?
I think the question implies that the founders need to protect themselves from getting screwed, so having 51% ownership means they can’t be outvoted. Let’s say you start with 51%. Then you raise money and over time your stake is diluted to 20%. What are you going to do? Here’s the reality: There is always…
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…
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