There were these four founders that got together to start their business. Peter, John, Roger and Keith were their names. The products they produced were some of the best in their industry. The customers they had loved their products. And they were well respected by their competitors. By their own admission, they got along horribly.…
“You didn’t have me at hello,” the investor said to us. “But I like what you’re doing. Let me think about this and get back to you.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. We had just finished presenting to a well known VC in our space. The VC…
When times were really rough, I would get Avery’s magic eight ball. I would ask it, “Do you think we’re going to make it?” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I would shake the eight ball and wait for the answer to appear in the triangle. The answer…
“The hardest part of building our company will be raising the initial funding,” I naively said to my fellow cofounders. Every one of them nodded their heads in agreement. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I continued on with my pep talk. “We’ll be home free once the…
“Do you remember when we first met?” I said to “Ray,” the solo founder and CEO of a startup that I’ve been advising for over three years. “Yes,” Ray said. It was in that park where we went for a walk where we saw all those deer.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe…
“I want to join your company Brett, but I have conditions,” Greg, one of top ten engineers on the planet in my industry, said to me. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I smiled. Then I said, “Okay, what are your conditions?” “Well, there’s really only one condition…
…Regardless Of How Profitable Your Company Is There it was in my in basket. A memo from Jack Gifford, the CEO of Maxim Integrated Products, with the title, “Use of office supplies.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The memo went something like this: “To: All Maxim Employees…
“You truly have the Yin and Yang of investors,” Regis McKenna said to me. Regis was introduced to me by Gill, the “Yang” (bright side) of our investors. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] But Regis also had worked with “Raul”, the “Yin” (dark side) of our investors.…
“Change depends upon unreasonable people.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Brutal honesty trumps hypocritical politeness.” “We help the daring build legendary companies.” “Partnering with ambitious early-stage founders building category-defining companies.” “We help entrepreneurs build market leaders.” Do you know who wrote these phrases? We’ll get back to…
I wake up, and I look at the clock. It’s 2:14 AM. I had gone to sleep at midnight, and here I was, awake two hours later. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Maybe this time, I’ll be able to break the pattern and go back to sleep,” I…