How Do You Know It’s Time To Hire Your First Employee?
I’ve been working with “James” for about one year now. James is the CEO of a really cool company. Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of watching James grow his business to a pretty substantial level. Now, it’s finally time for James to hire his first employee. There’ve been the usual growing pains…
What’s The One Type Of Investor You Absolutely Must Avoid?
Like every industry, Venture Capitalists can be broken into three groups: A. The really great VCs. This is about 20% of the population of VCs. B. The good to mediocre VCs. This is the majority of the population of VCs; about 60% in my experience. C. The really, really bad VCs. This is about 20%…
Why You Need Fanatical Cofounders
I’m in the middle of reading Phil Knight’s (the founder of Nike) great autobiography “Shoe Dog.” Actually I’m listening to the book on Audible, and I’m transfixed. [Do you want to grow your? business Maybe I can help. Click here.] I just can’t stop reading/listening. In fact, I’m going to go for a run once I’m done…
Why Your Startup Culture Is The Key To Your Success
A good friend of mine just a joined a hot startup here in the Silicon Valley. The company is on fire. Plus, the startup culture is awesome. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The executive team has previously been uber-successful. Revenue is getting near what I call escape…
What Are The 11 Painful Things You Need To Do As CEO?
I was talking to a Venture Capitalist early on about our company. Out of the blue the VC looked at me and said, “Well you’re the CEO, so you get to deal with investors like me. “And that’s why you get more stock than the others.” Do you want to become a better startup CEO?…
How Often Should You Follow Up With Investors?
“I haven’t heard back from ‘Robbie,’” I told one of our existing investors, Gill. “It’s been a few days, and I’m beginning to worry.” “Stay on him,” Gill said to me. “He (Robbie) tends to get really busy.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Okay, I will.” Robbie was…
Where Do You Learn The Most About Being A CEO?
‘If I knew you weren’t going home for Thanksgiving, I would have asked you to have Thanksgiving with my family,” One of my college roommates, Paul, said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Thanks Paul,” I said. “I need to study. That’s why I didn’t go…
How Many Hours Should You Work As A Startup CEO?
“I must be doing something wrong,” I said to myself. “I’m not working 100 hours a week.” We had just received our initial funding the month before, and I was working maybe forty hours a week. Maybe. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Now I was in the…
What’s The One Trait All Successful Entrepreneurs Have?
We were literally down to our last dollar. In fact, truth be told, we didn’t even have a dollar. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Times were so tough that every week I had to get down on my hands and knees and beg our investors for enough…
How Do You Build A Great Team?
“Brett, you look like you’re a million miles away,” my co-founder, “Randy”, said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Randy was right. I wasn’t focused at all on him. I was waiting for Tina, our Controller and HR Manager, to come into my office. “Where’s Tina?”…