What Are The Characteristics Of A Great Investor?
“Oh, Great God of Venture Capital,” I said, “Can you help me find a good VC or two for my new venture? I won’t even ask for a great VC, just a good VC will do. “Are you taking notes, oh Great God of Venture Capital? Here’s my list. It’s just five items, and one…
What Do You Do When You Lose A Deal?
“Nest designed us out of their final production build,” John, our Bay Area Sales Manager, said to me. “Thanks for everything you did to trying to win this,” I said. I took a deep breath. I didn’t like losing, and we had put everything into winning the Nest opportunity. It was a big deal for…
What Is The Most Important Thing You Should Know?
“You’ve gotta know what your cash position is at all times,” I said to “Kevin” yesterday. “If you don’t know what’s going on with your cash, then you can’t manage your company.” Kevin is trying to figure out how much money he should raise in his next round of funding, so he has to know…
What Do You Do When An Investor Doesn’t Call You Back?
“God, do I hate radio silence,” I said to my friend and mentor, Dave. “Why don’t VCs just let me know they just don’t want to invest instead of leaving us hanging?” Dave smiled and nodded his head in agreement. He had been a VC and he’d been a founding CEO too, so he knew…
Can I Pitch My Startup To Investors Without A Product?
Let me ask you a question. Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want me to tell you reality? I am sure hoping you want to hear reality, especially when it comes to pitching investors. The reality is, unless you have some really special things going for…
How Can You Keep From Screwing Up Your Forecast?
“You’re not going to hit your numbers,” I said to “Josh”. “You’re way too optimistic. I’d much rather you underpromise and overdeliver, especially right now.” Josh is in the middle of a sale process for his company. He’s working with an investment banker to manage the sale process. The sale process is going really well.…
What’s The One Thing You Have Complete Control Of?
There’s only one thing you have complete control over when you start a company. Only one. Everything else, to some degree or other, is out of your control. What is this one thing that’s in your control? It’s your cash. As I said at the beginning, everything else isn’t completely in your control. Let…
The Right Way To Get The Lean Startup To Work
The concept of the lean startup has really always been part of the startup vocabulary. Long before it was made popular and the book was written, many entrepreneurs were following the basic concepts of the lean startup. The concept is simple and logical to follow: Essentially, you just: Develop the simplest version of your product…
How Do You Reduce Risk As A Startup CEO?
I don’t why, but years ago, when I was in high school, my Dad got involved in a business building replicas of old classic cars. As I remember it, the company bought old VW? engines, put a classic car chassis around them and sold the cars at a profit. The idea wasn’t my Dad’s. It…
Why Is Your Forecast So Screwed Up?
“You’re not going to hit your numbers,” I said to “Josh”. “You’re way too optimistic. I’d much rather you underpromise and overdeliver, especially right now. Josh is in the middle of a sale process for his company. He’s working with an investment banker to manage the sale process. The sale process is going really well.…