Make It Easy For Investors To Understand Your Startup
It’s really tempting when you’re raising money to try and hide key issues and weaknesses about your company from potential investors. In a word, don’t. Because you’ll live to regret it if you do try and hide things from potential investors. Let me propose a different strategy. Instead, you should try and make it really…
The Tasks You Can’t Delegate As A Startup CEO
There are certain leadership tasks that you can’t delegate as CEO because they are too important. In fact, if you delegate this work to your team, then the odds of your startup failing dramatically increase. In today’s video, I’m going to explain why there are three jobs you can never delegate to your team, especially…
How Do You Really Get Useful Customer Feedback
There are some meetings that are so impactful that you never forget them, even 20 years later. And this throwaway meeting that Thomas and I had at Tellabs years ago definitely was one for the books. Thomas was the most senior applications engineer in my organization, and I really enjoyed meeting customers with him. Thomas…
When Does Your Startup Need Be Profitable?
I really respect Steve Blank. He’s got a great view of startups, venture capitalists, and the startup ecosystem as a whole. Plus, he’s viewed as the Godfather of the lean startup movement, so what’s not to like? Blank, 68, has been around a long time, and he’s seen how venture capital has changed from what…
11 Tips To Make You A Great Startup CEO, Part II
Are you a first time startup CEO, and you’re wondering what your management style should be? Or maybe you’ve never managed a team before, and you’d like some management training and tips? You’re in luck, because I’m going to give you eleven tips that will help you become a better manager and a better startup…
11 Tips To Make You A Great Startup CEO, Part I
Are you a first time startup CEO, and you’re wondering what your management style should be? Or maybe you’ve never managed a team before, and you’d like some management training and tips? You’re in luck, because I’m going to give you eleven tips that will help you become a better manager and a better startup…
A Huge Market Is A Red Flag To Your Investors
“We’re going after a huge market,” “Giuseppe*,” said to me. “It’s around $1.5 trillion!” “Really,” I said skeptically. “Yeah,” Giuseppe said, “And the best part is we don’t even need to get one percent of the market to be successful!” “Walk me through how you determined the market is $1.5 trillion,” I said. You look…
How Do You Build An MVP That Actually Sells?
One of the alleged rules that you have to follow is building your startup MVP. In fact, you’ll hear that you have to build an MVP. Full stop. Well, I’m here to tell you that for your startup to build a lean MVP just to build an MVP will get you killed. Instead, you need…
The Seven Steps To Beating Your Competition
You’re flying blind if you don’t understand what your competitors are doing. And, rest assured, every startup has competition. In today’s video, I’ll share with you seven steps to stay ahead of your competition and dominate the market. You’ll want to see how Steve Jobs used a perceptual map to brilliantly position the iPhone. And,…
How Do You Win Against A Dominant Competitor?
Successful companies usually have a way of doing things. We certainly did when I was at Maxim Integrated Products. Jack Gifford, our CEO, called it “The Maxim way.” And our way was successful. The company grew to $2 billion/year in revenue with close to 40% net margins. It was literally a cash machine. But, and…