How You Can Optimize Inside And Outside Sales
When I was an engineer in the prehistoric, pre-internet days, I loved when sales reps would come to visit. They would bring data books with them which had their whole catalog of products. The salesperson would also bring samples and data sheets of their latest products too. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe…
How Many Hours Per Week Should Your Team Work?
Every year, one of my VC investors would hold a “CEO Summit.” All the of the portfolio company CEOs would gather to network and listen to presentations from various people. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The final speaker on the final day was always Jack Dorsey of…
How Do You Go From Peer To CEO?
It’s common. You and a couple of friends start a company. Your friends regarded you as a peer, and now you’re the CEO. But there’s one tiny problem: Your friends/co-founders see you as a peer, not the CEO. In this video, I’ll give you my tips for how to overcome this challenge. Plus, stick around…
What Titles Should You Give Your Technical Team?
I was fortunate to be involved with one of the most successful companies ever formed in the chip industry, Maxim Integrated Products. Maxim grew to over $2 billion/year in revenue, with net margins approaching 40%. It was a cash machine. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The company…
Why You Shouldn’t Outsource Your MVP
“Everything hinges on us being able to find a great VP Engineering,” I said to Dave Epstein. Dave was a partner at the VC firm that was thinking of bringing me on as Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR). [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] EIRs are brought in by VC…
Why You Shouldn’t Be A Startup CEO
Don’t kid yourself, being a startup CEO is hard. Every minute of every day, from the time you start your company, to the day you sell your company, you’re going to be thinking about your startup. As a startup CEO, you have roles and responsibilities that go beyond just getting your work done. In this…
What Are The Five Traits Of Successful Founders?
I’ve worked with engineers that are great CEOs. I worked with non-technical founders that have made great CEOs too. So, it isn’t easy to just say that one is better than the other. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] However, there’s one consistent thing, actually there’s more than…
How Do You Successfully Enter A New Market?
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.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] And our way was successful. The company grew to $1 billion/year in revenue with…
How You Can Stop Founder Problems Before They Start, Part II
Startup founder problems affect at least fifty percent of all startups. And, sometimes the problems can be fatal; especially if you lose the wrong founder at the wrong time. So what can you do to solve startup founder problems before they start? This short video, part II of a two part series, gives you three…
How Often Should You Have Board Meetings?
Of all the things I thought were important when I started my company, but weren’t, I’d put the board of directors meetings at the top of the list. You ask, “why do you feel this way?” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here] The answer is your board of…