How Do You Manage A Board Of Directors Meeting?
“This looks pretty startup friendly,” Marsha, our attorney, said to me when I sent her our term sheet. “There are no crazy terms, and the board composition looks reasonable. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “I think this is pretty clean,” Marsha concluded. “What about the board composition?”…
How Do You Deal With The Stress Of Being CEO?
“I think we should sell the company,” “Raul,” one of our investors said to me. Raul’s demand came out of nowhere. We were doing well. Revenue was growing at a healthy clip, and we had just received a term sheet from a new investor to lead our next round of funding. [Do you want to…
How Tough Is It To Get Funded After COVID 19?
How hard will it be for you to raise money in the aftermath of COVID-19? No one knows for sure. But I have a pretty good idea because I raised $12M during the Great Recession. I’ll give you my thoughts on how the funding environment is likely to change, whether it makes sense to continue…
What Are The Positions You Shouldn’t Hire Early On?
“Great IC design engineers are the toughest thing to find,” I said to Dave. “And to hire great design engineers, we need a world class VP Engineering because great designers will only work for a great VP Engineering.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Dave nodded his head…
Why You Shouldn’t Wait To Raise Your Funding…
Despite the crazy times we are living in right now Coronavirus (Covid-19) has thrown everything for a loop. The fundraising environment and economic environment reminds me of when I was raising money during the Great Recession. There’s a lot uncertainty, just like during the Great Recession. And there’s a lot of fear, just like during…
The 11 Steps You Need To Take To Deal With Coronavirus
“Brett, what does it mean? We have to shelter in place starting at midnight according to the mayor.” Blossom said to me. “Maybe ‘Jane’ (a friend of ours) isn’t that crazy after all.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Jane’s been in a panic because of the Coronavirus. …
How You Can Keep Your Family And Be A Success
Supposedly, in order to be a successful startup CEO, “they” tell you that you have to give up everything, including your family, and be 100% devoted to your startup. I am here to tell you that “they” are wrong. And who are “they” anyways? But that’s a different story. Yes, you do need to make…
What Should You Never Ask Your Employees To Do?
“Brett, you should fly to the UK in Business Class,” Tina, our Controller, urged me. “You need to be fresh when you get there.” “Man, it’s tempting, but that’s not something I think I should do…” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Brett, you’re the CEO,” Tina said.…
The One Surefire Way To Make Your Pitch Standout
There’s a lot of well-meaning information out there about how to craft a great pitch deck. A lot of the information is good, and some of the information falls short. But there’s one thing I haven’t seen addressed. Yet, this one piece of advice could be the difference between success and failure when you’re pitching.…
What’s The One Thing You Shouldn’t Put In Your Pitch Deck?
I have a lot of pet peeves regarding pitch decks. For example, it drives me crazy when I see founders waste money hiring designers to help them pretty up their decks. What a waste of money. All you need is white background, your company name and logo in the footer of the deck and you’re…