What Are The Five Rules You Need To Determine Your Startup Salaries?
“Sounds a little rich to me,” one of my investors, “Raul”, said to me when he asked me what I was going to pay myself as CEO. We had just closed $12M in Series A funding, and the salary I suggested paying myself was the median for a Series A CEO with that level of…
Where Should You Raise Money For Your Startup?
Where Should You Raise Money For Your Startup? Video By Brett Fox Should you or shouldn’t you raise money for your startup? And where should you raise the money from? I’ll walk you through my simple thought process in this short video. Do You Want To Grow Your Business? Maybe I Can Help. Click…
How Should You Think About Compensation After A Round Of Funding?
“It is sacrosanct,” one of our investors said to me. I told him that we would perform a layoff in preparation for the next round of funding. There really was no way around performing a layoff. We were only going to close $10M, and we needed the money to last at least 18 months. …
Should You Sell Your Company Or Take An Investment?
“I’m sorry Brett, but we’re not going forward with the investment,” “Robbie” said to me. The week before Robbie and the other members of the investment syndicate had signed the term sheet. And now they were pulling out of the deal. I spent the next hour on the phone convincing Robbie to stay in the…
What Do You Do When A Founder Isn’t Working Out?
What Do You Do When A Founder Isn’t Working Out? Video By Brett Fox Did you know that over 50% of founder relationships end badly? It’s true. That’s why you need to have a strategy just in case your cofounder relationship(s) don’t work out. I’ll walk you through the steps you need to take if…
How Do You Calculate The Value Of Your Startup?
And the damage from Shark Tank goes on… A few years ago a CEO of a pre-revenue startup reached out to me for guidance. The company was preparing to raise money. The CEO said to me during the initial consultation, “We’ve had a 409A valuation done on the company, and the valuation indicates the company…
What Your Life As A Startup CEO Is All About
What Your Life As A Startup CEO Is All About Video by Brett Fox I recently read a post on Quora that angered me more than any post I’ve read (and that’s saying something). The author’s message was exactly the reverse what you need to do to succeed as a startup CEO. What made me…
What’s The Most Difficult Position To Hire For Your Startup?
I was an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) at a VC firm in San Francisco when I started my company. I told the partners at the firm that the success or failure of my efforts would hinge on my finding a great VP Engineering. I had tons of contacts, and I had been in the industry…
Why You Need To Promote From Within
Why You Need To Promote From Within Video By Brett Fox Hiring experienced people to help run your company is a very sound way to build your startup team. However, hiring experienced people from the outside instead of hiring from within can instantly stop your momentum. I’ll give you my take on why promoting from…
How Do You Ensure You Won’t Violate Your Competitors Patents?
We were the poster child for a company that was crying out to be sued. My goodness, our first products were exact replicas (called “second sources” in the industry) of Maxim’s. To make matters worse, Maxim was litigious. Very, very litigious. You can develop an alternative way to do things. I was having lunch with…