What’s The One Thing Your Employees Will Know Before You Do?
“What took you so long?” That was one of the questions I got after I let one of my cofounders go. I’d been thinking about letting “Randy” go for a couple of months before I finally pulled the trigger. Then, of course, after I fired Randy, a lot of people in the company said, “We’d…
What Is The Coolest Thing About Starting Your Company?
What Is The Coolest Thing About Starting Your Company? By Brett Fox There are many cool things about starting a company. But there’s one thing that tops them all by a huge amount. What is this one thing and why is this one thing so much better than anything else? Watch this short video to…
How Do You Choose Your Board Members?
“Let’s look at the term sheet,” Marcia, our lawyer, said to me. “It looks pretty good,” she said. “There’s nothing out of the ordinary. The terms are normal. In fact, they are quite generous. “The board composition looks normal too. The investors are proposing a five man board. Each investor will get a seat, you…
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Working With Your Friends?
One of my closest friends was a cofounder of my company. Another friend was a cofounder of the company too. And he recommended we bring on another friend as a founder. The only person who wasn’t a friend before we started was our VP Engineering. You have to be prepared to lose your friendship…
How Do You Manage Meetings Well?
How Do You Manage Meetings Well? By Brett Fox Have you ever been to a meeting with 15 people and only two people are contributing? I have, and, when you think about about all the money wasted it’s maddening. There’s a better way, and I’ll teach you how you can make all your meetings productive…
What Can You Do (Besides Money) To Attract Top Talent?
I was talking with the CEO of a company I am working with. “Jacob’s” company is growing at leaps and bounds, so our discussion centered around attracting top talent. Jacob asked me, “Should I have to pay at the top of the pay scale to get the best people, or is that a red flag?”…
What Are Early Warning Signs That You Need To Fire An Executive?
I was really excited when “Tom” joined us as VP of Sales. Tom had come highly recommended from two of our board members that had previously worked with Tom. The rest of the board met with Tom and they were all enthusiastically thumbs up. I couldn’t wait for Tom to join us. Tom came into…
What Are Three Skills You Need To Be A Great Leader?
What Are The Three Skills You Need To Be A Great Leader? By Brett Fox Leadership is surprisingly easy when you use the right skills. What are these skills? I’ll reveal these leadership skills in this short video. Watch the video above or read the transcript below: Do you need to be a…
How You Can Get An Investment Based Only On An Idea?
Yes, VCs do invest in ideas, but it’s really, really, really hard to get an investment based on an idea. And I think it’s getting harder now then when I did it. Having said that, I am working with an entrepreneur that raised VC funding this year based on an idea. How did he do…
How Do You Compete Against $1B Companies?
I celebrated my birthday two months after I started working at Maxim. My boss, Ziya Boyacigiller, took me out to lunch. I can’t remember where we went to lunch, but it was probably sushi since Ziya and I liked sushi. However, I do remember the book Ziya gave me for my birthday. The book was…