What Are The Five Signs It’s Time To Sell Your Company?
A couple of years ago I was advising a CEO. “Mark” had bootstrapped his company to profitability. Mark’s company began by providing consulting services. Then Mark’s company provided IP to its customers along with consulting services. Mark’s company had grown to become a multi-million dollar revenue company. But Mark had become increasingly worried lately. [Do…
What Is It Really Like To Be A Startup CEO?
My heart is beating too fast, and it won’t slow down. It’s 3AM, and I can’t sleep. Again. I get out of bed, and I walk to my office. I am shivering even though the temperature in the house is 72 degrees – nerves. I turn on the computer, and I check my email. [Do…
What Do VCs Notice When You Pitch Them?
The CEO was wearing a polo shirt and he sat down in the middle of our big conference room. There were about ten of us from the venture capital fund in the room with him. The CEO didn’t stand up like the other CEOs I’d seen present did. Instead, he stayed rooted like a plant…
Do You Need Patience To Run Your Company?
“You have the patience of Job,” Tucker, a potential investor in my company, said to me. Tucker and I were strategizing on how to close our funding, and I was walking him through my strategy. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] We had multiple problems to solve in…
How Do You Know It’s Time To Hire Your First Employee?
I’ve been working with “James” for about one year now. James is the CEO of a really cool company. Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of watching James grow his business to a pretty substantial level. Now, it’s finally time for James to hire his first employee. There’ve been the usual growing pains…
What’s The One Type Of Investor You Absolutely Must Avoid?
Like every industry, Venture Capitalists can be broken into three groups: A. The really great VCs. This is about 20% of the population of VCs. B. The good to mediocre VCs. This is the majority of the population of VCs; about 60% in my experience. C. The really, really bad VCs. This is about 20%…
Why You Need Fanatical Cofounders
I’m in the middle of reading Phil Knight’s (the founder of Nike) great autobiography “Shoe Dog.” Actually I’m listening to the book on Audible, and I’m transfixed. [Do you want to grow your? business Maybe I can help. Click here.] I just can’t stop reading/listening. In fact, I’m going to go for a run once I’m done…
Why Your Startup Culture Is The Key To Your Success
A good friend of mine just a joined a hot startup here in the Silicon Valley. The company is on fire. Plus, the startup culture is awesome. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] The executive team has previously been uber-successful. Revenue is getting near what I call escape…
What Are The 11 Painful Things You Need To Do As CEO?
I was talking to a Venture Capitalist early on about our company. Out of the blue the VC looked at me and said, “Well you’re the CEO, so you get to deal with investors like me. “And that’s why you get more stock than the others.” Do you want to become a better startup CEO?…
How Often Should You Follow Up With Investors?
“I haven’t heard back from ‘Robbie,’” I told one of our existing investors, Gill. “It’s been a few days, and I’m beginning to worry.” “Stay on him,” Gill said to me. “He (Robbie) tends to get really busy.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Okay, I will.” Robbie was…