How Do You Deal With Employee Burnout?
How Do You Deal With Employee Burnout? By Brett Fox I love running. Specifically, I love distance running. It’s so peaceful when you go on a long run in the early morning. And that’s really true now that the weather’s gotten colder. It’s just you and your thoughts. Or maybe it’s just you, your thoughts,…
What’s Your Institutional Memory And Why It’s Important?
“We used to be even better than this,” the Vice President of one of the world’s largest distributors said to me as we were taking a tour of the distributor’s facility. The Vice President was responding to how impressed I was with the consistency of the answers and actions I was hearing and seeing from…
How Do You Raise Funding After Creating Your MVP?
How Do You Raise Funding After Creating Your MVP? By Brett Fox Great. You’ve developed a kick-ass MVP that your customers are buying. So what. That’s the question (or questions) you’re going to need to answer in order to raise money. Just because customers are buying your product doesn’t mean you are going to get…
When Should You Hire Interns To Develop Your MVP?
When Should You Hire Interns To Develop Your MVP? By Brett Fox As the great business philosopher John McEnroe said, “You cannot be serious!” You want to hire interns instead of experts? Come on! You cannot be serious! Okay. Let’s go through with the pros and cons of hiring interns instead of experts. The…
What Is The Right Amount Of Equity A Late Joining Cofounder Should Get?
What Is The Right Amount Of Equity For A Late Joining Cofounder? By Brett Fox I had four co-founders, the last of whom joined 1.5 years after we started the company. Do you know who got the most equity amongst the co-founders? That’s right, the one that joined 1.5 years after we started. You want…
How Do You Plan Your Startup’s Scaling Into Multiple Markets?
How Do You Plan Your Startup Scaling Into Multiple Markets? By Brett Fox “Do you have a VP Sales lined up?” The investor asked me during a diligence meeting. “I do,” I answered (I’ll get back to this later). Not only should you start planning your go to market strategies for the various countries you…
How Can You Use Being First To Market A True Advantage?
How Can You Use Being First To Market As A True Advantage? By Brett Fox I’ve been fortunate enough during my career to be involved with hundreds of product launches during my career. I’ve been first to market, second to market, and very late to a market, so I’ve seen the power of being first…
How Do You Know When To Release Your Killer Product?
How Do You Know When To Release Your Killer Product? By Brett Fox I was walking out of the Decathlon Club one Saturday morning. I had just finished my workout. A beautiful woman drove into the Decathlon Club parking lot, and I thought to myself, “Park your car next to mine.” And she did. Just…
Can You Start A Company With Someone You Barely Know?
Can You Start A Company With Someone You Barely Know? By Brett Fox I am a firm believer in the nine-month rule when it comes to startups. What’s the nine-month rule you ask? The nine-month rule is you need to work together for at least nine-months before you know whether your co-founder relationship has a…
Why Is It So Important For You To Be Number One In A Market Segment?
Why Is It So Important For You To Be Number One In A Market Segment? By Brett Fox General Electric in the 1980’s, under the leadership of Jack Welch, had a very simple goal for all of its businesses: Become number one or number two in market share or we (General Electric) will exit the…