“Brett, I’m going to be leaving the VC fund,” Dave, the partner I had been working with as Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), said to me. I nodded my head, and then said, “Okay, I understand.” Then Dave continued, “I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but I thought you should know. That means they’re (the VC…
My Mom sold houses in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. She started out by selling condominiums, then eventually graduated to selling estates. I’ll say, from watching my Mom, that selling real estate is a seven day a week, 365 day a year, grind. It looks easy from the outside, but the successful…
“Let me tell you about the team you’re inheriting,” Bill said to me. “The one you have to worry about is Jack. He was running the division before we acquired it, and I don’t know if he’s salvageable.” I nodded my head. If there ever was a death sentence put around someone, Jack had it.…
COVID-19 has been around long enough to see some trends emerging. Depending upon the business you’re in, you could be crushing it right now due to COVID-19, or your business could be deep trouble due to COVID-19. In this short video, I’ll explain what the trends are that are leading to these results. And, I’ll…
“Okay,” I said to the group assembled in our large conference room, “We are the launch team for our first product.” The team consisted of Adolfo, my cofounder and VP Marketing, Shoba, our Test Engineering Director, Dave, our Manufacturing Director, and Mary, our Public Relations consultant. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…
Imagine this scenario. You have a great idea for a new startup. You’ve done the research, and maybe you’ve even talked to a few potential customers. There’s no doubt in your mind that this venture is poised to be a huge hit. So, you start reaching out to investors, and you get a couple of…
You’re going to get tons of advice as a startup CEO. The challenge is determining the good advice from the bad advice. In this short video, I’ll give you a simple tip I use to determine what advice I take more seriously than other advice. I hope you like it. Read the video transcript…
“I’ve been at this now for seven years,” “Rob” said to me. “I just want to take some money off the table, so my family can have financial security. “Is that too much to ask?” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “How much money are you thinking of,”…
“Do you know who Don Valentine is?” The investor asked me. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Of course,” I responded. We actually had a meeting the next week at Sequoia Capital, and Valentine, the legendary cofounder of Sequoia, was going to be in the meeting. “Well, Don…
The odds are decidedly against you, like 300:1 against you, when you try and raise money from VCs. So, you’d think hearing an investor tell you, “No, I’m not interested,” is the last thing you’d want to hear. Well, that’s exactly true. In fact, hearing “No” from an investor can be great. I’ll explain why,…