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,…
“I want to establish my board of directors,” “Allen” said to me. “What? Why would you want to do that?” I asked. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “I just think I need a board of directors. After all, we’re doing over $1M per year in revenue,” Allen…
One of the most brilliant technologists, if not the most brilliant technologist, ever in the analog semiconductor industry is Bob Dobkin. Dobkin, known as “Dobby,” was the co-founder of Linear Technology, one of the most successful startups ever in the analog semiconductor business. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click…
“That is sacrosanct,” one of our investors, “Raul”, said to me. I had just told Raul that we were going to perform a layoff as part of our next funding round. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Raul was pleased to hear me state the obvious. We needed…
My mind started racing. I was having a hard time trying to hide my excitement. Mike, the managing partner of a San Francisco based VC, had just asked me to help them start an Analog semiconductor company. In other words, Mike’s fund was going to provide the financial backing for my new company. [Do you…
There’s a lot of pressure on you when you’re raising funding. After all, the odds are over 100:1 against an investor funding you. I knew the odds were against us raising money, yet I never felt nervous. In this short video, I’ll share with you the mindset I used to successfully raise money during the…