“Would you mind telling me your stock option plan at Maxim?” Carlos, the VP HR at Micrel asked me. “I want to do some benchmarking.” I had just joined the company as General Manager of one of three divisions the company had, so I was glad to help. [Do you want to grow your business?…
Read The Video Transcript Below: Are you wondering what business books are essential during COVID-19? I just got back from my walk as you can see, let me pull this down. Okay, that’s much better. And look, there are a lot of books that are really good to read, but there are three essential…
…Especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 I was thrilled when Jeroen agreed to become my cofounder and VP Engineering. Jeroen was perfect for the role with his strong technical skills combined with his ability to recruit and manage a team. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] But we…
There’s nothing that challenges a leader like a crisis. Like it or not, your team is looking at you for answers and leadership through the COVID-19 crisis. There’s one skill you need to master that is likely the difference between you and your team successfully navigating any crisis. I’ll explain what this skill is and…
I Raised $12M During The Great Recession. You Can Do It Too! “VCs seem to be hiding under their chairs,” I said. “You can get meetings, but they’re really distracted. And the last thing they seem to want to do is give you money.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help.…
“Brett, I know you love Netflix’s culture document,” Jeroen, my cofounder and VP Engineering, said to me. “But I’m not sure I like the idea of firing our worst team members.” “I’m not sure I’m on board with that either,” I responded. “There must be a better way to do that (manage the quality of…
Do you want to die of a broken heart? Good, I didn’t think so. Then you want to learn about the power of what Admiral James Stockdale learned as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. It’s called the Stockdale Paradox, and it might be the most important thing you’ll need to get through the tough…
“This looks pretty startup friendly,” Marsha, our attorney, said to me when I sent her our term sheet. “There are no crazy terms, and the board composition looks reasonable. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “I think this is pretty clean,” Marsha concluded. “What about the board composition?”…
“I think we should sell the company,” “Raul,” one of our investors said to me. Raul’s demand came out of nowhere. We were doing well. Revenue was growing at a healthy clip, and we had just received a term sheet from a new investor to lead our next round of funding. [Do you want to…
How hard will it be for you to raise money in the aftermath of COVID-19? No one knows for sure. But I have a pretty good idea because I raised $12M during the Great Recession. I’ll give you my thoughts on how the funding environment is likely to change, whether it makes sense to continue…