Who Should You Talk To About Your Problems As CEO? By Brett Fox Being a CEO is great; at least for me it was. The biggest challenge I had is a surprising one: Who do you talk to about your problems when you’re the CEO? It’s not as obvious as you might think. Watch this…
No steps are necessary to protect your ideas before you pitch to VCs except for one. I’ll get back to that later. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] But first, a story: “We can stop right there,” the VC said to my cofounder “John”. John, to my surprise,…
We needed to raise money, lots and lots of money, right of the gate. The money we needed to raise ($11M) wasn’t the kind of money that most people have laying around. I sure didn’t. But there’s the reality that even if you need lots of money, you’re going to end up putting your own…
“It’s even worse than I thought it would be,” I told Steve. “Everything is completely broken. Revenue is cratering. Product quality is horrible. The strategy sucks. And I think the team needs be completely replaced…. “Besides that, everything’s great,” I laughed. I had taken over one of three divisions the company had three months prior.…
I read a really great book called, “The Fish That The Whale.” The book is about the life of entrepreneur Sam Zemurray. The book is a great and entertaining read, and it is packed with lessons for entrepreneurs. Zemurray, also known as “Sam, the Banana Man,” was the founder and CEO of Cuyamel Fruit Company…
One of the investors in my company described equity as “fuel” for growth and debt as a “retardant” to growth. I don’t think I agree with him. I think the right answer is more about what’s right for you and your company. There is a better way to look at what’s right for you. I’ll…
“What am I likely to hear about you from the people I talk to about you?” That’s was the standard question I asked potential candidates BEFORE I would do front door and backdoor reference checks. Then I would listen to hear what came back from the candidate. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…
The short answer is yes. Yes, you should be worried about the economy tanking. We’ve seen the stocks lose significant value over the past couple of days. Now, stock prices and the economy is not the same thing. The economy can keep growing when stock prices reduce. I don’t have crystal ball, and I don’t…
I have a perfect record when it comes to saving underperforming employees. That’s right, I am 100% successful in not turning an employees performance around. Except for this one time… The company I was working for had just acquired another company, and I was given the responsibility of running this new division. I was fortunate…
“Sex sells,” I told Gill when we pitched him for the first time, “except in the Analog IC business.” Gill nodded his head in agreement. And four meetings later he gave us a term sheet for $11M. If only the rest of the investing community was as easy to convince as Gill… [Do you want…