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What Is The Worst Thing You Can Hear As A Startup CEO?
“You have a nice lifestyle business,” the VC at Kleiner Perkins, one of the most prominent funds on Sand Hill Road, said to me as he passed on investing in my company. I bristled. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. We were busting our butts to build a…
Read MoreWhat Are The 19 Wishes Every Founder Needs Granted?
Dear Genie in a bottle, I’m going to start a new company. Yes Genie. I know I’m crazy. And I know I only get nineteen wishes. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Genie, I’m really going to need you at your best. So with these nineteen wishes, please…
Read MoreCreating A Startup Board Is A Waste
You’re likely to get advice telling you that having a board of advisors will help you get funded. However that advice, however well intended, is wrong. In fact, having a board of advisors could potentially hurt your chances of getting funded. That’s what today’s video is all about. I’ll explain: Why you don’t need a…
Read MoreThe Signs That Your Company Is Going To Fail
I remember walking into the lobby like it was yesterday. I was excited because I was wrapping up negotiations to join the company as VP Marketing. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I remembered seeing a planter with a dead plant outside. I didn’t think much of it…
Read MoreHow Do You Compete Against A Large Company?
“You’re going up against Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Linear Technology, National Semiconductor, and Maxim,” the Venture Capitalist, Jim, said to me. “These companies have all been in business for over twenty years. How do expect to compete against them?” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Jim’s question was almost…
Read MoreThe Ten Things Startup CEOs Need For Success
I’ve built several businesses from zero to over $100 million, and I’ve worked with a lot of CEOs to help them grow their businesses too. Over and over again, the successful CEOs I’ve worked with have been able to master the same set of ten core skills. That’s what today’s video is all about. I’ll…
Read MoreYou’re Not Raising Enough Funding
You’re not raising enough startup funding Not raising enough startup funding is one of the most common self inflicted wounds you can give yourself raising startup funding It’s a flawed thought process that raising less money is easier, but that’s not necessarily true. That’s what today’s video is all about. I’ll explain: The fatal mistake…
Read MoreWhat If Facebook Enters Your Market?
“Welcome.” That was Steve Jobs’ famous response when IBM entered the PC market in 1981. Maybe Jobs should have been more worried. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. After all, by 1984 IBM sold $4 billion worth of PCs versus Apple’s $2 billion. The question of “What if…
Read MoreHow To Turn Your Pitch Deck Into Your Business Plan
I remember the first business plan I wrote like it was yesterday. I had just joined Maxim Integrated Products, and my boss, the late Ziya Boyacigiller, asked me to develop a plan for Maxim’s Voltage Reference business. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] So I set about developing…
Read MoreThe Five Steps For Scaling Startups
The Five Steps For Scaling Startups How and when to scale a startup is where too many startup CEOs fail. They either wait too long to scale, and their startup loses momentum. Or, the CEO moves too quickly and burns through their cash and the startup fails. I don’t want this to happen to…
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