Hiring and Firing
How Do You Interview People And Get The Right Candidate Every Time?
By Brett Fox at www.brettjfox.com The minute we made Tom (not his real name) an offer I knew we had made a mistake. There was just something off about Tom. I was under pressure from the board to hire Tom, and I let the pressure cloud my judgment. What a f***ing mistake! I could have…
Read MoreThe Secrets To Giving Great Presentations Every Single Time
My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s going to burst out of my shirt. What? My mouth is so dry! And I can’t swallow! Ugh! I’ve done this a million times before but it doesn’t matter. I still get nervous every single time I give a presentation. I start my presentation. Thirty…
Read MoreHow You Can Make A Great First Impression In Less Than Seven Seconds
“Here’s a slide I think might be good,” the CEO said to us. The CEO had just blown it. I mean completely blown it. I was working at a Venture Capital firm at the time, and we were sincerely interested in investing in the CEO’s company. We liked the technology. We liked the engineering team.…
Read MoreLearn How to Make Your Reference Checks Awesome
“Can you believe it?” my wife asked me last night. “I have to fill out an essay because my friend asked me to be a reference.” “Is she applying for college?” I asked. “No, for a job!” My wife was not very happy about having to spend the next 45 minutes writing an essay. Who…
Read MoreHow do you Deal with a Toxic Co-Worker?…A CEO’s Perspective
It was the summer of 2009, and we were closing in on our Series A funding. I wanted to update my fellow co-founders on our progress, so I scheduled a meeting at the local Starbucks. A little bit off topic, but Starbucks is a great meeting venue for an unfunded company with no office space.…
Read MoreHow You Can Destroy a Business in One Easy Step
I was driving one beautiful Bay Area summer morning. The temperature was a perfect 65 degrees. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, yet there was a storm on the horizon. Just then, my cellphone rang. It was Leon calling. “Are you driving?” Leon asked ominously. “Yes, I am.” “I think you should pull over.”…
Read MoreCan You Prevent Yourself From Being Screwed Over In Business?
Here’s a story about one of the co-founders of my company. Dan (not his real name) came with great credentials. He was smart and he had accomplished a lot. His was a name that investors would respect. Dan was also independently wealthy. Dan joined the company during our Series A fundraising. Dan was such an…
Read MoreThe 3 Hiring Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make
I blew it. The voice in the back of my head was arguing with itself. On the one hand it was saying, “Don’t hire ‘Jim’. There’s something wrong with him.” On the other hand, the voice was saying, “Brett, you need help in this area. You should hire Jim. He’s got a wealth of experience.…
Read MoreShould Firing People Always be Difficult?
I was up the whole night. I knew I had to do it, and I knew it needed to be done. That didn’t help me fall asleep in the least. It – an insomnia-inducing feeling of dread – was the feeling I had the first time I ever had to fire someone. My heart was…
Read MoreThe Four Keys to Hiring Exceptional People
I’m constantly interviewing people. You should be too, whether you are a CEO or a manager. Arguably, it is the most important responsibility you have because hiring exceptional people is how you build an exceptional company. I’m human, so I make mistakes. (Lots of ’em, in fact.) When it comes to hiring, every mistake I’ve…
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