Leadership and Management
Who You Should Never Add As A Co-Founder?
“I just bought a unit in new The Millennium building, up in the City,” my co-founder, “Ken”, said to me. “You should check it out!” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “Really,” I said. “I thought you were going to buy a house on the peninsula, closer to…
Read MoreWhen Should You Start Paying Yourself?
There is a friend of mine, Mark, who started a company about four years ago. Mark raised angel funding to start his company. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. The company has grown at a nice clip, and the company has a real chance at long term success.…
Read MoreWhat Makes A Great CTO Great?
One of my biggest mistakes ever was adding “John” as my co-founder and VP Engineering/CTO. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that John wasn’t that great of an engineer, and he failed as our CTO because his engineering skills weren’t that good. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help.…
Read MoreWhat’s The Behavior You Can’t Have As A Founder?
“I don’t know if I can do this anymore,” “Serge”, the CEO of a struggling startup, said to me. “I think I’m going to give up.” “What?” I responded. Serge’s capitulation said didn’t register on me. It was foreign to my way of thinking. Worse yet, Serge’s company wasn’t doomed to fail. There was a…
Read MoreYou’ll Fail If You’re In It Only For The Money
“I’m focusing on learning, not the grades,” Avery said to me the other day. She’s just starting her journey in college, so I couldn’t be happier to hear my daughter say that. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “You got it!” I exclaimed. “The knowledge will stay with…
Read MoreWhat Do You Do When Your Engineers Are Failing?
“What are we going to do about the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) design?” I asked my co-founder and VP Engineering, Jeroen. “It’s floundering.” “I know,” Jeroen said. “I think we need to make a change.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. If you can announce five different…
Read MoreHow Should You Divide The Work?
I don’t know how I came to this thought process, but, from the beginning of my career, I thought it was a great idea to obsolete myself. Yeah, I know this sounds like it’s self destructive, and I guess in some organizations it is. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help.…
Read MoreHow Should You Manage Your Engineering Team?
“How do you plan on managing the design team?” I asked my prospective co-founder and soon to be VP Engineering, Jeroen. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “The same as I have at Maxim (Integrated Products),” Jeroen said. I smiled, and then I said, “I’m sorry, but I…
Read MoreWhat Are The Two Biggest Mistakes That You Can Avoid?
“Do you have a vesting schedule for your co-founders equity?” I asked the CEO I was talking to. “No, I don’t,” he answered. “And how much equity does your co-founder have again?” I asked. “Uh, fifty percent,” the CEO answered. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. I sighed…
Read MoreHow Do You Make Working From Home Successful?
I think Elon Musk made a huge mistake. Yeah, you can be the master of the universe, the world’s richest person. Whatever. Yet, you can still screw up. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. And that’s exactly what I think old Elon did when he issued his, “Remote…
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