Leadership and Management
How Should You Talk About Bad News With Your Team?
“I think we’re getting really close to getting funding,” I said to myself. We had just had another VC pass, but THE WAY VCs were passing seemed different to me. Maybe we were getting close to getting funded. More likely we weren’t. Is something wrong with your pitch and you don’t know how to fix…
Read MoreHow Should You Decide Who You Should Lay Off?
“That is sacrosanct,” one of our investors, “Raul”, said to me. I had just told Raul that we were going to perform a layoff as part of our next funding round. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Raul was pleased to hear me state the obvious. We needed…
Read MoreHow Important Is It To Patent Your Intellectual Property?
“They own the fundamental patents on how to make an integrated circuit. We’re not going to sue them,” Dave Fullagar, Maxim Integrated Products co-founder and VP Engineering, said to me. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Dave was explaining to me the facts of life. I was a running…
Read MoreHow Fast Is Too Fast For Your Startup To Grow?
“We are going to grow our earnings by one penny per share per quarter,” Jack Gifford, Maxim Integrated Products founding CEO, regularly said to public market sell side analysts. And every quarter, like a clock, the company grew earnings at one penny per quarter or better. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I…
Read MoreHow Do You Stay Motivated When Everything Goes Wrong?
When I was fighting for my company’s life, battling with, one of our investors, the notorious “Donald Ventures”, to keep our company alive, I thought about my wife and daughter a lot. They had supported me emotionally, and I didn’t want to let them down. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can…
Read MoreHow Do You Make The Most Out Of A Weak Team?
“Where did they find these people?” I asked my friend and employee, Steve. “We would have never hired them at Maxim (Integrated Products).” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] I was talking to Steve after I’d been at Micrel for a month as General Manager of one of…
Read MoreCan An Employee Manual Really Improve Your Culture?
“I have an optional one for everyone,” I said to the team at our latest all hands meeting, “There have been some requests for an employee culture manual. [Do youwant to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “And, I don’t know about you, but I hate employee manuals. No one ever uses…
Read MoreHow A CFO Can Help You Run Your Company
“I’m really impressed with your new CFO,” I said to “Kevin”, the CEO of a startup I’m working with. “I love his attitude, and I love what he had to say about joining your company.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “You don’t know the half of it,”…
Read MoreHandling The Bad Days Is Key To Your Success
“As you know, Brett presented to my partnership at ‘Donald Ventures’,” “Raul” said to myself and the other board members at our board meeting. “And the meeting went horribly. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “None of my partners believes we should continue supporting the company,” Raul said,…
Read MoreDo You Have The Right Team To Scale Your Startup?
“You’re at $5 million in revenue. Since we’re in the last quarter of the year, this is the perfect time to do some long term planning,” I said to “Kevin”, a CEO I’m working with. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “What did you have in mind?” Kevin…
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