Sales, Marketing, and Strategy
What Is The Biggest Challenge You Face As CEO Besides Funding?
Let’s say you don’t have funding worries because funding is the biggest challenge startups face. What is the second biggest challenge startups face? I’ll tell you what isn’t the second biggest challenge startups face. It isn’t: A. No market need. And it isn’t… B. Competition. And it isn’t… C. Pricing issues. And it isn’t… D.…
Read MoreHow Do You Know The Value Of Your Sales People?
One of the best things that ever happened to me in my career was when I was given responsibility to manage an external sales organization. Previously, I was general manager of a business unit inside the company, and we had a matrixed sales organization. In other words, we fought for resources with the other business…
Read MoreShould You Or A Potential Investor Open The Price Negotiation?
There are too many people that think raising money is like an episode of Shark Tank. You say, “I’m raising $XM at a valuation of $YM” just like they do on Shark Tank. Not only does providing a valuation makes you look like an amateur, providing a valuation can reduce the value of your company.…
Read MoreWhat Should You Do While Your Team Builds Your First Product?
The first CEO job I ever interviewed for, the recruiter said to me, “As CEO you recruit, recruit, recruit, and you sell, sell, sell.” I didn’t get the job. Then, I started my own company and became CEO. And what did I do? Recruit, recruit, recruit, and sell, sell, sell. Recruiting and selling were always…
Read MoreWhat Are The Best Books For CEOs To Read?
I know you’re busy as founding CEO of your company, but make time to read. The reading will likely pay off for you big time. I like using Audible as a way to improve my productivity. I can listen to a book while driving. Or I can listen to a book while going for a…
Read MoreHow Do You Estimate How Much Money You’re Going To Spend?
I like using the simple formula of $200K/Head/Year to figure out how far your funding will take you. Let’s say you raise $10M, and you want the money to last two years. That means you can have around 25 employees: 25 employees x $200,000/Yr = $5,000,000/Yr. And you’ll find this formula to be reasonably accurate…
Read MoreHow Do You Predict Revenue For A Startup?
“Most startups are horrible at forecasting their revenue, and you’ll find us to be no different,” Barry, our chairman of the board said to a prospective investor. Everyone laughed because there was a lot of truth in what Barry was saying. Startups are usually horrible at forecasting revenue for two reasons: A. Founding CEOs are…
Read MoreHow Do You Generate Innovative Ideas For Your Business?
One of the first things I did once we received funding was have a regularly scheduled “Crazy Idea” meeting every Friday afternoon. All the designer engineers, myself, and the VP of Marketing (who had a strong technical background) would get together. The rules were simple: Anyone could bring up any idea they had on anything,…
Read MoreHow To Win Big Deals When Your Company Is Small
It was the week between Christmas and New Year’s. We had just started shipping our first products a few months earlier. It was dead as a doornail during the last week of the year. Web traffic was drying up. The phones were barely ringing. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help.…
Read MoreAre Business Plans Useless In Tech Startups?
I started working with a CEO a while ago. The CEO had an interesting business model, traction and customers. I asked the CEO, “How much money are you spending each month?” “I don’t know,” he answered. I asked the CEO, “What is your break even revenue?” “I don’t know,” he answered. I asked the CEO,…
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