Sales, Marketing, and Strategy
Why You Shouldn’t Follow The Lean Startup Methodology?
I was at work when I heard that Steve Jobs died. Vivi, our layout manager, told me her husband (who worked at Apple) called to let her know. I felt sad. I’d only met Steve once, and the encounter was brief. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Blossom,…
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 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…
Read MoreWhat Can You Learn From A Little Boy And A LEGO?
I was at home Saturday night enjoying a really nice evening with my wife and daughter. We had just finished dinner, and I was thumbing through one of my Twitter feeds. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] That’s when I saw this tweet: Boy writes to Lego after…
Read MoreUse Your Competitive Analysis Slide To Get Funded
If you want your startup to get funded, then you’d better nail your competitive analysis slide. Your competitive analysis slide is an opportunity for you, the CEO, to shine. Yet sadly, too many CEOs do exactly the wrong thing and don’t take advantage of a golden opportunity. I don’t want that to happen to you. …
Read MoreWhat If Another Startup Is Doing The Same Thing As You?
I’m working with a startup right now that has 50, that’s right 50, direct competitors. 48 of the 50 competitors are startups, and the two other competitors are well known public companies. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. That’s a lot of competition to say the least. The…
Read MoreHow The Blue Ocean Strategy Can Save Your Startup
With almost comic regularity startup CEOs make the wrong strategic mistake again and again. That mistake is they choose the wrong strategy to enter the market, and, most of the time, their startup fails and they never recover. That’s where the Blue Ocean strategy comes in. In today’s video, I’ll explain the tragic mistake too…
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