Sales, Marketing, and Strategy
What Should You Do When Your Revenue Isn’t Growing?
“Revenue is always a lagging indicator of success,” I said to “Kevin.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] We were reviewing his progress, and he was behind plan. But I was seeing progress, and I wanted to remind Kevin. “What do you mean?” Kevin asked me. “Revenue is…
Read MoreHow Do You Fix Your Revenue Forecast?
Of all the many things I got wrong when I started my company, my original revenue forecast was right at the top of my mistakes. Not only was my forecast off, it was off by a lot. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Instead of the $1 million…
Read MoreHow Do You Build A Moat Around Your Startup?
Investors love asking startup CEOs what the barriers to entry are in your business. It’s a trick question because investors know very well what the barriers to entry are in your business. So, why do investors ask this question if they already know the answer to it? I’ll explain that to you in this video.…
Read MoreCan You Be A Successful CEO Without Taking Risks?
“I told “Ray” not to screw it up,” I said to my friend, “Aric”, at dinner. My family and I were in town, visiting colleges for Avery, so we took the opportunity to have dinner with Aric. Aric laughed. Four years earlier, Aric introduced me to Ray because he felt I could help Ray build…
Read MoreHow Do You Know You Have Too Many Competitors?
“What other startups have gotten funded in your space?” I asked “Ray” during one of our first meetings. Ray said, “There are a lot of them. I think there are around 50, the last time I counted.” “50! That’s a lot,” I said. “What are you going to do different?” [Do you want to grow…
Read MoreShould You Be Breaking Things To Move Fast?
“We’re ready to push the button,” Jeroen, my co-founder and VP Engineering, said to me. “You’ve signed off on all the design changes that needed to be made?” I asked Jeroen. “Yes. Sid has done everything on the list,” Jeroen said. “Okay, then let’s do it.” And with my agreement, we just spent $180,000 “taping…
Read MoreHow Do You Scale Your Startup?
“Tell me about the other executives?” I asked “Jason,” the CEO of a life sciences startup. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “There aren’t any other executives. It’s just me. That’s why I wanted your help,” he said. “I’ve never scaled a business before.” That was almost four…
Read MoreHow Do You Really Get Useful Customer Feedback
There are some meetings that are so impactful that you never forget them, even 20 years later. And this throwaway meeting that Thomas and I had at Tellabs years ago definitely was one for the books. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Thomas was the most senior applications…
Read MoreWhen Does Your Startup Need Be Profitable?
I really respect Steve Blank. He’s got a great view of startups, venture capitalists, and the startup ecosystem as a whole. Plus, he’s viewed as the Godfather of the lean startup movement, so what’s not to like? Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Blank, 68, has been around…
Read MoreHow Do You Build An MVP That Actually Sells?
One of the alleged rules that you have to follow is building your startup MVP. In fact, you’ll hear that you have to build an MVP. Full stop. Well, I’m here to tell you that for your startup to build a lean MVP just to build an MVP will get you killed. Instead, you need…
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