Posts Tagged ‘leadership’
What Are The Early Signs Your Startup Is In Trouble?
“There is no negotiation on this term sheet,” “Raul”, the Venture Capitalist, said to me. I was stunned. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. There’s always negotiation, isn’t there? Everyone negotiates, right? Not this VC. The terms we were given were horrible. I tried everything I could to…
Read MoreHow 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. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.…
Read MoreHow Do You Recruit Senior Employees For Your Startup?
The average age of the engineering team at my company was 44 years old. The engineers on average had 10 patents. The team, by industry standards, was considered elite. Now, I assume you want to recruit really good senior people, not just mediocre senior employees. Hiring mediocre senior employees requires no skill. I think there…
Read MoreWhat Should You Do When A Cofounder Quits And Holds Your IP Hostage?
I know the pain too well of cofounders quitting. I had two cofounders (“Jim” and “John”). I was the CEO, Jim was the marketing guy, and John was the engineering guy. We had worked together previously, and we understood the plan and direction we were going in. We started pitching VCs after working on the…
Read MoreWhat Moral Obligations Do CEOs Have To Their Employees?
Thank you again, ideal employee, on everything you continue doing. We could not achieve what we want without you. I asked you to be loyal, be a positive force, do your best always, recruit your friends, have the company’s best interest always in mind, own up to your mistakes, don’t wait to tell us about…
Read MoreShould I Work With My Best Friend As A Cofounder?
I had a very close friend who was a co-founder of my company. Here’s what happened: “You have an EQ of zero!” Ken yelled at me. “What the hell is an EQ?” I asked. “Perfect!” Ken screamed back. Then he hung up the phone. Those were the last words Ken ever said to me. Just…
Read MoreLearn How Using Empathy Gets The Ultimate From Your Team
“There are a lot of negotiators that really will give in on a deal because being understood is more important than getting what they want.” Chris Voss, the FBI’s former lead hostage negotiator said. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] In fact, the first thing master-negotiator Voss teaches…
Read More