Every week I send out a short email with quick updates on what I've written. My goal is to be actionable, insightful, and honest.
If you're looking for something a little more interactive, Teaching Startup is my project to fill the gap between blog post and formal advisor. You'll get a daily email with responses to direct questions from a smaller group of subscribers. This project will grow and evolve. First 30 days are free, then it's $10 a month. Join the wait list now.
Here's how this works. Use the form to tell me about your question or issue. Give me as much detail as you can and be specific. If I feel like I can honestly help, I'll respond over email (I don't do phone). I can't answer all of them. If you don't hear from me, I got overloaded. The catch? I might use your scenario for a post, but I'll keep you extremely anonymous.
People hate change. But some people just plain love the freaking status quo. What do you do when these people are your potential customers?
A startup exit is awesome if you can survive the grind. And that can be easier said than done. Wait for the exit or jump ship? Here's what you need to ask yourself.
When you’re running a startup, it really is you against the world. But while being the underdog can be a huge source of motivation, the fact that you’re never on a level playing field can wear on you over time.
I believe that every company needs some degree of skunk works within its walls, at all times. It's something I've done with every single startup I've founded or been a part of, and I'll share with you the ways I've seen it work.
Being a cofounder is about more than just being there at the beginning. And handing someone the wrong role can turn into a costly mistake. Let's talk about how to avoid that.
Every startup founder faces an overload of critical decisions early in the life of their company. None of these decisions are more important than selecting the first few people you choose to work with.
Early in my entrepreneurial career, I got really good at the elevator pitch - a collection of word salad that purports to highlight the most valuable aspects of a startup idea in 60 seconds. In fact, I peaked at mastering the elevator pitch right before I realized the utter uselessness of mastering an elevator pitch.
I'll give you the bad news first. When you're the founder of a growing company, at some point you're probably going to lose control of your board.
* A Medium Editorial Feature *
I still take too many meetings. Even after 20 years in the business of being an entrepreneur, I still wind up booking at least one useless meeting a month.
* A Medium Editorial Feature *
The role of a startup advisor, or for that matter, any business advisor, is often misunderstood, even by those would-be advisors themselves.
* A Medium Editorial Feature *
A lot of great startup advice comes directly from parenting. And if I were the kind of parent who gave parenting advice, a lot of my parenting advice would probably come from startup.
Here's the Catch-22 about experimentation. It kills your revenue, your customer reputation, your employee morale, and your business rhythm. But if you don't experiment, all those things will wither and die anyway.
* A Medium Editorial Feature *
I get tons of inbound from entrepreneurs and founders, from first-timers with an idea to CEOs with millions in annual revenue, and they all ask what basically boils down to the same question: "I've taken my startup this far, how do I get the money to take it to the next level?"
* Featured in TechCrunch *
Let me ask you a strategic question. Where do you want your company to be three years from now? What will your product or service look like? Which new features will you roll out and how will your business evolve?
* A Medium Editorial Feature *