This Post Has Nothing to do with #SXSW
This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. For the next four days if you’re in the tech industry you’re going to hear a non-stop stream of information about SXSW. It’s the time of year when many new startups are struggling to rise above all the noise and be heard. And when everybody is shouting it [...]
Your Product Needs to be 10x Better than the Competition to Win. Here’s Why:
Last night I had the great privilege to interview Bill Gross, one of the Internet’s true pioneers. To say he has had an impact on the web would be an understatement. His impact has even helped a small country gain admission to the United Nations. All of that are in this week’s episode of [...]
Outbound VC Dialing Programs – Total Disrespect for Entrepreneurs
I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. He sent me an email asking whether the approach was real and whether he should take it seriously. Here is the email he received (reprinted without names with his permission). “Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well. I’m an [...]
The Power of “In Person” – Why Distributed Teams are Less Effective
In the era of Skype, web conferencing tools and collaboration software conventional wisdom says that distributed startup teams can be just as effective as those that are in person. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Or more precisely the people espousing the benefits of distributed startups teams are often distributed and therefore self rationalizing it. Been there. [...]
People Management: Startup Teams Should Dip but not Skip
We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic” organizations and to some extent that should be true. I’m not a big believer in too much hierarchy. A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership [...]
Steven Blank Kills It at Greycroft CEO Summit
I’m typing this from the lawn of Alan Patricof’s “Greycroft” home in East Hampton – my first time in the Hamptons. Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. We learned this weekend that it was named after his East Hampton [...]
Asking Questions More Effectively
The ability to ask questions effectively is one of the most important skills in business as is the ability to actively listen. Yet as important as these two skills are they really don’t seem to ever be taught in school. I wonder if more college students ought to take a journalism course for a semester [...]
You Can’t Look for a Job from a Remote Location – It Doesn’t Work
I’ve had this conversation so many times it’s painful. A friend calls me up from “you name it” city: Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and says, “I’m thinking about moving to Los Angeles (or SF, NY, etc) and I’d love to start interviewing. Let me know if you hear of anything interesting.” I guess [...]
Startups and VCs Should Avoid “Pier” Funding
Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. This happens when the company has been making steady progress but hasn’t built enough “proof” to raise its next round of financing from external investors. The traditional [...]
The Right Way to Cancel a Meeting
Canceling meetings is part of modern day life. I seem to get so over programmed that if I ever want to have a “break-out” unplanned trip somewhere I seem to have to reschedule meetings. Not fun, but a reality. And people reschedule meetings with me on a regular basis, too. If done correctly I never [...]
Avoid Decision by Indecision
I recently wrote a piece about how Entrepreneurs Should be Respected, Not Loved. The premise was that some leaders are too enamored with the approbation of their peers than making the tough decisions in the business that are bound to upset some people. The corollary to this rule is “decision by indecision.” This is one of [...]
Entrepreneurs Should be Respected, Not Loved
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to be a great leader and seem to be having this conversation a lot lately about Facebook, Yahoo!, Zynga and others. I wrote several of the characteristics when I did the Top 10 (11) Attributes of an Entrepreneur. One thing that I’ve realized over the years [...]
The Toxic Nature of Email
I haven’t written a blog post in a week. I travelled for a couple of days for work and decided to get some sleep on those days rather than staying up into the wee hours as I often do when I travel. I closed one deal (I’ll talk about that soon) and issued one term [...]
How To Communicate with your Investors between Board Meetings
Running the “Agile” Board Most early stage startups having monthly board meetings. I normally recommend 8 meetings per year. It makes no sense to meet in August or December due to travel schedules of most investors. You can do calls if need be. And I often recommend that board meetings be every 5 or 6 [...]
The Long-Term Value of Loyalty
Oh, boy. Here we go again. Another post on job hopping. This will be my final word on the topic. I promise. My goal here is to move the debate forward, add my POV but not inflame things any further. Inflaming was never my goal. Let’s see if I can achieve that. My WORD of [...]
