Have you noticed that more companies beg you to participate in their business today? It started with an email survey on your last stay at their hotel, but now includes requests for online product reviews, to social media input on the design of future products. They do it because engaged customers become loyal advocates and […]
Advice
How To Be A Business Leader As Well As Thought Leader
By definition, most entrepreneurs are thought leaders. They have the ability to recognize a market need, the skills to design and implement a solution, and the drive to start a business from that solution. It all comes from within themselves. A business leader does the same thing and more, through the people around them. Most […]
The New ABCs of Startup Investing: Part 3
We’ve made it — the last installment of our primer on startup investing for the non-startup-investor. We’ve covered the [b]asic plumbing, and we’ve covered [c]onstrained focus. That means we’ve earned the right to press our advantage with the most powerful force in private-market investing, [a]lignment. It ain’t Over till it’s Over First, we meet. Then we invest. And […]
Growth Isn’t Always Good
We’re so damn distracted by “growth” that we rarely ask ourselves what it is about growth that even matters. You know who cares about growth? Our investors. The media. Our sewing circles of other Founders. You know who cares about quality? Our team. Our customers. Our partners. You know, the people that we should be […]
5 Key Attributes That Foretell Startup Survival
Every startup wants to be a predictable success, yet so few ever achieve this enviable position. In reality, getting there is not a random walk, and requires an understanding of the stages that every business must navigate and the organizational characteristics necessary at each stage. Les McKeown, in his book from a while back, “Predictable […]
Why Founder CEOs Get Replaced
Raising money, particularly in a VC round with outsiders planning to join a startup’s Board of Directors, is often a founder’s first real introduction to corporate governance. A Board of Directors – the head governing body of a classically structured startup – approves all of a company’s most important decisions (including hiring/firing executives). Boards have […]
7 Societal Changes That Invite New Venture Innovation
A look at specific facts on demographic changes over the past few years, and what they mean for some of the major business segments out there today.
The Only Winners in Ecommerce? Amazon, Google and Facebook!
What happens when millions of e-commerce stores are fighting to get discovered on only three primary websites (Amazon, Google, and Facebook) where consumers are looking for potential shopping solutions?
Hiring Guidelines During a Skilled Labor Shortage
Twenty years ago, the economy was in good shape, the manufacturing industry was booming, and the unemployment rate was closer to 5 percent than 10 percent. The same can’t be said now. And unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there are going to be any drastic changes in the near future. A major skilled labor shortage exists, […]
5 Reasons Business Leaders Are Short On Relationships
If you are a business professional or owner today, success is more and more about relationships. People relationships are the key to career growth, more than results, and customer relationships build brands, rather than the other way around. In this era of communication overload with many misleading messages, we have learned to count first on […]
When You Really Need To Call That Meeting, and When You’re Better Off Without it
Meetings can feel like a waste of time, and sometimes, unfortunately, they are. Ineffective meetings plague many organizations. Perhaps, at one time or another, meetings served a practical purpose and added value to everyone involved. Somewhere along the line, however, they just became a standing commitment that no one challenged