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What do we Founders “owe” our employees? For all of the work they invest, what return should they rightfully expect on that effort? Who determines that payback, and how do we determine what’s sufficient?

Aggregate statistics for all LA funding deals by stage of funding (Early, Series A, Series B, & Late) including mention of notable rounds for August 2020.

By way of background, I’m a former Goldman Sachs equity analyst. So, IMHO, I appreciate the fundamentals of stock valuation and stock markets. When the markets started rising sharply in April, I wrote “7 Reasons Why The Stock Market Is Going Up While The Economy’s Imploding” to understand what many, including myself, were finding so […]

I’m about to fold the tents on my startup and I’m super stressed about talking to my investors. What’s the best way to break it to them that things didn’t work out? Are they going to jump down my throat or is there some way to walk away gracefully?

2019 was the year when VCs and startup founders soured on paid acquisition. Contrary to what most thought a few years back, CAC (cost of acquiring a customer) didn’t go down as many D2C startups scaled. The costs instead went up. The explosion of D2C brands and mega-rounds of funding led to massive amounts of […]

Starting a new business is fraught with challenges, and none of us has the bandwidth to kill them all. As an advisor to business owners and an occasional angel investor, my job is to separate the actual challenges from the common misconceptions that distract many promising entrepreneurs while building the leadership team required for your […]

True business success and leadership starts with real personal values, extends to building a team, and finally to inspiring customers and your community. That’s a huge leap from an entrepreneurial idea, to a product, to making money. Is it any wonder that the majority of startups fail? My job as a new business advisor is […]

With a 126 percent increase in stolen sensitive personal information, there is a growing population out there worried about all the people intent on hurting them.