6 Problems Investors Can’t Live With
New entrepreneurs often seem to confuse viability with fundability. Certainly a non-viable business should be not fundable, but many viable businesses are also not fundable. Thus when an investor declines…
11 Signs You’re One of the Best Entrepreneurs
At some point in their life, hopefully, everyone strives to be the best in their chosen profession. Most people think that being the best requires more intelligence, more training, and…
How Can You Run a Company if You Can’t Run Your Life?
People who can’t manage their own lives don’t make good entrepreneurs. Small businesses require multi-tasking, work prioritization, and decision-making, with no entourage of assistants and specialists. That’s why Fortune 500…
I.N.N.O.V.A.T.I.O.N. in Ten Steps
Continuous innovation is required to survive in all businesses, beginning with your startup, and increasing in importance as your business matures. Technologists often insist that new things can’t be invented…
The World Doesn’t Owe You Funding
Where did this pervasive sense of entitlement in our culture come from? I’ve written about this before, but I was surprised again recently at a conference for startups when a…
Don’t Bug Investors With Your Idea Before It’s a Plan
Every investor gets pitched with at least ten “hot ideas” for every one actual “plan” for a viable business. That’s why I often say that ideas are worth nothing until…
8 Signs of Trouble in Startup Paradise
Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. At first, all parties are in dreamland, with a vision of changing the world, having lots of fun, and raking…
12 Ways to Put the Customer First
I often deal with early-stage startups, and many of these don’t have any customers yet (but wish they did), so it’s not surprising they still don’t think of customers as…
Hire and Nurture the Right Startup Team
Helpers do what you say, while good help does what you need, without you saying anything. People who can help you the most are actually smarter than you, at least…
Pass These Ten Tests Before Starting a Company
Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. Yet there is no standardized testing or certification required or available anywhere…