Between 2016 and 2018 I attended Stanford University for a series of continuing educational courses on entrepreneurship and design thinking. My goal was to sharpen the tools in my tool belt, meet some incredibly gifted and motivated classmates, and hopefully walk away with a clearer understanding of how to tackle today’s most pressing entrepreneurial challenges …
Sterilize. Sanitize. Disinfect. Decontaminate. Wipe Down. Rinse Off. Repeat. Welcome to the Contam Culture – a new “normal” modus operandi if you will, we’ve been forced to accept in a pandemic induced world. As the weeks become months under the quarantined, sheltered, physically-distanced era, businesses and consumers have had to adapt to this radical shift …
Startups are not only a biggest test of our abilities to execute on a market hunch, but more deeply, the limitations of our own mind. They fully test everything we think we know about ourselves — from our deepest fears to our highest hopes — and most startups fail in the mind first, and the market second. …
Ad: One of my favorite past times is reading books on business, marketing and behavioral economics. I’ve recently come across a book over the holiday break that hit the nail on the head in today’s over saturated product world. Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland, https://amzn.to/2tnIU7Q, is not just a fun read (it literally had me …
Startups — The Ultimate Video Game It’s the end of the year — end of a decade to be exact — and that’s the time when many Founders find themselves asking the hardest question that they’ll ever face — should I just give up on my startup? After running four startups, managing teams, and seeing …
What’s the power of a thought? Everywhere we turn we hear the advice, recommendations, opinions and suggestions of others — imploring us to focus harder, try with more gusto, defy the odds stacked against us, build the resolve to never give up — good advice we can usually all agree is needed to accomplish any …
WHAT? YOU DON’T LOVE MY IDEA? To Survive a Startup, First, Kill Your Ego If you’re the type of person, like I was in my 20s, who was seeking encouragement from others to continually reinforce your ideas, beliefs and path, get ready to get shook up when you start a company. Encouragement comes and goes, …
What truly sets an Entrepreneur apart? Her ability to imagine what could be, and more importantly, her unwavering drive to bring forth a new reality to ameliorate the world. This quote by George Bernard Shaw inspired me to become an #entrepreneur when I was 19 years old. Sometimes all it takes in life is one phrase, one …
Can’t find your passion? Don’t worry. My Father used to tell me, “Do what you love in life, and the money will follow.” There’s some truth in that. For me however, I discovered a passion for the entrepreneurial journey, not just the product I was selling, the industry I was serving, or the …
Failure is not a final destination (unless you choose it to be) — failure is an endless journey that moves us continually, and uncomfortably forward, not backwards. Every entrepreneur with a failure under his/her belt has at least a half dozen excuses for why the dream just never materialized. Shoulda, coulda, woulda…dissolved. Failure is a …
I’ve had the pleasure recently to become an advisor for a Venture Capital firm in Silicon Valley, helping their portfolio companies grow and navigate early stage obstacles. This has taken up a lot of my free time, in addition to other consulting projects, but I’m back here to help my many followers around the globe navigate their startups during these moments!
Over the coming weeks, I will break down some of the top questions (and answer them) that I am frequently asked by entrepreneurs including the following areas:
- How to launch an effective Go-To-Marketing campaign.
- How to set up a sales cycle that delivers measurable results in rapid time.
- How to build credibility as a startup that instills confidence with other companies to partner with you.
- How to motivate early stage employees and set up the proper compensation strategies to align objectives.
There are many more different challenges founders face at every level - from ideation to go-to-market to scaling to profitability and exit - and I’ll be covering these very soon.
Stay tuned! 👆🏼
#startups #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurlife #business
Actions win markets. Business Plans win competitions.
#qotd #mondaymotivation #entrepreneurship #startups #founders #thoughtoftheday
Yesterday I had the privilege to sit down (virtually) with two founders who are running companies in the online grocery delivery and offsite construction management space.
Two very different verticals, serving very different customers (B2C and B2B), but both growing quickly (despite the current economic climate).
The companies are part of the portfolio of a Silicon Valley seed venture capital firm I am advising.
We covered a range of topics ranging from high level branding, down to unit-economics, user journey mapping, and deploying digital advertising campaigns that truly move the needle.
One thing that impressed me about these founders was their focus on creating great companies, built to endure.
The founders demonstrated a focus on both the little details to ensure an incredible customer on-boarding experience today, while also keeping the larger (future long-range) vision in their sights.
Above all, they were open to learning and asked a lot of unique questions - two undervalued traits I believe great founders possess.
Being inquisitive and open to feedback is a formula for success.
Early stage companies are experimental by design - iterations are certainly part of the formula to success - but moreover for a CEO, developing the ability to zoom quickly in and out of the micro and macro to see the entire picture of the solution they are building, helps maximize early wins and prepares their ventures for scalability.
#startups #entrepreneurship #CEO #venturecapital #nostartupleftbehind
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