ARTICLES ON TOPICS ALL FOUNDERS NEED TO KNOW

silly startup case studies

Silly Startup Case Study Ideas

University entrepreneurship professors often tell me that many of their students struggle to come up with a good startup case study idea to use for some aspect of the course….

Read More
ROI

How to Think About Product ROI

In an era dominated by fast-paced technology innovation, every product purchase decision is greatly influenced by a crucial metric: Return on Investment (ROI). As organizations navigate the labyrinth of choices…

Read More
how venture capital funds work

How Venture Funds Work

Most successful tech startups end up sitting across the table from a venture capital (VC) fund somewhere along their journey. With a little luck, they also enter into negotiations about…

Read More
event networking

Best Practices for Networking at an Event

Founders are regularly told they need to network like crazy in order to be successful.  On the surface, that sounds like going to a bunch of events and meeting a…

Read More
CEO

Extending Longevity for First-Time CEOs

“Do you want to be rich or the perpetual king/queen?” That’s a question an investor might ask a first-time founding CEO. What they’re trying to determine is if the founder…

Read More
land and expand sales

Explaining the Land-and-Expand Sales Strategy

All startups want to maximize their revenue from each customer they secure. But for B2B startups that target enterprises, achieving that swing-for-the-fence maximum with the initial deal is practically impossible….

Read More

FREE ONLINE COURSES

Dramatically improve your odds of success from self-paced learning

IMPROVE YOUR FUNDRAISING SUCCESS

Learn the secrets and tools used by successful startup fundraisers

BIO

I’ve been advising startups for more almost 25 years.  During that time I have made more than 500 investments in early-stage companies as a venture fund manager and angel investor, and have been involved with raising more than $150 million in growth and venture capital as a company executive, fund manager, board director, and active advisor.  From my 28-year career as an operator in high tech companies, I have an IPO and a $200-million acquisition exit under my belt.  Now, as co-founder and chairman of Austin’s Capital Factory and through my content creation practice, Shockwave Innovations, I have the pleasure of spending 100 percent of my time educating, advising, and investing in startups.
READ MORE

RESOURCES FOR STARTUPS