Category: Growth Phase

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…

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When Service Companies Build a Product

Service companies traditionally have low gross profit margins as compared to tech companies, especially software. That’s because services require human bodies to deliver most of what the customers are paying…

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short meetings

Mastering the 30-Minute Meeting

For much of my career, a one-hour meeting was the norm.  But in the world of startups, 30 minutes is all you get most of the time for sessions with…

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startup revenue growth

Launching New Growth Engines

All startups that get a product in the market with paying customers do a variety of things to boost their sales.  After initial product-market fit and a repeatable customer acquisition…

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startup advisors - Corporate Execs Advise Startups

When Corporate Execs Advise Startups

I regularly get introduced to a career corporate execs that has an interest in mentoring or advising startups. Oftentimes, it is because the executive recently retired or is planning to…

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startup board members

Early Stage Board Composition

Upon a startup’s incorporation, their attorney usually helps establish a board of directors (aka – the “board”), even if a solo founder is the only board member.  The company’s bylaws…

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international expansion for startups

The Complexities of International Expansion

Are you a startup founder in the US dreaming of expanding your business globally? International expansion can be an exciting venture, but it’s crucial to understand the complexities and risks…

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sales commissions

Major Milestones Along the Path to $100M

Growing a tech startup to $100 million in annual revenues requires a strategic company roadmap and overcoming significant milestones. In this comprehensive guide, startup founders, advisors, and early-stage investors will…

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startup chaos

Always on the Verge of Out-of-Control

I regularly hear startup founders longing for the day when they reach $1 million in annual revenue. They proclaim how much easier everything will then be. But I also regularly…

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Firing a Cofounder

How to Part Ways with a Co-Founder

It royally sucks when a founding team reaches a point where they decide they can no longer work together. This is especially true after a year or more of really…

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startup mistakes

Accumulated By-the-Book Debt Will Eventually Come Due

In the earliest days of a startup, the founders are hugely optimistic and driven.  But they also know about the low odds of reaching the point of having paying customers…

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startup runway

A Startup’s Most Valuable Resource

When I ask entrepreneurs what their most valuable resource is, I ALWAYS get one of two responses: money (aka – funding, cash) or people.  And it’s hard to argue about…

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startup runway

Importance of the Time-to-Value Metric

What do buying a new smartphone and being given a gift card have in common?  In both cases you want to extract value as soon as possible.  With the gift…

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marketplace expansion

Expanding Beyond Your Home Market (Marketplaces)

Online marketplaces are being created for just about anything you can think of.  Some have a local services component on one side of the marketplace that carries an extra burden…

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first board meeting

Your First Board Meeting

When you first incorporated as a C-corporation, probably only you and your co-founder were named as board members. You never really had official meetings or voted on anything, that you…

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legal costs

10 Tips for Controlling Legal Costs

It’s amazing how quickly legal costs can add up. If you’re running a startup, it’s possible that your legal costs are second or third highest amongst all of your expenses....

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Visualizing the Interactions Between CAC, Churn and LTV

Visualizing the Interactions Between CAC, Churn and LTV

Anyone that has taken an accounting class or learned basic business financials knows the interaction between key elements of a P&L (revenue, cost, expense) and a balance sheet (assets, liabilities,…

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MBO bonus plan

MBOs Demystified

“Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome” is a quote from Charlie Munger often used to describe the direct relationship between special compensation and behavior. Certain roles…

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startup scalability

The Difference Between Growth and Scalability

I often hear startup founders say things like “We want to scale” or “We scaled a lot in the past six months.” In most cases, they should have used the…

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raising prices

Thought About Raising Your Prices Lately?

Effective pricing strategy involves part art and part science.  But it’s not a “set it and forget it” aspect of your business plan.  Once you start getting some traction for…

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Why Use a GPS When a Compass Will Do

Why Use a GPS When a Compass Will Do?

I guess the corollary to this could be “don’t use a compass when the precision of a GPS is needed”.  In fact, the main point is to use the best…

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tracking progress

A Simple Back-of-Napkin Assessment of Company Progress

I don’t have anything against a traditional SWOT analysis but recently found myself helping a couple of startups figure out how they are progressing against their business plan and vision. …

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startup metrics

You Never Know What Operational Metrics You’ll Need – So Instrument Everything

It happens over and over and over again.  A company has a successful growth spurt and is ready to ratchet up to the next level.  They are sitting around a…

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