Companies Are Bought, Not Sold

By now this nugget of startup wisdom should be well known: Companies are bought, not sold. And yet many entrepreneurs sadly don’t seem to act accordingly (and Silicon Valley, in all it’s glory, doesn’t foster good behavior as well).

This is Everything

A while ago I stumbled upon a simple formula which summarizes all that counts. It’s straight out of the handbook of the US Navy Seals.

The Magnitude of the Challenge multiplied by the Intensity of the Attack equals your Rate of Growth.

Walk Towards The Problem

Yesterday a former colleague of mine told me the story of a friend who used to worked in a restaurant. Every time he saw a problem, say a table not being waited, a guest looking for help or food being ready and not served — he made an effort to walk toward the problem.

How to Open Your Pitch

Over the last couple of years I have heard many, many pitches. Some were great, some were good and sadly too many were pretty poor. One of the consistent mistakes I see people make, is to not tell the audience what they are doing in the first few sentences of their pitch.

Impatient Patience

Did you know that Twitter struggled for the first two years of its existence to find users? Pinterest was deemed a failure until it wasn’t, years after it’s inception. Larry Page nearly sold the algorithm which made Google the most valuable company on the planet for $1.6M to Excite.

A Goal Setting Primer

Recently I read up quite a bit on goal setting. The elusive process of crafting the right set of objectives which move you and your team forward, make you reach for the stars and drive success.

Building Financial Models Must Not Be Hard

One of the common pitfalls for entrepreneurs who are pitching their company for funding is the financial model — mostly the question of (addressable) market and their revenue projections.

This is Everything

A while ago I stumbled upon a simple formula which summarizes all that counts. I believe it came out of the US Marine Corps — but can’t find the reference anymore, so take the source with a grain of salt…

First Impressions Are Paramount

By now we all know that first impressions count. People make up their mind fast — the common advice you hear is the 7-second rule: You have seven seconds to make your first (and somewhat lasting) impression. Newer research indicates that you might have even less time. A lot…