Back when I was working in Chicago at a late stage startup, I used to have great conversations with the president of the company about our various approaches to managing businesses. We shared war stories, ramblings about taxation in US and EU, and the software developers’ versions of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. But one thing that stuck with me was his statement: “this company will never own a foosball table, because every company I have seen own one went under months after purchasing it”. [READ MORE]

A problem we’ve all seen too often is when a product or service is dreamed up, and no one wants to buy it. Most of us can list four or five examples of this right away. These duds should have been abandoned before too much time and money was invested. What are the two major causes of this problem? [READ MORE]

I read a Wall Street Journal article today, titled The New Résumé: Dumb and Dumber - Job Seekers Play Down Their Credentials to Avoid Looking Overqualified," that really struck a nerve with me. This issue is not exclusive to Baby Boomer and… [READ MORE]

One of my favorite books is Sun Tzu's Art of War. I have read it several times and is one of my top 5 favorite books. Although the teachings are very old (6th century BC), there is much that can be applied to the modern day hyper-competitive business environment. Here are some of the lessons I have learned... [READ MORE]

Entrepreneurship is what keeps this country afloat even in these bad economic times. It is a known fact that small businesses create more jobs than the big boys. Entrepreneurship has also jump-started the economies of countries that escaped the oppression of murderous regimes. People striking out on their own create value, jobs, and wealth for everyone around them and this is an absolutely applaudable achievement. But, why do we glorify the entrepreneur way of life and less than 5% success ratio, rather than looking at what mistakes those 95%+ who failed made, publicizing them, and making sure the new crop never repeats again? [READ MORE]

One of the things I have learned early in my career (and marriage) is that acknowledging your mistakes and working to not repeat them is what helps one move forward and evolve. In my professional life I have seen some spectacular failures. Some of the most memorable ones were committed by business professionals who apparently were never taught that there is nothing wrong with making mistakes, but it is absolutely malicious to not admit your faults and attempt to cover up your mistakes. [READ MORE]

Like many of you in the startup world, I have read and signed my share of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). I have reviewed, edited, and sent hundreds of them in my career, but I am yet to come across one that really serves anyone but the lawyers who charged dearly to write it. So, why don’t we stop wasting our money on having attorneys fill in one of their NDA templates, and write one that is understandable to everyone. Yes, let your lawyer look it over, but don’t allow him/her to insert any words your grandma would not understand. Here is how I would write my NDAs [READ MORE]

As some of you may already know, I am an avid “car guy” and starting my third season of autocross competitions (an auto sport, for those not familiar I have included a video below of what it is like). I did well in the races when I lived in Chicago, but encountered much more skilled competition when I moved to Boston, and it’s taken me awhile to move up the competitive ladder here. As I was recently pondering my strategy and goals for the season, I realized that some of the rules of racing are also very useful analogies for the world of leading companies (especially startups). Here is a sampling of several things I learned in racing that directly apply to business: [READ MORE]

As we watch the news and pandemonium the media is creating about the swine flu today, it should remind entrepreneurs that disaster planning is no joke. Of all the entrepreneurs I have asked about disaster preparedness in the last couple of years, 9 out of 10 said they were not worried and did not have a disaster recovery plan or business continuity plan… heck, they think nothing will ever happen to them! But disasters happen all the time, whether it be a tornado hitting Chicago, an earthquake in San Francisco, or the power going out on the East Coast - real and unexpected disasters happen all the time. [READ MORE]

Today on Twitter I was led to a post by Mike Hudack (CEO of blip.tv) and found a diagram called "Am I fit for startups". Big part of the reason I chose to write this post is because we have too many people thinking they’re entrepreneurs. They see an over-glorified simplification of what it takes to succeed and jump in lacking a full understanding. Too many naïve (often young and inexperienced) folks get into entrepreneurship and cost vendors, creditors, investors, and themselves money and real resources. [READ MORE]

One of the most common complaints I hear from people is that their leaders do not respond quickly enough to their emails, which makes them feel like they are not getting enough guidance. Yes, it does take two to tango, but many times the blame is squarely on the sender of the message. I have never had a hard time getting through to my C-suite, partners, or other extremely busy individuals. [READ MORE]

Last week I was reading quick news tidbit about how Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, boogied down to Kentucky to work shoulder to shoulder with his hourly distribution center employees. No cameras, no PR, just good ol' manual labor. We need to see more of this! Whether you’re an executive at a small or large company, you will lead better if you get down into the trenches. I have always preached and practiced that you can't lead if you have no dirt under your nails! Here’s why: [READ MORE]

HR, as a profession, is on its way out. Those who claim to be "good old school HR professionals,” should start looking for a new career or drastically change their thinking. In contrast, Human Capital professionals who “get it” are on the rise. Companies are no longer willing to pay for simple paper pushers or resume screeners in HR - they want results. [READ MORE]

We have heard many “war stories” from startups navigating “stormy waters” while managing their legions of freelancers, corp-2-corps, and other suppliers. The younger and leaner your startup, the more crucial these relationships are to the survival of your business. Doing things right from the very beginning will save you some sleepless nights and money. Here are some things I learned from my own experiences and "war stories" from other experts in… [READ MORE]

As someone who is very technical, but also a business person to the core, I have had to straddle the two worlds of IT and business my entire career. I have to admit, us technical people, well... we can be cocky, snotty, and righteous, and us business people, well we can be demanding, impatient, inflexible, and righteous as well. So how can we keep these cats and dogs happy with each other? [READ MORE]

In the last 12 years, I watched the market change as often as a teenager’s mood-swings. What was hot yesterday is old news today. From technologies to methodologies, change is constant and accelerating with every passing day. No one is immune, be it startups or the big boys. The survival of organizations depends on flexibility, adaptability, and sustainable costs. So why do so many companies still hire specialists? [READ MORE]

Sometimes it is worth examining your “scars” to figure out what you could have done to avoid getting hurt in the first place.  I have been part of two ventures that failed and several that have been great successes… [READ MORE]

I’ve recently noticed several online fiascos in which professionals from different industries started to duke it out in public (via Twitter, blogs, or personal sites) without really thinking about the consequences of their actions. I will not mention names or provide a link to the stories, because I do not want to provide additional “Google juice” to these events. But there were journalists duking it out with PR people, lawyers… [READ MORE]

Everywhere you turn, more and more people are talking about the “free-agency” attitude of many professionals. The greater the demand of their skills, the less likely they will be loyal to their employer. I have a number of friends and acquaintances in high demand fields and I keep hearing stories about why they will “only do corp-to-corp” (independent consulting). This free-agency mentality is a direct backlash to poor human capital… [READ MORE]

I recently went to an event (which I will leave unnamed) that made me very angry. I like going to events that have a presentation on interesting topics (in this case, a panel on private equity) and networking afterwards because I get to learn something new and meet people… [READ MORE]

 So, while reading his “wake up call of a book” for entrepreneurs, I came across a great sentence: ”The purpose of cash cows is to fund new calves”. Yes! Another kick in the behind to liberate an article from my draft folder!
Let us begin! I would like to expand the idea to: “Cash cows inevitably die, and the ones without healthy offspring take the farm down with them.”
Some executives not only dump all their resources on “cash cows”, but also segregate them and poach resources from other units. To justify their actions they use absurd levels of “analysis paralysis” level formulas and theories lacking logic. These actions deprive their organization of larger AND long-term success. What a bunch of shortsighted baloney!
Here are my quick thoughts on how to help organizations increase their ability to succeed short and long-term [READ MORE]

Have you ever wondered why so many great entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs tend to sport more gray hair than usual, even in their early 30s?  It is because the best ones get it! One of the main things that keep us awake late at night is the worry that our talent may bail on us or we may not be able to find the right people to join us. It is much harder to find great employees than it is to find capital. Now, I am not an expert on manufacturing, but in knowledge-based businesses, people are the biggest investment. [READ MORE]

I am often asked what I do for a living and since I am not a PR or marketing professional, describing what I do to an "outsider" is challenging at times. I can hide all I want behind my resume and a great group of people I have worked with, but in order to further enhance my network, I must "translate" the role of a business operations leader to those in other professions. [READ MORE]

During my career I have become very successful at keeping the number of uncollected accounts to a minimum (in one company we had only one invoice we had to write off). Collections definitely rates in the  top 3 of  the most undesirable duties, but there are ways to minimize the pain. The best way to do so is by implementing tough practices that send a message out there: "we are serious about delivering what we have promised and we expect the same from you". Here are some of my techniques [READ MORE]

Corporate social responsibility is a hot topic these days at large companies. There is a growing contingent of investors who are no longer just after returns, they also want to be associated with companies that do "good". I want to focus on what can be done at the startup level, when you are just building out your corporate culture. I am a strong believer that philanthropy needs to be… [READ MORE]

Let me start with a very strong statement. Not providing employees with healthcare insurance is absolutely reckless! It is complete nonsense to say that there are no affordable options. Actions speak louder than words.  If a company is not providing health benefits to their employees, they don't care enough about their people and they deserve high attrition rates. We demand more and more from our people every day… [READ MORE]

So, you are a newly-minted CEO of a company. You got your investors to bet on you and now everyone wants to see how that roll of the dice will play out. You know what a COO (DOO or Ops person) is, but if I asked you what exactly his/her “magic” is, I know I will hear plethora of musings. Close… but no cigar. That is too bad, because your operations head and his/her team are the backbone of your organization. So, let me enlighten you with what drives us, and why we are probably the most valuable and loyal members of your executive team. The best way I help others understand the value of an operations expert is by telling a story. Back when I was a 20-something punk full of ego and bravado, I was working for a great company as an operations manager. Jan was my boss and mentor. She never spared me candor or sugarcoated anything, and I felt respected by her.

I remember when I left my parents' nest in '95 and went to college. E-mail was a new concept for my late father, but he wanted to stay in touch... so he had his admin type up his e-mails to me, as he dictated them. Guess what, I knew he was not writing those emails because they were missing the real tough language he always used! Do you think your audience… [READ MORE]

I have attended a garden variety of sales training seminars and classes throughout my career. Almost all of the techniques taught these days focus on "taking control" of your client, putting them in a place where they have no choice but to buy from you, etc, etc, etc. No wonder companies are losing their current customers in droves and can't find new perspective customers. This is NOT the way you should run your business and client development. Here are my thoughts on how we can keep our customers and snag a few new ones to keep us humming in these times [READ MORE]

About a year ago, I had to seriously plan my move to Boston. From selling our digs in Chicago (in a dead market, mind you), to figuring out which company to join in Boston, it wasn't easy. As I was sitting in the office of Joel B. (one of the founders of Geneca) having really good conversation, he gave me a book. It was called "Who Moved My Cheese?: An… [READ MORE]

With the Detroit big 3 going under (for a very good reason - lack of flexibility), much has been said about unions and their impact on industries. I don't care to have a discussion on this blog about the benefits and disadvantages of the unions. They are irrelevant in most of the stratup world. But, I do want to talk about specialization and how it has no place in lean… [READ MORE]

Some of you may remember viral video of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer running on the stage during keynote at a software developers conference in a sweat-drenched shirt yelling his heart out “Developers! Developers! Developers!”. I bet he remembered all those failures where ideas of mighty Microsoft failed to gain market traction. Anyone remembers Microsoft Bob? As you watch this short video of Steve Ballmer, in your mind change his words to “Paying customers! Paying customers! Paying customers!” Key to your idea being anything more than just another worthless filing in the USPTO are paying customers. Better yet, paying customers who evangelize your product. [READ MORE]

This topic has been in my drafts folder for a while. I take it to heart, because I find it important not to repeat mistakes I have seen others and myself make. My father always used to stress that he succeeded, because he chose to learn from mistakes of others rather than have to learn from making his own. Here is a sampling of some of the biggest mistakes leaders of… [READ MORE]

I came across a fantastic post on Justin Levy's That’s Great PR! blog. Since the most successful startups are in constant mode of evolution, internal communications are crucial. We can't afford to not have 100% of our team behind us. The subject of internal marketing and communication strategies is important in any economy. One of the biggest branding/marketing failures I have seen in my career was due to decisions made in… [READ MORE]

We are going through Bubble 2.0. You would think we would have learned from the last bubble. There are ominous news everywhere, but I say it is just a correction that was long overdue (again). And again, just like last time, this correction will separate real leaders from those who just managed to BS their way into investors' checkbooks. "Runways" have gotten much shorter and investors are no longer willing to… [READ MORE]

I was reading "Failure as an event" post on Seth Godin's blog. After self-deprecating himself talking about 20+ large entrepreneurial failures he was part of, Seth shared some of the lessons he has learned. The biggest one that caught my eye was: "Being the dumbest partner in a room of smart

My late father used to say that great idea is the one that many people come up with independently. So as I was watching MythBusters on the Discover Channel (my favorite show), reading David Armano's blog post about unconventional marketing, and listening to Stephen Shapiro (innovation consultant) talk at our Revolve Nation entrepreneur networking event, I realized something that I have been practicing for a long time. Stephen Shapiro calls it "failing cheaply". [READ MORE]

Last November I was interviewing with a very stealthy (for a very good reason) startup in Boston. During my conversation with now my good friend Ellen (she is very stealthy too, so I will skip last name), I asked her what her title was. Her answer was something that has stuck with… [READ MORE]

While on my vacation in La Jolla, I was able to catch up to some great blog posts I bookmarked in the last month. I follow Jeremiah Owyang via Twitter and I read almost all of his blog posts. One that just caught my eye was How To Evolve Your Irrelevant Corporate Website. The thought that struck me was that for the longest time so many organizations have been spending… [READ MORE]

After spending some years with different types of companies, I feel the need to share lessons I have learned, mistakes I made, and successes that kept me going. You can expect me to provide you with extremely candid reviews, thoughts, and suggestions. I am not known to sugar-coat, so if you can't stand the heat - get out of the kitchen. [READ MORE]