Startup hiring is hard. The stakes are high, the signals are messy, and the margin for error is razor-thin. Founders need people who can move fast, wear multiple hats, and handle ambiguity without hand-holding. But too often, hiring decisions are made on gut feel, resumés, or whatever happens to surface first in a noisy application pile. The result? Wasted time. … Read More
Business is often more art than science. The art of building a team can be likened to that of conducting a choir, where the conductor must harmonize various components to create a unified and powerful performance. The conductor of a choir and a team leader share a similar vision and purpose. The conductor’s primary role is to guide the choir … Read More
I asked a lawyer acquaintance if he had ever lost an argument with his wife. He had to think about it. He eventually answered “yes,” but it wasn’t convincing. I figured as much. He’s a bit of a narcissist. We’ve run into them throughout our careers. The people who genuinely think the world revolves around them. Like many personality types, … Read More
No, not that kind of jerk, I mean the dreaded office a-hole. When getting a university degree in business, computer science, engineering, or most subjects, the soft skills that are foundational for relationship building—and for much of a person’s success in life—are often ignored. Not only do we not spend much time studying how to build and maintain relationships, but … Read More
Like a lot of startups, we looked at our banking situation with the news that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in the United States went belly up. The failures highlight our complicated relationship with banks and bankers but provide valuable lessons for tech startups and business leaders. There is now concern about more bank failures and the overall … Read More
March 15 is the ides of March. It’s the day in 44 BCE that Julius Cesar met an unceremonious end at the pointy part of Roman senators’ sharp daggers. Around 60 to 70 senators are thought to have been in on the plot. William Shakespeare made the whole thing famous, along with the quote, E tu Brute, which you are … Read More
Dating sucks. Okay, let’s refine that one. Dating sucks, except for the genetic freaks that would qualify to be on Love Island. They are not bereft of choice. Still, even for them, the odds may be good, but the goods may be odd. For B2B tech startups or any business looking into new markets, the behavior of potential clients is … Read More
“I wish my neuroses were more productive.” That’s a joke I share with my friends. To be honest, It isn’t always a joke. I listen to podcasts, read the Harvard Business Review, and see the latest books about how to improve productivity, create new habits, and do the things that will really make me a better human being—or at least … Read More
If you have played with Chat GPT, an artificial intelligence writing tool, one thing immediately comes to mind: you wouldn’t want to be a copywriter right now. ChatGPT is a large language model that can generate human-like text based on the input it receives. It is unique in its ability to complete a wide variety of language-based tasks, from answering … Read More
In our last post we touched on the 3 most common mistakes bootstrapped founders make when trying to transition out of founder-led sales and make their first sales hire [when they’re not necessarily quite ready to do so]. As mitigation against those common mistakes, we put forward the concept of finding a “diamond in the rough” – someone not necessarily … Read More
