If you’ve been following my writing for a while, you might’ve come across a post I wrote shortly after two incongruent things happened in my life. I had a baby (my first) I started a new job at a 4 person startup as Head of Operations (not a small task) The post was titled New…
Tag: business
Your Ideas Don’t Matter
Please note: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. Thanks! Yes, that’s a bombastic title. However, the prevalence of potential entrepreneurs who fixate on ideas over execution is also extremely…
How to Scale Startup Operations
Let me start with a trite statement, so we can all agree with it and get it out of the way. Change is hard. There are, however, fundamental steps and considerations that you can take to smooth out these transitions. In this post, let’s focus on developing and implementing process into a startup that has…
Developing and Growing Corporate Culture
Please note: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. Thanks! I see some version of the following questions crop up fairly frequently, especially in the startup community, so I figured…
Got Hired At A Startup? Begin By Learning
Please note: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. Thanks! Startup people are productive go-getters that know how to scrape and grind their way to making things happen. In nearly all…
Startup Leaders: Early-Stage Must-Haves
With all that goes into getting a startup up and running, it’s easy to miss some important aspects. Below are a few things to make sure you have, and are ready to deliver on; especially as you start to staff up. Strategy Unless you’re self-funding (or at least self-seeding) this is likely something you’ll need…
The Startup Environment: It’s A Real Thing
I’ve interviewed, hired, and onboarded hundreds of startup employees. During the interview process, whenever I’m asked, “what should I know about XYZ company?”, I always tell them to be sure they truly want to work at a startup. One person’s baggage is another person’s opportunity. To me, being a part of a startup equates to…
In The Startup World, Luck Is Earned
As I have an ever-growing number of conversations with early-to-mid-stage Founders and CEOs, there’s an obvious pattern that’s emerging. Somewhere along the way, while telling the story of their startup, something gets chalked up to “catching a lucky break.” While I see value in the humility behind these statements, I think it’s important to realize…
Startup Hubris: Don’t Fall Prey To It
Luckily, there are a ton of innovative, humble, open-minded startup founders and leaders out there. However, I’ve also encountered my fair share of, what I call, “startup hubris”; when you see it, you know it. It spreads throughout the organization and typically radiates from one or more early-influencers. Once startup hubris takes hold, it’s hard…
What Incentivizes Your Startup Staff (it’s not really free beer and ping pong)
It’s easy to get caught up in the (by now cliche?) norms of startup life. The standing desks and open-office layout abound in a variety of snacks, catered lunches, breakout spaces, beer, cold brew on tap, and the list goes on. I would never promote getting rid of these perks; I think they’re important. What…