When we talk about retaining employees, what we’re really discussing are incentives that are effective and how to operationalize them. Regardless of the organization, having clear and influential mission and values is paramount. Ultimately, it comes down to understanding who has joined your company and why. As to not regurgitate much of what I’ve said in the articles…
Tag: communication
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
I see some version of the following questions crop up fairly frequently, especially in the startup community, so I figured I’d take a moment to share a few thoughts. The questions go something like this: How should we take steps to implement a healthy corporate culture that will strengthen as we grow? If we’ve taken…
On Building Credibility
Being credible at any stage, but especially as a startup Credibility manifests itself in different ways, whether in reference to a person or an entity, with values that are shared or unshared, and any sort of historical context or existing relationships between the parties. Webster’s defines credibility as–I’m kidding, I’m only kidding! Read on, discerning…
Lessons Learned From A Young Leader and Founder
With over a decade of hindsight since my first role as a leader at a very successful startup, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the mistakes I made and challenges I faced. The points below are specific to my experience, but hopefully have broad applications. In an effort to keep this from becoming ten…
Startup Leaders: Get These Things Right For Your Staff
It’s easy to chalk certain things up to being at a startup. With everyone being stretched for time and resources, leadership often misuses the concept of “that just comes with the territory” to shirk certain responsibilities. It’s imperative that leaders get certain fundamentals right and make small, consistent, incremental improvements. Here are a few areas…
Startups: The Case For Keeping Things Simple
Yes, this blog is very simple and that’s on purpose. Decluttering and getting back to fundamentals is a theme in my life; and I impart that on this blog very intentionally. What you’ll find below is not a framework for avoiding difficult or complex situations. You will, however, find suggestions for making the complicated seem…
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…