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…
Tag: staff
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…
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…
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…