Founders, Initial Employees, and Risk A recent discussion online and several real-life conversations have had me considering the risks and rewards of founding startups as compared to being an early employee. Most of the conversation focuses on the
Not So Easy Today I heard a statement that I am hearing frequently: "It's easier than ever to start a business." This statement is usually followed by some discussion of how great Amazon Web Services is
The New Stakeholders Business Roundtable Redefines the Purpose of a Corporation to Promote ‘An Economy That Serves All Americans’This announcement by leading CEOs has certainly been a hot topic as of late. I have been
Arrogance and Humility Leadership requires being visible. We can discuss leading from in front versus leading from behind. We can also discuss leadership versus authority and many other interesting ways to discuss leadership. Through it all,
Office Space Ever since I've been in the professional workspace the open office design is all that I have known. For years now we have had research that shows that the open office is a
Product Management Reasons to Buy, Reasons to Believe When attempting to define a product, it is key to discover the core value proposition to the user or customer of the product. For many products, this results in the product developer putting
Startups and Heads of Product As I've taken the past few months off, I have been having a lot of conversations with startup CEOs about product and product management roles. Some of this has been in the potential
Startups The Bias of Success I've noted previously that 0.2% of startups have a chance of having an IPO of more than $1 billion (very different from companies that at some point were valued at more than
Product Management What is your user's problem? For product managers, the most important part of the job is truly understand what the user's problem is. It sounds easy, but in reality, understanding and defining a problem clearly is a huge
Startups Decision-Making Speed in Startups Startups are constrained by many factors. These include financial capital, team size, and speed. The ability to hire great people is constrained by both competition and by financial capital. The ability to raise
Startups Startups and the Death of Expertise There are many startup-related myths out there. These myths occur when the rare and exceptional events become assumed to be the mundane and normal. This is to be expected; if an event were
Startups Obligatory Why I Left My Job Post (Second Edition) More than six years ago, I penned my first Obligatory Why I Left My Job to Start a Blog Post. It was short and a bit confusing, upon reading it again now. Last
Perils and Powers of Pride Pride makes most of us do stupid things. I don't know the true origin of the quote, but in the context of the current discussion around harassment and assault someone said that women
Unintended Consequences I tend to believe that some government regulation is a good thing overall. Especially in today's economic situation, where fewer large companies dominate that landscape, and learning from the 2008 financial crisis, I
Levels and Title Most startups want you to believe that they have a fundamentally unique culture. This makes each company special. The reality is that most startups subscribe to the same types of standard cultural norms
Announcing Departures Over the past few months there have been quite a few departures at my place of work. It's a combination of things. Some people have been terminated, some people have left for other
Year End Reviews Year end reviews are usually terrible. It's a long complicated form from Human Resources that seems designed to be a complete CYA move. My last form had "demonstrates ethical behavior" on
management Delegation and Verification One of the fundamental challenges of management is understanding the key balance between autonomy and micromanagement. At the root of it, this is about trust. I was just reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and
hiring Take Charge, Hiring Managers I've written a lot about hiring. Hiring the right people is one of the most important things a leader can do in business. (Closely related: firing the wrong people and coaching people.) Yet,
The Daunting Odds of Venture Capital Startups The first truly massive startup win for Los Angeles: Snap, Inc. For at least my part, I hadn't expected a social network from our media- and business services-centric community. Although, to be fair,
Startups Five Things About Fundraising I've been asked a lot about my fundraising experience. With the latest e-mail, I figured a blog post would be a productive answer, by making it available to all. In no particular order,
The Perils of the Counter Offer This year has been a year of hiring. In April, we completed a reorganization fully integrating Wallaby Financial into Bankrate, Inc's Credit Card Division. When you sell your startup you know that day
High Standards, Difficult Feedback, and Letting People Go I'm way behind on my Instapaper queue, so on this week's flight I finally made it to an article from April about Donald Trump that spurred some interesting thoughts on how managers do
Hiring is Job #1 Ford used to say that "Quality is Job #1" It's a good approach, despite your viewpoint on Ford's quality control (which, even as a Ford fan, probably wasn't ranked #1). As
Home Water Usage in The Drought As a New Mexican, water conservation has been a part of my life since well before California's recent drought. Yet, despite best efforts, I have had a hard time decreasing usage, until recently.
