How to Know if You Have ADD and What to Do About It

Let me start the post with three statements

Why I Fucking Hate Unicorns and the Culture They Breed

Something is rotten in tech startup land. Don’t call me a hater for saying so. It’s not that I’m anti innovation or a disbeliever in disruption or calling it a full-scale bubble or saying every darling startup is going to fail. None of…

One Simple Paragraph Every Entrepreneur Should Add to Their Convertible Notes

I’m so tired of seeing young entrepreneurs get screwed by their angel investors on convertible notes and I know I can’t convince you not to do it so I’d like to offer one simple bit of advice to…

When Should You Allow Exclusivity in Deals?

I’ve heard many investors and some executives repeat the mantra, “Never offer exclusive deals,” and since this blanket statement is generally bad advice I thought I’d offer the less conventional but I believe more practical version of why exclusive deals…

Why Lawsuits Are On the Rise at Startups and What To Do About It

*

Lawsuits. I’m so tired of the nature of the legal system in the United States where bullying, intimidation and mobster-like shake-downs are becoming prevalent. As I write these words I…

The Loneliness of Success that Nobody Talks About

Yesterday I saw two biopic films: “Amy” about the life of Jazz sensation Amy Winehouse who died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 and “Montage of Heck” about the life of Kurt Cobain, the grunge-rock generational voice who died of an…

What I’ve Learned About Venture Funding

VC funding.

Our perspectives on the topic wax and wane with market cycles. We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor “over funding” until we get huge distribution & ring the bell for more funding until we…

How Great, Operationally-Focused CFO’s Can Transform Your Business

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense…

What is it Like to Negotiate a VC Round?

Over the years I’ve written extensively about the downsides of convertible notes for…

Why Successful People Focus on the Bottom End of the Funnel

Business leaders have many tasks to accomplish and prioritizing stuff can be hard. Yesterday I wrote about the need to “do fewer things, more often” in which I described that frenzied world we live in and why the shiny objects…