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As a former IBM executive, I used to think that big-company executives would be ideally skilled and experienced in business to run a small company or a startup. Yet that rarely happens, and when it does, like John Sculley moving from Pepsi to Apple, the results don’t turn out so positive. I see thi Read More

In my experience as a business and entrepreneur advisor over many years, I’m convinced that the days of the “command and control” business leader are gone. Your employees have higher expectations of you than just defining their job – they want inspiration, motivation, and purpose. They respond with Read More

In my experience, the Silicon Valley startup model, focused on disrupting established industries, has treated the USA well and created some great global businesses. Yet many of you are telling me that we are all missing big opportunities by not recognizing the unique challenges faced by startups in Read More

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. If you ask them for a reason, most will insist that they couldn’t get funding, or they ran out of money too early. But I’m not convinced that it’s as simple as that. Many are just not facing the reali Read More

Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. In reality, more features will more likely make the product confusing and less usable to all. Focus is the art of limit Read More

Believe it or not, it pays to think about your exit strategy before you start a business, just like buying a house. Is it an investment, do you want to flip it, or do you plan to live there forever? For entrepreneurs seeking investors like me, it’s especially critical, since investors want to see a Read More

You can’t make any business work if your customers can’t find you, or don’t even know what you offer. Thus I was surprised to read a while back that 30 percent of small businesses don’t even have a web site. As an advisor to new entrepreneurs, I’m also surprised at how many potential business owner Read More

Being “street smart,” or able to anticipate and deal with daily business problems and surprises, is generally recognized as a critical skill to have for business owners and entrepreneurs. Most investors say they can recognize this capability when they see it, but it’s hard to define if you haven’t Read More

Attracting the right customers is the key to success in business, whether you have a new startup or a mature enterprise. In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often see struggling businesses trying to be too many things for too many people, resulting in customer confusion, initiatives execut Read More

We all have blind spots – things you don’t see despite your best intentions to observe the world changing around you. In business, these can quickly take you off the growth track, even as you work harder and harder. In my role as startup and small business advisor, it’s my job to help you see more Read More