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Based on my experience as a business advisor, I’m convinced that most startup investors invest in the entrepreneur, as much as a solution or product. In that context, I’ve long realized that some players seem to command real attention, even if their proposal sounds far-fetched or very risky. The at Read More

Does your business always seem to be trying to catch up with new competitors and changes in the marketplace? One of the things I learned from my years in Silicon Valley is that you must always focus on three steps ahead, as well as on what exists today. For most businesses, that means a culture of Read More

As a business adviser, I often see entrepreneurs practicing what Tom Peters calls the “ready-fire-aim” go-to-market strategy to their detriment. Yet even I have been known to recommend that approach, in cases where you have a highly innovative product, speed is of the essence, and no clear existing Read More

New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. This approach, popularly known as “glocalization,” means you have to design and deliver global solutions that have total relevance to every local market in which Read More

Your business can’t be all things to all people, and excel at anything. Every entrepreneur and every business needs a strategy to keep them focused. In fact, in this new world of pervasive interactivity, it’s time to rethink even how to develop a strategy. Strategy used to come from the inside look Read More

We are living in a new generation of business, where customers drive the experience, and highly engaged employees are required to keep up with customer expectations. Traditional business leadership practices, including autocratic, reactive, and narcissistic, aren’t good enough. Over 16 percent of w Read More

You have to be extra tough mentally to start a new business venture. While thinking about it, I realized that it’s really not that different from the toughness required and trained into America’s elite military force of Navy SEALs, who are known to be cool under fire, able to sense danger before it Read More

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. The most common approach I see to achieving this is to do more of everything for everyone. Unfortunately, with limited Read More

I have learned from experience that scaling any business is difficult. You may feel good when that first burst of customers arrives, but don’t assume that “word of mouth” and those early adopters will grow your business to match your dreams of success. In these days of global competition via multip Read More

After working many years in business, both in large companies as well as startups, I’ve realized that you can learn more from peers and mentors than from any formal education program. Of course, nothing beats learning from your mistakes, but that’s a painful and very time-consuming journey. Best of Read More