The Question that CEOs Too Often Don’t Discuss with the Board
Startup boards are complex. While all board members own stock in the company their interests are not necessarily aligned. Founders may be motivated by a vision to change the world, to hit a certain net worth target, to see their name in an S-1, to make the Forbes 500, or — and I’ve seen crazier […]
How Get Better at Recruiting. (We All Need To).
Recruiting is tough. I certainly don’t do it well enough. But to be a great CEO, you need to find a way to force yourself to be a great recruiter. Let me share some learnings, and what I do now to force myself to be a better recruiter. And what I wish I’d done better […]
BATNA – Why You are So Bad at Sales
The other day, a sales leader working out of the new SaaStr CoSellingSpace asked me how I got to be “so good at sales.” I’m not. You might think that after almost 3,000 answers on Quora, 300 blog posts, and 35,000 tweets. But I’m pretty bad at it. In fact, that’s why I have so […]
The Top 10 Worst Pieces of SaaS Advice
Advice is very context sensitive, so take this post with a grain of salt. But for me, I thought I’d take a stab at the Top 10 Pieces of Classic SaaS Advice … that in my experience at least are usually Just Plain Wrong. The advice and thinking that leads you to make important mistakes there […]
Why The LinkedIn Acquisition is So Important to SaaS
So, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $25.6 billion dollars. That headline shocked all of us the other day. But if you step back, it’s not that impressive, the raw number itself. After all, as a public company, LinkedIn was worth $32 billion just a few months earlier, and had been on one heck of a run […]
How to Position a VC Startup for Acquisition: You Can’t
How do you position and maneuver your VC-funded startup for acquisition? The short answer is, “You can’t.” The VC’s didn’t sign up for an acquisition. They are seeking a billion dollar revenue opportunity because that’s what it takes to move the needle on their portfolio. If they are willing to talk about an acquisition at all, […]
