I've been doing a bunch of reference calls lately for due diligence on hires and strategic partnerships. As part of this, I've looked around to see if there were any helpful tips or guides for doing reference checks. To my…
startups
A collection of 10 posts
Some Thoughts on Loneliness
Every month, I send an email update to our investors and advisors. It's a helpful exercise to step back to reflect on what's working and what's not, but, candidly, it’s harder to admit the struggles than the victories. I…
The Chatham House Rule Applies
I was recently invited to a founders event where the invitation listed some House Rules. The first Rule was "The Chatham House Rule applies." Then, in small print at the bottom of the list of House Rules, there…
This is Focus (Year Three Startup Thoughts)
Last month, we celebrated the three year anniversary since we started Reaction Commerce. For those following along, I wrote “This is Hard” about the first year, and “This is Interesting” about year two. For me, year three was all about…
On One-on-Ones
It’s my favorite part of managing people and undoubtedly the most satisfying and memorable part of my career: meeting with people one-on-one. It might even be the key to growing teams and building successful businesses. For me, a one-on-one…
Playing Moneyball With a Lean Startup Budget
I love sports of all kinds—team sports, individual sports, local and international events. In sports, an individual or a group of people set goals, acquire the knowledge and skills to accomplish their goals, and meet challenges along the way.…
Welcome to Technollywood: How Funding a Startup is Like Producing a Movie
Used to be, we’d joke that everyone sitting in gridlock on the LA freeways had a partially written screenplay stashed under their seat next to the Thomas Guide (remember the Thomas Guide?). At any given moment, you could rear…
Being the Boss vs. Working for the Boss Thoughts from the founding CEO of a 365-day-old startup
Exactly one year ago, I co-founded my startup. Before taking the entrepreneurial plunge, I spent my entire 20-year career working for other people on their ideas—from small nonprofits with a couple dozen people, to pre-launch startups requiring product scaling…