“I don’t know if I can do this anymore,” “Serge”, the CEO of a struggling startup, said to me. “I think I’m going to give up.” “What?” I responded. Serge’s capitulation said didn’t register on me. It was foreign to my way of thinking. Worse yet, Serge’s company wasn’t doomed…

One of my biggest mistakes ever was adding “John” as my co-founder and VP Engineering/CTO. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that John wasn’t that great of an engineer, and he failed as our CTO because his engineering skills weren’t that good. John’s engineering skills were as good…

There is a friend of mine, Mark, who started a company about four years ago. Mark raised angel funding to start his company. The company has grown at a nice clip, and the company has a real chance at long term success. …

“I just bought a unit in new The Millennium building, up in the City,” my co-founder, “Ken”, said to me. “You should check it out!” “Really,” I said. “I thought you were going to buy a house on the peninsula, closer to where our future office will be?” “Nope,” Ken…

One of the smartest things I ever did as CEO was practice, “Management by walking around.” The idea is really simple. You, the CEO, walk around your office, facility, or manufacturing site and talk to anyone you come in contact with. I didn’t invent Management by walking around. Far from…

“He wants a salary of $200,000, but I can’t afford to pay him that,” “Stefan” said to me. “Then he doesn’t fit your company culture right now,” I said. “That’s okay…” “Why is it okay?” Stefan asked me. “And what does it have to do with our culture.” “If you…

I love the idea that something has changed in the world of startups. That somehow, today, you actually have to worry about arcane ideas like profitability, gross margins, and financial management. Oh, the horror! Even more to the point, I just don’t get why so many people are acting like…

I felt like the biggest fraud in the world. My co-founders, “Jim” and John”, had just quit three months after we started the company. John said, in his parting comment to me, “I know better how to build a analog IC company than you do.” …

I love the idea that something has changed in the world of startups. That somehow, today, you actually have to worry about arcane ideas like profitability, gross margins, and financial management. Oh, the horror! Even more to the point, I just don’t get why so many people are acting like…