It took me three founding teams. Yes three, before I had a team that clicked the first founding team. Even though we had worked together previously, we didn’t mesh as a team. The second founding team just wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t until I built the third founding team that…

If your thought process going into an investor meeting was raising money, then you’re dead wrong. For every 100 startups VCs or angel investors meet with, an investor will invest in one startup. Just one. That’s it. That’s why you need to get the most out of every meeting you have with investors. I was meeting with the CEO of a startup the venture capital fund…

Creating a startup board of advisors is a waste of time. Yes, you heard me right, it’s a waste of your time. You’re likely to get advice telling you that having a board of advisors will help you get funded. However, that advice, however well intended, is wrong. In fact…

I’ll never forget it. The second I answered the investor’s question, I wanted to take my answer back. I had stepped right into his trap costing my company millions of dollars in funding, and the worst part was I knew better, and I still screwed up. I already started my…

The biggest fight I got into with two of my co-founders, Randy and Ken, was about how much money we should initially raise. I wanted to raise $11 million, and they wanted to raise $6 million. Randy and Ken believed, incorrectly, that we would end up with more equity by…

I’ll never forget it. About eight months into my company’s operational life, I was finishing up our board meeting. Our first product was being ready for launch right on schedule, and our investors were very happy with our progress. One of our investors, “Raul” asked me, “Why are you holding…

I’d have a lot of money if I could have a nickel for every mistake I’ve ever made. But. if I could have a nickel for every recruiting mistake I’ve ever made, well, I’d have a fortune! Recruiting, of all the activities you have as CEO, is the most important…

Let me ask you a question. Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want me to tell you reality? I am sure hoping you want to hear reality, especially when it comes to pitching investors. The reality is, unless you have some…

“Nest designed us out of their final production build,” John, our Bay Area Sales Manager, said to me. “Thanks for everything you did to trying to win this,” I said. I took a deep breath. I didn’t like losing, and we had put everything into winning the Nest opportunity. …