Years ago, I was introduced to the two co-founders of a fledgling semiconductor company. I have an affinity for companies in the space, so I agreed to talk with them. The two co-founders told me they had no funding, and they were looking to hire a VP of Engineering. They…

“It’s a mug’s game, then?” Dave, one of the hosts of the podcast Jeroen, my co-founder and VP Engineering, and I were being interviewed on, said to us. I had just finished telling him that the odds of raising funding for a startup are around one in one hundred. …

A little over two years ago, Jim, a well-known entrepreneur, began singing my praises all over social media. He didn’t have to do what he was doing. I thought it would be nice to say thanks. So I reached out to Jim, and we arranged a time to talk. We…

“How much cash do we have left?” I asked Tina, our very able controller. “We have $197,000 and change left, Brett. That’s enough to run the company for another three months,” Tina replied. “Okay, assuming we close (our funding) on schedule, then we won’t have to ask for a bridge…

“I believe this term sheet explodes like a pumpkin at 5PM. Here’s my number. Call me before then if you’re interested in accepting my terms,” “Raul”, our potential new investor, said to me. I had just spent the last thirty minutes trying to negotiate with Raul. Raul reacted the same…

Wouldn’t it be great if you could validate your startup idea in less than one hour because you absolutely, positively have to validate your startup idea? There are seven steps that you need to take to validate your startup idea. And I’m betting you can do them in less than…

Do you think I would be better off stepping down as CEO?” “Wayne”, a CEO I’m working with, said to me. “My investors are offering to make me Executive Chairman or CTO. Maybe I should take the offer?” “I think it’s a huge mistake for you to step down,” I…

“The co-founders were fighting all the time,” Abdenour, an engineering candidate, said to me about the previous startup he worked at. “It made the work environment really bad. I think that’s why we failed.” Abdenour’s right. When you and your co-founders are fighting all the time, there’s no way that…

“He needs to understand that asking for more equity is like pulling on a string,” I said to Adolfo, my co-founder and VP Marketing. We were reviewing what offer package we should give a potential employee, and Adolfo was indicating the applicant wanted more equity. “What do you mean, Brett?”…