Glass Jaw Syndrome There are so many diseases that afflict the young startup. I’ve written about many of them before: Frantic Founder Syndrome, The Pleaser CEO, and Multiple Personalities, to

Relentless State of Negotiation Everyone wants something. Your investors want more of your company if it’s succeeding and less if it’s not. Your employees want more salary, equity, benefits, and

Relational vs. Transactional Communication Every time a founder interacts with an employee, an opportunity exists to either strengthen or weaken the relationship. Often the result is determined by the type

Multiple Personalities Meet Randall. Randall joined your startup early. He’s been with you for years. He’s been dependable and effective. You would not have reached this point of success without

Habits vs Rituals Does your company have habits or rituals? Habit: a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. Ritual: a solemn ceremony

One-On-One So many of us fear it. We try and strike it from our minds. We look for reasons to delay or even cancel. But then, once again it’s upon

Interrogation Time A CEO has three primary functions — setting priorities, making sure the company is properly resourced, and getting the right people on the team. The best founders obsess about the

You Have To Fight “The aim of argument and of discussion should not be victory, but progress.” Joseph Joubert Companies face thousands of choices. What do customers need? What will

Find Your Rhythm Well-run startups have a rhythm. It’s unmistakable. They either have it or they don’t. I’m not talking about engineers rocking Bach on noise canceling headphones. The rhythm

From Lies To Reflection To Prediction I had the good fortune recently to listen to a talk delivered by the former CEO/Founder of Jama Software, Eric Winquist. Eric shared with