Building Great Engineering Teams on a Startup Budget (5-10 people)
I was at a gathering of CTOs last week, talking about the antipatterns that make a brittle engineering... Read more
Landing the Plane
You’re a founder. The company you’ve built with love and sleepless nights , the dream that eclipsed relationships, family,... Read more
Is the Founder Coachable?
More startups die from suicide than homicide… We work with a great number of venture capital firms. Successful... Read more
Founders: Don’t Get Fired
One of the quiet heartbreaks of startup life is when a founder is fired from their own company.... Read more
Waiting Is Not Leading
A startup CEO sits in a particularly passionate leadership team meeting. The debate is heated but respectful. Two... Read more
Instant Code ≠ Instant Company: How Established Startups Can Compete in the AI Era
Imagine the scene: a solo founder, perhaps fueled by caffeine, dictates ideas to an advanced AI. Code materializes... Read more
User Manual
It was 2021. One of my CEOs pinged me with a request. He asked if I would get... Read more
Who Has a Voice, and Who Has a Vote?
In the early days of startup life, decision-making tends to feel straightforward. That might seem counterintuitive — after all, the... Read more
Are You a Prosecutor or a Problem-Solver?
The Power of a Good Question “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he... Read more
“Founder Mode” Is a Dangerous Red Herring
Love the conversation. Disagree with the implied conclusion. I won’t summarize Paul Graham’s essay on founder vs. manager... Read more
R.O.S. Return on Safety
When do employees share opinions freely? When do they call attention to system frailties? When do they jump... Read more
Management Debt Series: Learn How To Deliver Feedback
It's been said time and again that people don't quit jobs; they quit managers. And why do they... Read more
Management Debt Series: Learn How To Run a @#$#@ Meeting
There are two separate paths to startup success. The first and far more celebrated path is the one... Read more
Management Debt – The Perilous Cost Of Not Knowing How To Run A Larger Org
I have a neighbor. Name is George. Marine veteran. Early 70s. Built like a mountain carved down into... Read more
Time To Armor Up — A New Era Of Fundraising Is Upon Us
We guide a lot of fundraises. And we see them across a wide spread of geographies, domains, and... Read more