Your legal business name is what's registered with the state. Your business name is what customers see. The difference, when each matters, and where DBAs fit.
Entrepreneurs often ask the question, “do I have to set up a company to start providing my product or service?”. The answer is technically “no”, but […]
It’s not always obvious which roles you should be hiring for in your company or when to do so. For many […]
Product positioning strategies that keep you top of mind - how to differentiate from competitors, address real buying criteria, and say it in one clear line.
Starting your own business to get rich is backward thinking. Put yourself behind a product or service that you know, […]
Y Combinator introduced the safe (simple agreement for future equity) in late 2013, and since then, it has been used by almost all YC startups and countless non-YC startups […]
While raising money for an entrepreneur can seem like a daunting task, there are actually specific steps you can take to make your company a more attractive investment. These include […]
Establishing a standard process for communication helps to keep various constituents informed and brings consistency to your messages. Tailor the content of the communications to your business. Assign ownership […]
You feel disorganized every day but you are not really sure how to change that. Certainly many of the other perspectives in this guide (e.g., setting priorities, […]
Every company has the same basic functions—sales, marketing, product, operations, finance, etc. Organize regular meetings for each department or for major issue that require attention (e.g., pricing, […]
Things move fast and it is hard to keep everyone informed. Distribute a one-page Business Summary at the same time each week that updates company constituents on […]
Wouldn’t it be great if at the beginning of your entrepreneurial venture you were handed a “Starter Kit” that magically put everyone on the same page and created efficient ways […]
When you’re running about your day with a mile long “to do” list, it’s unlikely you have the extra time to figure out how everyone is […]
Startups are fast-paced, high-pressure, cortisol-inducing environments. This makes them ripe for lots of miscommunication and misinterpretation — across all levels. Here are some of the most common communication […]
As an entrepreneur, you need lots of skills in your toolbox, from sales and marketing, to finance, leadership, administration, and more. However, one of the most important parts of running a business […]
Many in the entrepreneurial ecosystem will say that the single biggest problem they have to deal with in small companies is the lack of open, honest, and effective communication, […]
One of the issues you face is dealing directly with vendors. You often don’t have the capital to strike normal compensation relationships with vendors. You […]
I recently had an entrepreneur tell me, “No one can perform up to my standards.” I asked her, “What about Steve Jobs or Arianna Huffington or Martin Luther King or Donna Karan or […]
Building things from scratch is the essence of being an entrepreneur. It’s what we do. It’s the whole notion knowing that you have put in everything you’ve […]
We know the feeling – you can’t wait to get your first customer. It doesn’t matter who they are or how you got them. All that matters […]
We all want to have the perfect product or service. But more often than not, we don’t have the resources or capital to deliver the perfect product or […]
Since we believe that what we’re doing is so unique, everyone will have the same perspective and want our product. And since it hasn’t been […]
Working with startups (plus building and managing a few of our own) has taught us that founders and business owners continuously struggle to stay on top of their financial […]
Factoring is a financial service in which the business entity sells its bill receivables to a third party at a discount in order to raise funds. […]
How a letter of intent speeds up cash flow - getting commitment on paper before contracts are signed, so you are not waiting months to be paid.
