I’ve collected below some of my more popular essays on how to launch and grow a company.
Evaluate the environment and what experiments you will run.
– The next great entrepreneurial opportunity: How to identify market white space (Video)
– How to identify macro technology trends
Build and assess your Minimum Viable Product.
– Ten experiments to test your new business hypothesis
– What geographies will you leverage and focus on? See Why venture capitalists are investing in international startups.
Build your financial model.
– Best practices in building financial models
– Valuing startup employee options
Assemble the team.
– Should you co-found a company with your friend? And how do you split the equity?
– Are you hiring a cultural fit? Do you actually want to?
– Recruiting hacks: How to woo and win the high performers (VIDEO)
– What is your culture? See Design your company culture like the world’s largest hedge fund.
– Ready to join a new management team? Here’s how to do your due diligence first
Look for free capital
– Please don’t pitch a venture capitalist without this checklist
– How tech startups can get money and support from the Fortune 500
– Free government money for your early-stage company
– Free money for your impact tech startup
Optimize capital structure.
– What type of capital should you raise, and from who? (Traditional equity venture capital and private equity; Revenue-based investing VC; Venture debt; Merchant cash advances/factoring; Small Business Association Loans; crowdfunding; other)
– Should you raise traditional VC or Revenue-Based Investing VC?
– Revenue-Based Investing: A new option for founders who care about control (Part 1 of 5 from my Techcrunch series)
Raise capital.
– Shaking the money tree: Social media and other tools for raising capital (VIDEO)
– The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online
– Face-to-face meetings are important, but written collateral is mandatory for closing the deal
The investment committee rejected you; what does that actually mean?
Choose your investors.
– To evaluate the right investor, see Beyond the money: Best practices of VCs in helping early-stage companies create value
Sell.
– How to make sales as easy as online dating
Market
– Should you spend VC funding on a domain name?
– How to create buzz around your company
– Free publicity for your company
– What content should you promote where?
Manage the company.
– How to run your company based on metrics: what, why, how, who, and when
– Here’s how to use agile budgeting to manage your cash…not old-school waterfall budgeting
– Reinventing the Office: How to Lose Fat and Increase Productivity at Work
– Are you really being friendly to your employees with families…or is it just talk?
Work with investors.
– How to choose an investment banker…or replicate one
– How to manage your board meetings
Shut down
