What do you remember better? Pictures or words? The evidence is clear: people have better recall for images than text. Including attractive images that dramatize your speaking points will significantly increase your efficacy as a speaker. Based on my experience in investment banking and strategy consulting, I’ve put together a 3-part series on how to...
[Continue Reading]How To Present So People will Hear
You probably have to make presentations, but does the audience hear what you’re saying? And do they believe it? Based on my experience in investment banking and strategy consulting, I’ve put together a 3-part series on how to prepare memos and presentations that people will read and believe. Part 1 was How to Write a Memo...
[Continue Reading]Miami: A Hot Spot for Venture Capitalists
(from my guest column in the Miami Herald) A few weeks ago, I had my first-ever opportunity to visit the Miami startup ecosystem. I was visiting as part of Terrapinn Private Equity World, a leading private equity conference for the Latin American technology community. You might assume the event took place in Sao Paolo or Mexico...
[Continue Reading]How to Think Like a Hacker, Even if You Can’t Code
What do Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Page all have in common? Yes, they’ve founded multi-billion dollar businesses with virtually no formal business training, with combined revenues of over $80 billion. But they are also former software engineers and hackers, an experience that undoubtedly taught them skills in critical thinking and problem solving. Making...
[Continue Reading]How to Write a Memo That People Will Actually Read
I spent many late nights as an investment banker and strategy consultant early in my career. My #1 learning from that experience (besides financial modeling) was how to communicate in an effective way, particularly with senior executives. As training now for my team at ff Venture Capital, I’ve written a three-part series on communications. And...
[Continue Reading]How to Hire a New Employee and Make Sure You Don’t End Up Firing Them
(also posted in Forbes.) You just hired a new employee for $100K; congratulations! Recruiting is expensive. You probably spent 30-50% of her compensation recruiting her (her recruiting cost ratio), and if she leaves early you’ll lose another 30-50% of her compensation recruiting her replacement. So how do you increase the odds that she says with...
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