A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' -or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule but decided that neither the mule nor the well was…

Dan, my partner, and Dave often see startups struggling to manage an assortment of advisers, mentors, and directors, even for a very small company. Some founders want to load up the bus with a bunch of luminaries for their pitch deck, even though the luminaries have little to do with how the company succeeds. So…

'A Goal is a Dream with a Deadline'         Chinese Fortune (Cookie, thanks to my fav Chinese restaurant) Every founder has a dream. If not, no one would pay much attention to them. And often, the dreams are big dreams–conquer the world type of dreams. We certainly have numerous examples–Amazon, Google, Facebook,…

I heard an interview this morning with Imogene Anne Opton, a 1952 Olympic skier whose Jewish family barely escaped from Nazi Germany in 1938. She and her family were lucky enough to gain asylum in the US. Imogene took up skiing as a way of fitting into her new home in Vermont. When asked many…

Amazon is frequently cited as one of the most successful companies able to innovate at scale. And rightly so, having shipped over a billion packages this holiday season, introduced the Echo, created the super profitable Amazon Web Services and now perhaps directly entering the global logistics market with new software, vehicles and partnerships. Innovating at…

When I mention this to most founders, they groan and tell me how difficult this can be. It is really frustrating for passive investors to get no updates, in spite of having invested thousands of dollars in your start-up. Give us all a Christmas present and do something about it. Over the last few years,…

Maybe it's the tight job market, the cycles of the moon, or perhaps founder inexperience, but my portfolio companies have had multiple cases of bad hires in the last six months. The reasons varied but the results were the same–having to let people go and paying big severance amounts. Here's what I learned in the…

The phrase has its origins from boxing, referring to a fighter who is punching above his weight, fighting an opponent who is heavier and more dominant. Isn't that what startups do everyday, especially those who are disrupting their industry? Being a start up means that there are often many existing companies who are already well established…

I often get asked 'what makes a good founder and can they really be the CEO longer term?' Here are a few thoughts on what I look for in the stages of founder development: Operations Chops–for real early stage founders, I look for whether they understand their space and have the capability to build the…