MANAGEMENT Setting these expectations for your team can reduce problems down the road Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a one-to-one with one of your leaders, and they bring up a conflict with a peer, complaining that: “I disagree with their decisions” “I don’t see any movement” “I’m unhappy with their behaviour” After voicing their concerns, they ask you to intervene. How should you respond? A word to the wise: Passing along their feedback is tempting, but it’s a trap. You’ll quickly find yourself in the middle where each side believes they’re right. What looked li ..read more

PSYCHOLOGY Don’t solve for the right answer — solve for team psychology. As a leader, solving problems on your own doesn’t scale. Eventually, you need to bring the right people together and create the right conditions for collaboration. If the environment isn’t set up for collaboration, your leaders may tend to work against each other. They may hold onto information, keep their heads down, and focus solely on their own lanes. So how do you set up an environment for collaboration? 1. Outline an Inspiring Problem As a leader, your role is to set the scene with some inspiring words on ..read more

MANAGEMENT Acqui-hires can provide a soft landing for your tech startup team and return value to your shareholders. Here are a few tips for startup founders to get your negotiation off on the right foot. 1) Don’t overlook old-school businesses as potential buyers As a startup, you may be biased towards selling to another tech company. However, don’t overlook the opportunity to sell to ‘old-school’ companies with little technology but with a lot of cash that could benefit from your team and its skills. One HR-focused startup in my network was bought by a recruiting company to leverage its ..read more

MANAGEMENT Acquihires can provide a soft landing for your tech startup team and return value to your shareholders. Here are a few tips for startup founders to get your negotiation off on the right foot. 1) Don’t overlook old-school businesses as potential buyers As a startup, you may be biased towards selling to another tech company. However, don’t overlook the opportunity to sell to ‘old-school’ companies with little technology but with a lot of cash that could benefit from your team and its skills. One HR-focused startup in my network was bought by a recruiting company to leverage its l ..read more

COMMUNICATION Landing a good deal requires more than tactics. The right mindset and positioning are key to getting what you want. I recorded a 1-minute video about why I wrote this piece As a CEO coach, I’m brought in to support CEOs on high-stakes negotiations such as complex funding rounds, co-founder departures, equity negotiations, M&A and even CEO compensation. They start by describing what the other party is asking for — often in a frustrated tone. “Dave, I’m not sure how to respond,” they say. If you find yourself in a tough negotiation, concerned about the demands th ..read more

MANAGEMENT Your management meeting is one of the most expensive regular meetings in your business. Here’s how to make it one of your most valuable. I recorded a 1-minute video about why I wrote this piece Earlier this year, I started observing the management meetings of some of my fastest-growing CEOs. The companies they lead range from 50 to 500 employees — but each of the CEOs had similar concerns about their meetings: ‘They feel superficial’ ‘My managers don’t engage or challenge each other enough’ ‘I leave feeling anxious, with more questions than answers’ After each meeti ..read more

FUNDRAISING Investor relationships aren’t always champagne and ski trips. I recorded a 2-minute video about why I wrote this piece As your business scales, you’ll inevitably face times when board dynamics become challenging. It’s not a matter of if but when. Your relationships with certain board members can consume your mental energy, and become a source of distraction and demotivation. Whether due to differences of opinion, expectations or working styles, the outcome is usually the same: heightened anxiety for the CEO, and an array of debilitating thoughts: “The board don’t trust or ..read more

Last year, founders were measured by their ability to raise big funding rounds. This year, founders are being measured by their ability to achieve results with the resources they have. So, how can founders best support their teams in achieving more with less? I launched Founder Coach last October to equip high-growth founders with coaching and leadership skills that can significantly improve their team’s performance and accountability. Today, I’m excited to announce that the next cohort of our Founder Coach CEO Program will start on April 27th. It’s a six-month program which com ..read more

Psychology Why other people’s emotions might not be about you — and your emotions might not be about them Photo by Norbu Gyachung on Unsplash ‘That’s irrational.’ ‘That’s stupid.’ ‘They’re making things difficult for the sake of it.’ When we encounter emotions and behaviours that don’t make sense to us, it’s often because we don’t have all the information. And in the absence of information, we tend to assume the worst. ‘Emotional generosity’ is the ability to see past behaviours that we don’t understand and proactively look for compassionate ways to explain them. It’s easy ..read more

Fundraising Operational tactics that fuel repeatable sales processes have many applications for founders. Selling the dream is a key part of a founder’s job — whether that means convincing investors to invest, prospects to buy, or candidates to join the company. Of course, existing relationships can be a big asset. However, when you’re starting, outbound prospecting is an important way to expand your network and build new relationships. The most common approach to prospecting is an intuitive one: you reach out, see what happens, and then try again. Quickly, you learn it’s a numbers game. Spea ..read more