Naming your high-potential startup is one of the first actions of a co-founding team. The selected name captures the essence of the fledgling company as you go out into the world raising money, connecting with partners, and ultimately selling to customers. It is a more critical and strategic decision than many realize, so let’s examine some lessons learned regarding this fateful decision. The post What’s in a Name? appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

It often seems like it would be possible to grow a startup faster by outsourcing some of the key functions to an expert service provider. Sometimes, this is true, but often, there is less leverage than you might think – and there is undoubtedly a great deal of risk. The post In-sourcing and Outsourcing appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

Evaluating employee performance has a certain framework, however, that framework is applied somewhat differently when assessing a startup CEO. A CEO is ultimately responsible for an organization's performance, so the core of a CEO evaluation is fundamentally an organizational evaluation. The post Evaluating CEOs appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

How do we recognize leaders? Often, it is the fact that they speak authoritatively, which flows from their confidence, decision-making, and vision-casting. This matters in startups because all startup stakeholders are looking for someone who will hopefully lead an extraordinary value-creation process. The post Authoritative appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

When fundraising, it is easy for startup leaders to focus intensely on their stories and arguments for why their startup is a great investment opportunity. While a cogent case must be built and delivered, exogenous factors often play a critical role in fundraising success and failure.  The post Hard Fundraising Market Drivers appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

The job of a startup CEO is multi-faceted and endlessly challenging. Yet, there is no degree or comprehensive playbook out there to provide the training for how to succeed. Enter the "CEO Whisperer." The post CEO Whispering appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

Startup leaders, especially CEOs, must be effective decision-makers because a huge portion of the job of leading a startup is making an avalanche of decisions in many domains and often with limited context. Decision-making is a skill that can be developed. Yet it also demands the confidence to decide even when context and information are limited. If you are not biased towards making the call, look for someone else to take on that leading role in your cofounding team. The post Critical Success Factor: Decision-Making appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

Collaborative relationships are at the core of building a startup business. This is value creation at its finest – and navigating the relational dimensions can make the difference between success and failure because good relationships unleash the power of the benefit of the doubt. The post Benefit of the Doubt appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

As a serial entrepreneur, one of the things I have learned about founding startups is the critical importance of holding out for the right idea and the right team. You will invest years of your life trying to realize the potential of your startup vision – and the idea and the team are critical success factors. The post Hold Out for the Right Stuff appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more

High-potential startups are practically defined by their ability to rapidly grow their revenue, so naturally, startup founders and CEOs feel tremendous pressure to get on the revenue train. However, be careful what you wish for! The post Careful What You Wish For appeared first on Startup CEO Reflections ..read more