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 like a bad decision when you h ..read more

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 the mission and vision ..read more

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 large data set. 2 ..read more

According to Alex Hormozi, "Power is the ability to influence people or events. We can learn influence. Which means we can learn power." If you find yourself constantly selling to the board, here's what to do. Jemma, the CEO of a rapidly growing tech startup, found her board meetings frustrating. “I feel like I’m constantly selling my ideas to the board. It’s exhausting, and I’m not really getting much value from the board members.” “Who owns the company’s strategy? Is it you or the board?” I asked. After a pause, she replied. “I don’t actually know.” This situation is all too common: The ..read more

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. It had been an incredibly tough six months. Following a sharp increase in acquisition costs, Jahan—CEO of a health-tech company—had proactively reduced his team size from 80 to 55 people, and replaced some of his key reports. We met in the midst of a big marketing campaign ahead of their busiest season. Jahan was surprisingly upbeat. “Dave, we’re breaking records every day. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a higher-performing team.” “What’s driving this high performance?” I asked. After taking 20 seconds to think, he replied: “I feel like the ..read more

Four strategies to elevate your team without compromising excellence. My wife has a talent for praising others. Her ability to call out wins as they come makes her an outstanding people manager. But I often find giving praise a challenge. Disregarding the value of genuine praise is common among high-performers. Many leaders find it uncomfortable to praise their teams. They’re fearful of creating a sense of complacency. ‘What if people stop trying to make things better?’ Beating the Praise Paradox The relentless focus on raising standards often comes at the expense of praising what’s been achie ..read more

With the end of year approaching, many teams are feeling tired and concerned. For many of you, 2023 was an uncomfortable year. There were layoffs, markdowns, and lots of work: “Is this how it’s going to be for the next five years? If so, I’m not sure I can keep up...” Discomfort is to be expected in a growing company with big ambitions. It’s par for the course. However, too much discomfort for too long can place you in the Burnout Zone. If you’re concerned about burnout at your company, try the following check-ins with your team:  1) The Core Needs Check-in I believe e ..read more

Many founders feel trapped in their own ventures, searching for freedom. This strategy will help you regain control and find that entrepreneurial freedom you once dreamed of. When you ask most founders why they started their business, you’ll hear the answer they’ve been conditioned to provide: “I always wanted to solve this big problem”. However, there’s a more personal reason entrepreneurs build businesses that’s less acknowledged. Most founders start businesses to achieve freedom. Before becoming an entrepreneur, I spent a few years as a management consultant with one of the top firms. I was ..read more

If your company faces an existential threat, read this. All bets are off. That lead investor just pulled out.  Your cost of acquisition just doubled.  Your biggest customers are leaving. You stare at the spreadsheet. Nothing adds up. Without swift action your runway will shrink until a crash is imminent. What do you do when your worst-case scenario becomes a reality? Welcome to wartime In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz paints a vivid picture of a wartime CEO up against an ‘imminent existential threat’. In the 12 years building tech companies, I did more than my fair s ..read more

Landing a good deal requires more than tactics. The right mindset and positioning are key to getting what you want. 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 the other side is making, read on. It might be a sign you’re being out-negotiated. In this ..read more