We all know that a sweet lie feels better than a hard truth, but in business it’s supposed to be all about the facts. In a world where perception can be skewed as quickly as a tweet is posted, how can you make sure that your business is telling you the hard truth all of the time? The truth is that you can’t. You can’t make sure that everything that reaches your eyes is beyond … [Read more...]
The Rules of Engagement
In business, relationships are everything. It’s who you know that can help you get where you want to be and all that hard work will come to fruition on that magical moment when you meet the right person at the right time in the right place. Until that time the most meaningful relationship you can have is taking care of yourself as a CEO and here's how you do it. Reward … [Read more...]
The New Business Credit
One of the most difficult areas to maneuver as an entrepreneur is getting your hands on the cash you need when you need it. Capital is a tricky thing, you never have it when you need it and what you do have is never enough. So what’s a small business to do? Well, enter Lendo Limted. This caught my eye in the Wall Street Journal and here’s we entrepreneurs need to know… It’s … [Read more...]
Building Bridges
The worth of an entrepreneurs is in their ability to bring create solutions and to build relationships. What hinders small business is that we either don’t use our networks enough or we only use our networks. What small business is most guilty of is not networking because they could be doing something else. The thing is that having coffee or lunch with a contact is something … [Read more...]
Selling Your Soul
As an entrepreneur I got into this game to make more money for myself, like everyone else. The thing that I face continuously is should I make the sale or save my soul. The answer is surprisingly easy for me, I save my soul every time. I’m hoping that I rack up enough business karma to hit my goal of a $350m company, but in the meantime here is how I measure the situation. Why … [Read more...]
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and the Challenges for Women in Business
In recent weeks, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has been getting both positive and negative reviews of her book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. You can hear about the good and the bad by reading Connie Schultz's review of Sandberg's book on The Washington Post. Despite all of this conversation and debate about whether or not Sheryl Sandberg can truly be a role … [Read more...]
Why Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s Slaying of Telecommuting Makes Me Mad – It’s Not Why You Think
Last week, All Things D published an internal email from Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announcing the end of all employee telecommuting, and it's making a lot of people mad. I don't like it either, but one of the biggest reasons her mandate makes me mad probably isn't the reason you think. Yes, I think that eliminating telecommuting is a step backwards. Yes, I think that … [Read more...]
And the Winner Is…
Success…and then what? As we start our businesses, we are constantly chasing a dream. We work insane hours, sacrifice everything that means anything to us because we know that success is coming. When we finally get it what happens? As I found out that I had been awarded a big contract, a colleague reminded me to not get comfortable with the success, to remember that I was … [Read more...]
The Tao of Business
People think that entrepreneurs are incredibly brave and that we have a plan for everything. The truth is that most days we feel like people are going to find out that we have no clue and that we are just trying to keep from drowning. We are all really good at something that’s why we started a business, but the one thing some of us are not so good at is building ourselves up … [Read more...]
Business by Perception
This week has been a blur of promotions for the Lance Armstrong interview and I’ve begun to wonder, how do you protect the image of your company when your company is you? There is an old adage that says ‘you are the company you keep’, but in this increasingly global marketplace how realistic is that? Is it reasonable to assume we can manage all of our partnerships and alliances … [Read more...]