Blog Archives
Vision (48)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
...About once a month I get a Google alert notifying me that someone is looking for a Web developer who can copy the functionality of my Web site.
[more]
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
...Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, when asked how he was always on the puck before anyone else, pointed out that he was by no means the fastest skater on the ice. Instead he explained that he always just focused on skating toward where the puck was going to be.
[more]
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
...If you asked me to point to the heart and soul of a startup company, I would not say it’s the people, the culture, or even the product.
[more]
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
...About once a month I get a Google alert notifying me that someone is looking for a Web developer who can copy the functionality of my Web site.
[more]
Monday, October 13, 2008
...Anyone who’s survived the last down market knows that there are diamonds in the rubble of a broken economy.
[more]
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
...There's an old adage that says "Entrepreneurs do what other people won't in order to do what other people can't."
[more]
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
...Like everything else in this life, the plan for your new startup company will almost certainly change beyond anything you could have contemplated.
[more]
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
...After you listen to about a hundred startup company pitches you start to notice that they all sink or swim on just a few basic points.
[more]
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
...Contrary to popular belief, great companies are not borne from great ideas alone.
[more]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
...In this episode, Wil discusses with Jim of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his formula to create an innovate company. Wil also explains how questioning your
[more]
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
...Wil Schroter discusses with Jim Canterucci of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his definition of success and the difficulties of evaluating the market for
[more]
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
...In the movie Liar Liar, Jim Carrey plays attorney Fletcher Reede, who’s been cursed with the inability to lie. Every attempt Fletcher makes to lie results in him blurting out the God’s honest truth instead.
[more]
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
...A question many have tried to answer through a series of books. A question that many have assumed to which they know the answer.
[more]
Thursday, February 14, 2008
...Had a great visit a few weeks ago to the Vator.tv offices and shot a quick interview with Bambi Francisco. You can View My Interview here. Vator is g
[more]
Thursday, February 7, 2008
...Interview with Colin Campbell, CEO of Hostopia.com Inc on how to make it as a public company in the U.S. north of the border.
[more]
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
...Leading a startup company is nothing like leading a big, established company. Startups are focused foremost on survival, while big companies direct
[more]
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
...People want to be firemen, policewomen, and teachers. They don’t ever say they want to be an entrepreneur. Why is this? My take is you either are or you aren’t.
[more]
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
...With the SuperBowl coming up – it’s only natural for everyone to be thinking about football. I’m not a huge football fan, but I enjoy watching the games regularly.
[more]
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
... Most people start their new business or company for themselves. This is fine, our free-market economy is structured so that self-interest rewards
[more]
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
...Thomas Edison’s famous quote, “Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration” is the embodiment of a startup. There is often a lot said about the
[more]
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
...Customers are obviously the only reason your business exists, or will exist, or will continue to exist. I mentioned before in What’s In It for Them
[more]
Monday, November 19, 2007
...How many of you talk to your close friends and family about your startup ideas? And how many times have you gotten solid, honest, and constructive
[more]
Monday, October 29, 2007
...I’ve been pondering the pros and cons of starting up based on an unoriginal idea. It sounds bad when you hear it, as I think the startup culture has wrapped entrepreneurship in this bubble that expects new and entirely innovative solutions.
[more]
Monday, October 22, 2007
...Have you ever wondered what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture? As an entrepreneur, I’ve always wondered how it happens.
[more]
Monday, October 15, 2007
...Once again moving sleep down my priority list, we've rallied and launched a new company - GotCast.com! (its company #10 for me) The concept is
[more]
Thursday, October 4, 2007
...The equity in your startup company, often distributed in the form of stock options, is the most valuable asset you will ever part with.
[more]
Thursday, August 9, 2007
...Aspiring entrepreneurs are often faced with a tough question – would you rather own 100% of your own company or own a percentage of someone else's?
[more]
Friday, July 20, 2007
...Remember Day One of your new startup? You jumped out of bed, kissed your wife on your way to work, and ran into the office ready to conquer the world.
[more]
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
...I'm out in Palo Alto today, spreading the Go BIG gospel far and wide, listening to entrepreneurs tell their startup stories. I even ra
[more]
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
...Every month I make a pilgrimage to Silicon Valley to visit my startup brethren and soak in the startup vibe. And every month I return home to Co
[more]
Friday, May 18, 2007
...Last night you woke up at 3 a.m. with the best new business idea you've ever had. You ran to your computer, started Googling similar terms, ran throug
[more]
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
... People often ask me how I knew a company that I started was going to be successful. They equate the concept of being successful to finding a white li
[more]
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
... Recently I had a forum discussion with a group of really smart MBA students where we talked about starting companies. The students were armed with a
[more]
Friday, February 23, 2007
...People talk about turning a dream into a reality. It's often just a tired euphemism, but in the case of starting a company that's exactly what y
[more]
Monday, January 29, 2007
...There is truly a right way and a wrong way to pitch your company via e-mail.
[more]
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
...Introduction to my new blog.
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Friday, January 5, 2007
If you spend enough time listening to venture capitalists and industry pundits talk about the next big opportunities in on-line commerce, you would think there are only a dozen companies that will ever be successful. Companies in huge mar
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Your new startup idea already has the potential to be worth millions today. The problem is you may not know how to spend the type of money your vision creates. Startup companies can manufacture their own wondrous currency called opportunity. They
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Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’re thinking about starting a company, please don’t write a business plan. Stop, put the keyboard down, and step back. You’re wasting valuable time.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that you run aimlessly into the s
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Let me ask you something – is reading this column the most important thing you could be doing right now? If you’re 35,000 feet in the sky flying to your next sales call, then maybe it is.
But if you’re sitting at your desk in the midd
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Selling the vision of your new product to customers and investors is a lot like selling fire to cavemen – it may look wondrous and new, but chances are they have no idea what they’re looking at.
That’s because most entrepreneu
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Friday, January 5, 2007
So there you are on day one of your new venture. You’ve thought long and hard about your new idea and you’re ready to build a great company that is going to change the world. Now it’s time to attract customers, employees, and investors. N
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Are you an entrepreneur with a business idea that just can’t seem to get the support you deserve? Maybe you’ve completed a business plan but no one seems to want to read it. Or you’ve created a fantastic product that no one seems to want
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Friday, January 5, 2007
These days the companies that are blowing the doors off everyone else – the Googles, PayPals, and eBays of the world – have shown us that the path to getting big fast is all about scaling, not just growing. They’ve learned how to create s
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Friday, January 5, 2007
The smartest entrepreneurs aren’t the ones who figure out the solutions to big problems, they are the ones who actually understand the value of those big problems. Smart entrepreneurs focus on the very essence of why the problem exists an
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Friday, January 5, 2007
If you asked me to point to the heart and soul of a startup company, I would not say it’s the people, the culture, or even the product. I would say it’s the pitch. The pitch is that one message that, when delivered, makes people say “wow,
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Friday, January 5, 2007
The "Great One" said it best
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, when asked how he was always on the puck before anyone else, pointed out that he was by no means the fastest skater on the ice. Instead he explained that he always just
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Friday, January 5, 2007
When I was a kid I thought I had it all figured out. All of the big decisions in life -- what I wanted to do for a living, who I was going to marry, and where I was going to live -- were easy to make. I was going to become a fireman, marr
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Growth (49)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
...You need to learn how to “draft” your competition to take advantage of their lead until you are ready to pull ahead.
[more]
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
...In “The Incredible Hulk”, mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner discovered that when he was exposed to “gamma rays” he was transformed into a massive beast that could ferociously muscle his way to victory in any situation. Other than being disfigured, green, and in nothing but his boxer shorts, the Hulk discovered that a single growth factor could drastically change his ability to handle his problems.
[more]
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
...In the popular 1980’s movie “Dune,” man learned that by “folding space” the distance between two points shortened and he could cover those distances faster. Around 1995, we found a substance that could bend time in the business community -- it was called Venture Capital. With enough of it, we could compress the evolution of a startup company from a few decades to a few years. Companies like Amazon, eBay and most recently Google showed us that billion dollar companies could be built in years, not decades.
What was more interesting is that these companies began growing faster even as the venture capital markets dried up completely. They found a better approach to growing at a dizzying rate – by compressing time.
Compression in Action
Compressing time in a business means reducing the time between two salient points of development. For example, reducing the amount of time it takes to acquire a customer. Or reducing the amount of time it takes to service that same customer. Or even better, reducing the amount of time it takes to get paid by that customer!
The bane of most business plans is that they quickly fall into the rut of doing what seems obvious, creating a sequential and time-intensive approach to growth. Amazon could have started out with one small store and then built that store out over time. Instead, they conceived (and built) the world’s largest book store from the get-go, and then spent the rest of their time keeping that store in business. They essentially built their company backwards.
Google and eBay took a different approach. They realized that in order to grow fast they would have to acquire customers at an alarming rate. They also realized that they would need to acquire millions of free customers in order to get hundreds of paying customers. Their models essentially gave the services away for free in order to compress the timelines of customer acquisition. With a huge network of customers in hand, they can now spend their
[more]
Thursday, January 22, 2009
...If you’re thinking about starting a company, please don’t write a business plan. Stop, put the keyboard down, and step back. You’re wasting valuable time.
[more]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
...In this episode, Wil discusses with Jim of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his formula to create an innovate company. Wil also explains how questioning your
[more]
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
...Wil Schroter discusses with Jim Canterucci of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his definition of success and the difficulties of evaluating the market for
[more]
Monday, April 7, 2008
... Sooner or later, no matter how sweet your new startup company is, someone is going to hand in their resignation. It could be the gal you’ve been working with since the day you founded the company, or the person you hired last week.
[more]
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
...I’m not proud to admit it, but I’ve made some dumb business purchases during my career and now I’m ready to come clean.
[more]
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
...In the movie Liar Liar, Jim Carrey plays attorney Fletcher Reede, who’s been cursed with the inability to lie. Every attempt Fletcher makes to lie results in him blurting out the God’s honest truth instead.
[more]
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
...There is a great book authored by a friend of mine, Keith Ferrazzi, called “Never Eat Alone”. In it, he talks about the power of relationships to get where you want in life. He also talks about the power of gratitude.
[more]
Thursday, February 7, 2008
...Interview with Colin Campbell, CEO of Hostopia.com Inc on how to make it as a public company in the U.S. north of the border.
[more]
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
...Leading a startup company is nothing like leading a big, established company. Startups are focused foremost on survival, while big companies direct
[more]
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
...People want to be firemen, policewomen, and teachers. They don’t ever say they want to be an entrepreneur. Why is this? My take is you either are or you aren’t.
[more]
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
...Recently I was asked to define the one thing that’s most important to a business. My answer is two words: competitive advantage.
[more]
Thursday, December 27, 2007
...Recently I wrote a piece about how to get The First Five Customers, which are so critical for a B2B business. One of the main issues addressed in
[more]
Monday, December 17, 2007
...There’s a lot of advice out there that goes against the grain when it comes to what you’re good at. Most people will tell you
[more]
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
...Thomas Edison’s famous quote, “Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration” is the embodiment of a startup. There is often a lot said about the
[more]
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
...While starting a company is hard, starting a company when you’re married with children is even more difficult. After having started and run five
[more]
Monday, December 10, 2007
...Back in my high school days, I did a lot of sales work at Verizon, Sprint, Sears, Radioshack, Target, and my own service-driven startups. I’ve held th
[more]
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
...Customers are obviously the only reason your business exists, or will exist, or will continue to exist. I mentioned before in What’s In It for Them
[more]
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
...Business to Business (B2B) startups can have an easier time getting funded than other types of businesses, most notably Business to Consumer (B2C) on
[more]
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
...We speak to a lot of entrepreneurs like you every day. One of the questions we like to ask is – “What’s keeping you up at night?”
[more]
Monday, October 22, 2007
...Have you ever wondered what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture? As an entrepreneur, I’ve always wondered how it happens.
[more]
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
...Introduction to your new guest bloggers on the Go BIG Network.
[more]
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
...The formative years of a startup company are like an aspiring sports rookie about to go pro. All of their potential is still ahead of them, and they
[more]
Thursday, July 26, 2007
...If you’re an entrepreneur currently considering selling or merging your company into a larger entity, you’ve invariably heard the phrase, “It’s better
[more]
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
...OK, so no one has written you a check to fund your startup. What are you doing while you're waiting for that check? If the answer is "nothing" a
[more]
Friday, June 1, 2007
...In the last post I discussed how making $1 million in net income on a company with $3 million in revenues would make life pretty amazing. I'm ho
[more]
Monday, May 21, 2007
...Isn't it strange that no matter what industry you are in, from selling photo copiers to selling pharmaceuticals, to selling kid's toys, there's always
[more]
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
...Ten years from now when we reminisce about the 00's and laugh about Web 2.0 companies, one of the lamest company pitches we are going to remember is t
[more]
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
...Most of us bust our asses so that when we can finally get over the hump of not getting paid, not seeing our friends/family, and not sleeping for more
[more]
Thursday, May 3, 2007
...Alright, enough of this "I have ten idea I'm working on" crap. You'll be lucky if you can get one idea to work successfully, why in the world would yo
[more]
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
... There are countless examples of highly successful business partnerships. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple Computer. Bill Gates and Paul All
[more]
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
...After tearing through Jessica Livingston's new book, Founders at Work, I was happy to see that of the 30+ companies that were profiled, just about all
[more]
Thursday, March 29, 2007
...WANTED: Young, smart, ambitious talent willing to put in 16-hour days, utilize untapped skills in programming, marketing, and/or grunt work, and get e
[more]
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
... Are you trying to figure out how to make your startup company experience a little less painful? Do you think you can avoid some of the stresses and t
[more]
Thursday, February 8, 2007
...They say every great solution is the response to a greater problem. So how do you know your solution has a real problem?
[more]
Friday, February 2, 2007
...Aside from the obvious wealth, what separates Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and those Google Guys from the rest of us? I would say "better timing."
[more]
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
...Let's face it, if you're at work right now and you're reading this, it's probably because your job sucks.
[more]
Friday, January 19, 2007
...HOTorNOT.com is hiring it's 7th employee. Take a look at how incredible this opportunity is.
[more]
Friday, January 5, 2007
The question: "When should a growing company slow down its sales function and focus solely on delivery?"
The answer: “Never!”
When fast growth is the focus of your company, the only constant is that you will always,
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Friday, January 5, 2007
One of hardest things a young company can do is say the word “no” to a paying opportunity, even if it’s a crappy one. Saying no to a crappy gig during tough times is like saying no to glass of spoiled milk while stranded in the desert. You know it’s
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Friday, January 5, 2007
In “The Incredible Hulk”, mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner discovered that when he was exposed to “gamma rays” he was transformed into a massive beast that could ferociously muscle his way to victory in any situation. Other than being
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
It’s funny that no matter how many times you go into startup mode, it always feels like doing it again for the first time. There’s the wild-eyed enthusiasm of the brilliant new idea, quickly followed up by the sleep-deprived anxiety of ha
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
In the popular 1980’s movie “Dune,” man learned that by “folding space” the distance between two points shortened and he could cover those distances faster. Around 1995, we found a substance that could bend time in the business community
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you want to learn how to race with the big boys, watch NASCAR.
In NASCAR racing, each car leading another is the first to encounter and break through air resistance. As they do this, they create a pocket of air to the sides
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Tuesday, January 2, 2007
...The Go BIG Network, the world’s largest community of startup companies and entrepreneurs, estimates an as expected decrease for funding in December.
[more]
Monday, December 18, 2006
I was spending some time with a few friends from the first company that I started back in 1994. We started reminiscing about how great our “glory years” of being a startup were. It got me thinking about what those days were actually like (versus how
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006
I hear endless pitches from entrepreneurs about their next BIG Web site idea. They take a look at all of the sites that are out there and decide that they have the one feature on their site that no one else has thought of. They think that the market
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Marketing (37)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
...If you’re going to be a leading company in any industry, you need to start acting like #1, even if you are #151.
[more]
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
...If you’ve ever received a service today and paid for it in 30 days you’ve experienced the concept of “float”.
[more]
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
...Any Entrepreneur that’s ever tried to bring a new product to market has had to deal with one frustrating fact – no one knows what to charge for it! No matter how well you think you can predict the market or how much research you’ve done, until people start paying for your product you’re still just guessing.
[more]
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
...What’s the fastest way to get your Web startup launched without having to raise capital and hire programmers?
[more]
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
...In the movie Liar Liar, Jim Carrey plays attorney Fletcher Reede, who’s been cursed with the inability to lie. Every attempt Fletcher makes to lie results in him blurting out the God’s honest truth instead.
[more]
Monday, March 3, 2008
...The year is 1957. James Vicary has the entire advertising world convinced that he has successfully demonstrated a technique that would enable advertisers to allow them to control anything consumers do.
[more]
Thursday, February 21, 2008
...Ahh, the old "Chicken and Egg" sales conundrum. An entrepreneur cries about not having capital to build their product, and thus having no idea w
[more]
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
...There is a great book authored by a friend of mine, Keith Ferrazzi, called “Never Eat Alone”. In it, he talks about the power of relationships to get where you want in life. He also talks about the power of gratitude.
[more]
Monday, January 28, 2008
...Some people say you should build a product that you would use yourself, making you the target market. I’ve also heard the flip side that you shouldn’t build products for yourself because you’re probably smarter than, or different from most people outside of either Silicon Valley, or wherever you’re at. In either case, knowing who your audience is should be on your list of top priorities.
[more]
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
... Most people start their new business or company for themselves. This is fine, our free-market economy is structured so that self-interest rewards
[more]
Thursday, December 27, 2007
...Recently I wrote a piece about how to get The First Five Customers, which are so critical for a B2B business. One of the main issues addressed in
[more]
Monday, December 3, 2007
...A lot of entrepreneurs wonder why MySpace does so well considering the poor design. MySpace does, after all, get more traffic according to
[more]
Friday, November 30, 2007
...In Part One we talked about choosing the right marketing strategies for your business based on your strengths, but we left you hangin’ on how to turn
[more]
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
...Ten years ago, launching a Web site meant pouring money into banner ads, print campaigns and broadcast spots. These days all three tactics have been r
[more]
Friday, November 9, 2007
...Quick review: When we arrived on this blog, we established how we feel about marketing without a plan (that it’s pretty much like planning to fail)
[more]
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
...Business to Business (B2B) startups can have an easier time getting funded than other types of businesses, most notably Business to Consumer (B2C) on
[more]
Friday, November 2, 2007
...As I have mentioned before, the key word in marketing is strategy and where does a good marketing strategy go after the objective is set?
[more]
Friday, October 26, 2007
...Let’s face it, small business owners sometimes don’t even have time to go to the bathroom, let alone market their company, service or product.
[more]
Monday, October 22, 2007
...Have you ever wondered what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture? As an entrepreneur, I’ve always wondered how it happens.
[more]
Thursday, September 6, 2007
...Many businesses face the challenge of how to start off their marketing launch. Should you run quarter page ads in your local paper? Should
[more]
Thursday, August 16, 2007
...In the book Chasing Cool, Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman talk about the intrinsic value of authenticity. They point out that brands like Apple, G
[more]
Monday, August 6, 2007
...Entrepreneurs are often asked who their competitors are, to which they reply "we really don't have any competition." They aren't exactly lying for the
[more]
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
...Don't take the title of this post wrong. I hope you survive as an Independent Consultant... I really do. Yet before you jump ship for the
[more]
Friday, May 4, 2007
...Interested in learning how to grow your marketing campaign month over month without any additional capital? Search Engine Watch Columbus - May 9th I'm
[more]
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
... As you may have read, James Hong of HOTorNOT fame has taken the site from a paid subscription model to a free model. I'm not real away of a lot
[more]
Friday, March 23, 2007
...I'm not exactly sure where some of my fellow entrepreneurs get their pitch skills, but some of them are pretty funny. As you might imagine, we see a t
[more]
Monday, February 26, 2007
...The idea of a "partnership" is one of the most mis-understood concepts in business. On paper it makes sense - "let's partner to be more successf
[more]
Monday, February 19, 2007
...How much would you pay to bring someone to your store that didn’t buy anything
[more]
Monday, February 5, 2007
...Hiring the right salesperson is about the hardest thing you can possibly do for your company.
[more]
Friday, January 5, 2007
A startup company often thinks like the shy kid at the dance. He thinks he’s inferior so he never goes up to the pretty girl to ask her to dance. He thinks no one will talk to him because he isn’t well known, or established, or popular enough to
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Whether you’re starting, growing or just running a startup company, you’re probably aware that selling is the most important skill you can have. It’s how you convince investors to fund your deals, customers to buy your products and employees to q
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Launching a new product is one of the most exciting and pivotal times for a startup company. You’ve worked diligently to get your product ready to sell, and there’s nothing to be gained by waiting any longer than necessary for the return on your
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Ten years ago you could apply some hot technology to a business idea and instantly you had a big startup company idea. The 1990s were overflowing with mediocre business ideas that became “hot technology companies” just because they had a website.
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Do you remember that scene from the beginning of Star Wars where legions of storm troopers come pouring through a tiny hole in the side of Princess Leia’s space ship? The first few guys through the door get about one step through the smal
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Friday, January 5, 2007
If you want to compete in the world of high growth startups, you better know how to play the marketing game. Marketing has become a big stakes game where companies are betting fortunes on the success of their products. Nowadays if you can
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Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’re going to be a leading company in any industry, you need to start acting like #1, even if you are #151. In today’s market, even being number two is just not good enough.
Almost anyone can tell you who the world’s rich
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Friday, January 5, 2007
Anyone who thinks they can put together a credible first-year marketing plan for a new company or product is fooling themselves. In fact I would go so far as to say there is no such thing as a first-year marketing plan. I would call it a
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Capital (65)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
...Experienced entrepreneurs know that when it comes to slicing up the equity in their new startup companies, the longer you wait to hand out big slices, the better.
[more]
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
...For any startup, raising money to hire people is always a problem. There’s a lot to be done, and inevitably it takes people – who are very expensive – to do it. But how do you get the money to hire the people if you don’t have the people to create the money in the first place?
[more]
Thursday, December 11, 2008
...The equity in your startup company, often distributed in the form of stock options, is the most valuable asset you will ever part with.
[more]
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
...Any entrepreneur or stockholder that’s had a chance to cash out their stock has had to ask themselves one question – is it enough? We wonder if we held out longer for a bigger offer whether that larger sum would make a much more significant impact on our lives.
[more]
Thursday, August 21, 2008
...Experienced entrepreneurs know that when it comes to slicing up the equity in their new startup companies, the longer you wait to hand out big slices, the better.
[more]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
...In this episode, Wil discusses with Jim of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his formula to create an innovate company. Wil also explains how questioning your
[more]
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
...Hello there young entrepreneur, I’m your investor. Remember me?
I’m the guy that sat in front of your heartfelt and emotional presentation to raise
[more]
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
...I’m not proud to admit it, but I’ve made some dumb business purchases during my career and now I’m ready to come clean.
[more]
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
...There’s a lot of talk among entrepreneurs about the value of an idea. Many entrepreneurs believe that a brilliant idea will spawn a great company. We read about companies like eBay that took one simple idea – online auctions – and turned it into a powerhouse company.
[more]
Thursday, February 7, 2008
...Interview with Colin Campbell, CEO of Hostopia.com Inc on how to make it as a public company in the U.S. north of the border.
[more]
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
... Most people start their new business or company for themselves. This is fine, our free-market economy is structured so that self-interest rewards
[more]
Thursday, January 10, 2008
...Getting some seed funding for your startup company isn't like trying to apply for a mortgage. You can't just fill out enough of the right paperw
[more]
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
...Customers are obviously the only reason your business exists, or will exist, or will continue to exist. I mentioned before in What’s In It for Them
[more]
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
...The most common question entrepreneurs ask about raising capital is “How much equity should I give up to an investor?”
[more]
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
...I’m trying to engage angel and VC networks in my area even more. They’re very hard to get any traction with because everyone wants a piece of their
[more]
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
...If you feel like your "quest for capital" is taking every last ounce of energy out of you, then you're probably right where you should be (like it or
[more]
Monday, November 5, 2007
...As a fairly entrepreneurial 20something, I take part in some of the business plan competitions in my area. Here are some tips I've walked away with.
[more]
Thursday, October 11, 2007
...Most entrepreneurs have never raised capital before (why would you have?) so they don't really know what investors want to see. As such, they ty
[more]
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
...Not every startup company needs a big wad of investment cash in order to get started. What many companies need is some basic operating capital to cove
[more]
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
...Any entrepreneur trying to fund their startup is well aware of the benefits of raising capital. Large cash infusions enable you to reach the market
[more]
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
...Entrepreneurs are used to getting grilled by investors about their startup ideas. So much so, that they rarely seem to ask any questions themsel
[more]
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
...As you anxiously await the phone to ring for that important investor conference call, you review your notes: 1. Don't tell the investors we're
[more]
Monday, June 11, 2007
...In running a site that gets people funded, I get a lot of questions from people about how to forecast the finances of a startup company. Many p
[more]
Monday, May 14, 2007
...Investors are a picky bunch. They want your company to grow, but they aren't necessarily willing to pay for everything that the company needs, i
[more]
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
... I interviewed Guy Kawasaki to get some first-hand feedback about how investors look at entrepreneurs going into a pitch. Often you hear a lopsi
[more]
Thursday, April 26, 2007
...Venture Hacks - A great site for learning how to manage and prepare for an investor Term Sheet. If you're not familiar with Term Sheets, they are the
[more]
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
...If the Go BIG Network were a singles bar, there would be some Billy Dee Williams smooth operators and then there would be some flat-out Glenn Quagmire
[more]
Thursday, April 19, 2007
...I give the venture guys a lot of crap, being from the entrepreneur's side of the table, but this time around I have to give major kudos to the boys at
[more]
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
...I have been listening to my fellow entrepreneurs get real excited about raising vast sums of money in the last few months, many by using Go BIG, which
[more]
Friday, April 13, 2007
...It's always fun to talk to entrepreneurs that we've helped get funded at Go BIG. Ben Lieblich, the CFO of ProPractica, was kind enough to share his fu
[more]
Thursday, April 12, 2007
...Very few (and I mean less than 1%) of new startups take on funding to get started. There is an old myth that you have a great idea, write a busi
[more]
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
...Go BIG Network Reports Decreasing Demands of Funding from Startup Companies in the First Quarter of 2007.
[more]
Monday, April 2, 2007
...Now this one may be a first. Jason Caplain of Southeast Ventures (great guy) is biting the bullet and inviting all tech-related entrepreneurs to come
[more]
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
...Everyone makes a big deal about getting venture capital investments, but frankly, they are not that big of a deal. You hear about companies like Googl
[more]
Thursday, March 22, 2007
...I was reading Seth Godin's latest missive on the realities of Venture Capital investments and couldn't help but think it sounded exactly like Go BIG.
[more]
Monday, March 19, 2007
...A great way to solicit your first round of investors (your "angel investors") is to begin building a Board of Advisors that is comprised of your poten
[more]
Thursday, March 15, 2007
...Posted my first column on Venture Beat, which is probably the most cited blog for new start-up funding and activity today. The post was a call for inv
[more]
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
...Raising money from investors isn't like asking to borrow money from a friend. A bigger number doesn't make them more nervous. If anything, you w
[more]
Friday, March 2, 2007
...Ask any salesperson how much they make per year and they'll instantly use this math: (My best ever Month / Quarter / Year)x (As far as I can see it l
[more]
Thursday, February 1, 2007
...There's been a lot of talk on Go BIG about the role of Capital Brokers in the fundraising process. I wanted to take some time to explain their r
[more]
Monday, January 29, 2007
...There you are, showing off your incredible presentation to an investor - "Look, for only a $500,000 investment we can grow to over $3 million per yr.
[more]
Monday, January 22, 2007
...Do you need an investor to help float some of your personal expenses (like paying a salary) while you get your new idea up and running?
[more]
Monday, January 22, 2007
... There continues to be a lot of debate about Government's role in small business. I'm a big fan of keeping Government OUT of small business.
[more]
Friday, January 19, 2007
...Links to a few great articles about why investors don't sign non-disclosure agreements.
[more]
Friday, January 12, 2007
...Wil takes a trip to Sand Hill Road on a visit with Sequoia Capital and Benchmark Capital
[more]
Friday, January 5, 2007
Most people have no idea what it takes to own a piece of a startup. They think that simply showing up for work entitles them to an ownership stake in the business, just because it’s a startup company. Others think they should be handed stock opti
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If I hear one more entrepreneur say “I'll tell you about my idea, but I need you to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement first,” I think I’m going to hurl myself out of a window! I can’t think of a bigger red flag to a new business than an ent
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
For any startup, raising money for to hire people is always a problem. There’s a lot to be done, and inevitably it takes people – who are very expensive – to do it. But how do you get the money to hire the people if you don’t have the people to c
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
The equity in your startup company, often distributed in the form of stock options, is the most valuable asset you will ever part with. They are like the organs in your body – you only start with a limited amount and at first they seem like they
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
I don’t know if there is some sort of mathematical equation you can put to this, but it would certainly appear that the smaller the investor’s check, the bigger the headache they become to an entrepreneur. You might think the opposite would be true,
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’ve ever received a service today and paid for it in 30 days you’ve experienced the concept of “float” – the time difference between when you receive a service and when you paid for it. In most cases this time period is a convenience to you
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
When a startup company is ringing doorbells for capital, investors will often ask what their “exit strategy” looks like. An exit strategy is your plan to turn your startup company into some sort of payday for investors. Two common means of cashin
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Recognizing when your stock is hot is vital to the success of a startup or high growth company. I’m not talking about after you’ve gone public and you’re trading at some insane multiple of earnings. I’m talking about long before you ever take on your
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Most startups get so hung up on the idea of trying to hit a home run with their new business that they never even get to first base. They spend months writing complicated business plans that speculate how the company is going to get to millions of d
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’re an entrepreneur with a startup idea and big hopes for the future, I have one wish for you – I hope you don’t find capital.
Don’t get me wrong, I certainly hope you go on to become wildly successful. I just hope you d
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Ask any experienced entrepreneur who’s been through the startup ringer what the most basic formula for a successful startup company is, and she’ll likely give you this response:
“Revenue minus expense equals profit.”
This ma
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for new ways to increase revenues. They develop more products, expand their operations, and hire new salespeople in hopes of adding a few more dollars to the bottom line.
Yet the fastest way to rea
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’re still dreaming about raising outside capital for your business before you have any paying customers, I’ve got a nice big bucket of ice water to throw on you. Wake up! The cold reality is that investors aren’t interested in your business
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’ve ever pitched your new business idea to an investor, only to be tortured with an endless list of reasons your idea will never work, my sympathies go out to you. The rejection of being told your business idea sucks can be incredibly painf
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
People often ask me why I’m so passionate about launching startup companies versus working for a regular paycheck like everyone else. Certainly the lure of a big salary at an established company must have some sort of merit. To that I simply repl
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Startup companies often get frustrated when they can’t find investors willing to fund their new idea. What they don’t realize is that in order to get an investment, they need more than just a good idea and the promise of future profits. What inve
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Picture this scenario and let me know if it sounds familiar. You’ve met with a potential investor about your new startup opportunity. During the meeting the investor told you that the business plan “sounded interesting” and they “really liked the opp
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
As an employer, I hate what I’m about to tell you.
The best way to fund your startup company is to stay at your current job.
I’m not suggesting you stay employed so you can steal office supplies and clients. What I’
(more...)
Monday, December 18, 2006
If you’re on your way to the next big pitch (or coming back from one), let me assure you there are probably at least five reasons that this one is going to go horribly wrong. 1. You told investors what you wanted them to know Investors don’t care th
(more...)
Monday, December 18, 2006
I hear this a lot from entrepreneurs saddled with debt:“I’m just looking for an investor to come in, bail us out of debt, and create some expansion capital to help grow the business.” I don’t want to freak you out, but I have to be straight with you
(more...)
Management (65)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
...The definition of a startup means you have very few resources to employ and little time to get them to do something valuable.
[more]
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
...When it comes to a startup, the luxuries shared with established companies are few and far between.
[more]
Thursday, August 7, 2008
...Take a look around your office right now and ask yourself – is everyone happy?
[more]
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
...No matter how well your startup company does, sooner or later you're going to be faced with the fact that someone has to go.
[more]
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
...Wil has written a new article in Forbes that explains how to lower your legal bills when starting a new company.
[more]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
...In this episode, Wil discusses with Jim of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his formula to create an innovate company. Wil also explains how questioning your
[more]
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
...Hello there young entrepreneur, I’m your investor. Remember me?
I’m the guy that sat in front of your heartfelt and emotional presentation to raise
[more]
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
...Wil Schroter discusses with Jim Canterucci of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his definition of success and the difficulties of evaluating the market for
[more]
Monday, April 7, 2008
... Sooner or later, no matter how sweet your new startup company is, someone is going to hand in their resignation. It could be the gal you’ve been working with since the day you founded the company, or the person you hired last week.
[more]
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
...I’m not proud to admit it, but I’ve made some dumb business purchases during my career and now I’m ready to come clean.
[more]
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
...In the movie Liar Liar, Jim Carrey plays attorney Fletcher Reede, who’s been cursed with the inability to lie. Every attempt Fletcher makes to lie results in him blurting out the God’s honest truth instead.
[more]
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
...A question many have tried to answer through a series of books. A question that many have assumed to which they know the answer.
[more]
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
...There is a great book authored by a friend of mine, Keith Ferrazzi, called “Never Eat Alone”. In it, he talks about the power of relationships to get where you want in life. He also talks about the power of gratitude.
[more]
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
...Leading a startup company is nothing like leading a big, established company. Startups are focused foremost on survival, while big companies direct
[more]
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
... Most people start their new business or company for themselves. This is fine, our free-market economy is structured so that self-interest rewards
[more]
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
...Recently I was asked to define the one thing that’s most important to a business. My answer is two words: competitive advantage.
[more]
Monday, January 14, 2008
...Entrepreneurs are probably the most motivated people on earth. I don’t know if there is any other job description that requires more passion, energy,
[more]
Monday, December 17, 2007
...There’s a lot of advice out there that goes against the grain when it comes to what you’re good at. Most people will tell you
[more]
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
...Thomas Edison’s famous quote, “Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration” is the embodiment of a startup. There is often a lot said about the
[more]
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
...While starting a company is hard, starting a company when you’re married with children is even more difficult. After having started and run five
[more]
Monday, December 10, 2007
...Back in my high school days, I did a lot of sales work at Verizon, Sprint, Sears, Radioshack, Target, and my own service-driven startups. I’ve held th
[more]
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
...Customers are obviously the only reason your business exists, or will exist, or will continue to exist. I mentioned before in What’s In It for Them
[more]
Monday, November 19, 2007
...In less than 2 years from its launch, YouTube sold for $1.65 billion to Google. You hear startup stories like that and you start to ask yourself
[more]
Thursday, November 15, 2007
...Hiring startup staff is always tough because you rarely have the cash to pay salaries. Instead, you beg, borrow and beg some more for people, t
[more]
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
...Recently I had one of those moments that was so bad, it made me physically ill. In fact, it was such a problem that I couldn’t even write about it...
[more]
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
...In Vegas, if you keep on winning, you can keep on playing all night. But if you lose it all just once, you’re done for good. The only way to ever get ahead in the long term, is to take some money off the table when you’re lucky enough to have it.
[more]
Thursday, October 18, 2007
...Becoming successful is a stressful process.
Aside from the trials and tribulations of building a company we often create an entirely separate bucke
[more]
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
...This is the second part of Free Labor Ain't Free at All (Part One of Two) So now you have a whole bunch of people willing to work for free, but how do
[more]
Thursday, September 13, 2007
...We get a lot of requests at Go BIG by companies looking for interns, college students, and part-time work-for-equity types. It's the golden reso
[more]
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
...A lot of what I talk about is facing the challenges of building a company. We tend to think of stuff like raising capital, bringing a product to
[more]
Thursday, August 30, 2007
...Tell me if this sounds familiar to you: You're walking into the office and you notice there's a management meeting taking place that you're not a part
[more]
Thursday, August 23, 2007
...We all know the perfect scenario for doing a startup looks like this: 1. I'll keep my current job (income). Instead of sacrificing my lif
[more]
Monday, August 13, 2007
...At Go BIG, we work out of a startup company incubator with about 40 other companies. It's kinda like a big dorm room for startups, with every of
[more]
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
...I was having lunch with a good fiend of mine who was talking about acquiring a new startup company. When I asked him if there was any overlap in duty
[more]
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
...Last week I was talking to an incredibly talented developer from a local startup company about coming over to Go BIG. He told me that he liked his exi
[more]
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
...As entrepreneurs, many of us one day dream of trading all of our hard work for a big fat paycheck from an acquiring company. It's the stuff headlines
[more]
Monday, June 18, 2007
...Many entrepreneurs go from "working for the man" to "being the man" with the start of a new company. What gets lost in translation is what you c
[more]
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
...If even remotely qualify as being a young person, go start a company. This is the one time in your life where you can bet the farm without worrying ab
[more]
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
...For the past 14 years I've played the role of "evil startup boss." I'm considered "evil" not because I'm literally doing something bad but becau
[more]
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
...Staying focused on the big picture of your corporate vision is difficult when you’re mired in the details of the day-to-day operations. Yet staying fo
[more]
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
... Sometimes the most brilliant thing an entrepreneur can do is pack his stuff and go home. There’s a time to go big, and then there’s a time to go home
[more]
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
... In the movie Blade Runner, there were a species of sub-humans called Replicants that despite their human appearance and actions were just robots. In
[more]
Friday, March 16, 2007
...A few days ago I was having a whiskey with Phil Kaplan, the Founder of AdBrite and the famed Web site, F*ckedcompany.com. As another serial entr
[more]
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
... The hiring of a Seasoned Manager is a tried and true tradition among young companies. At some point we feel like the knuckleheads that started the co
[more]
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
...Not all business strategies apply to all companies, especially when it comes to startups. The worst advice often comes from "Seasoned Executives" that
[more]
Thursday, February 22, 2007
...I was reading an article from Fortune Small Business entitled "Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?" and started thinking about both sides of the question.
[more]
Thursday, February 15, 2007
...Of all your greatest accomplishments, how many of them were the result of a half-assed attempt to accomplish something? My count is exactly zero, desp
[more]
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
...Attrition is standard fare for startup companies. The problem isn't so much losing people - you're going to lose them - it's how to detect and m
[more]
Monday, February 12, 2007
...I've had the good fortune to sit on quite a few Advisory Boards for all types of companies.
[more]
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
...It's entirely possible that you will be overwhelmed with work this week, put in 80 hours, and still get nothing meaningful accomplished.
[more]
Friday, January 5, 2007
Imagine for a moment that you’re on a lifeboat desperately rowing your way to shore. You’re not alone, though, you’ve got a handful of people that you trust helping you row like crazy to save yourselves. If everyone works together and wor
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Entrepreneurs often ask themselves when the right time to start a company might be. They hang around waiting for the stars to align, for their moment of inspiration to hit, and for their career to prepare them for something big.
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’re like 99% of the entrepreneurs in the world that have never started a company before, then there is one trait you inevitably share – you have no idea what you’re doing.
And that’s just fine, because despite how much we
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
In the early days of the Wild, Wild West, a cowboy had to use his wits to survive in a brave new world. What worked in a civilized world -- negotiation, planning, and diplomacy -- were better settled with a six shooter and a 12 gauge in t
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
In times of a sales crisis, companies turn to all sorts of activities to keep the ship moving forward and above water. They cut expenses, they lay off staff, and they look for more efficient ways to stretch their dollar. It’s the equivale
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
When is the best time to recruit employees, find capital, and go after brand new customers?
When you don’t need any of them.
A fast growth company becomes a fast growth company by smart preparation. Though there can
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Alright fellow entrepreneurs, it’s time for some tough love. I know you’ve mortgaged the house to make payroll. I know you’ve quit your high-paying executive job to work for nothing. And I know it’s taken far longer for this big idea of y
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Although startup companies tend to be small, they all share one unique advantage over their larger competitors - they are naturally agile. Small companies have the ability to make management decisions quickly and rally their entire team t
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
Some entrepreneurs like to gloat about their successes. Me, I like to brag about how often I’ve been rejected. And with the number of times people have shut me down, I have a lot to talk about.
Unfortunately many entrepreneurs don’t sh
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
If you’re one of the few entrepreneurs that have the opportunity to sell your business today and are contemplating whether our not you should, I have only one piece of advice for you – take the money and run!
For every one entr
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
The definition of a startup means you have very few resources to employ and little time to get them to do something valuable. The clock is always ticking, and the money (if you even have any) is running out by the day. With so little to leverage, you
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
When it comes to a startup, the luxuries shared with established companies are few and far between. Chief among them is the luxury to close at the end of the day. Big companies have the benefits of capital, customers and receivables. Star
(more...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
People read fantastic stories of companies like Google and label them overnight successes because they seem to have quickly grown so huge from nothing. While the rapid success of these companies is awe-inspiring, most of these “overnight