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Wil Schroter's Blog

Wil Schroter

Founder, Go Big Network

Recent Posts
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.That’s because a startup company can create a ton of value in a very short period of time, and in many cases, with relatively little effort. It’s exciting to get others wrapped into your new idea, and their willingness to bet on your idea may feel like something you want to reward with shares of the company. The issue isn’t whethe ...view entire post
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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. The thinking goes that if they simply copy the Web site verbatim, they’ll essentially enjoy the same success. This sounds good in theory except for one truth - in five years across three different companies (Swapalease.com, Go BIG Network, and GotCast.com) no one has ever done it successfully.That doesn’t mean people haven’t tried. Heck, people ha ...view entire post
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May 27, 2009
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 focused on skating toward where the puck was going to be. Gretzky knew that if he couldn’t be the fastest in the middle of the game, he would have to figure out how to stay ahead of the game.Sometimes trying to keep up in the middle of the game is a  ...view entire post
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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. I would say it’s the pitch. The pitch is that one message that, when delivered, makes people say “wow, that’s a great idea!”. The pitch gets everyone in the room excited about getting on board with your product and your company. It’s the inspiration that carries everyone along for the ride.The pitch also determines whether or not the company's offer has  ...view entire post
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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. In today’s market, even being number two is just not good enough. Almost anyone can tell you who the world’s richest man is – Bill Gates. But when asked who numbers two, three and four are, people get confused. The reason is simply that number one garners all the attention, while number two (in this case the great Warren Buffet) gets easily swept aside from our attention. Who  ...view entire post
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April 1, 2009
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 and just behind their car that pulls along any car willing to ride right behind. By drafting the car in front of it, the tailing car conserves fuel and power so that at the critical moment, they can pull to the side, punch the acceleration and rocket ahead. You need to le ...view entire post
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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.Unfortunately, gamma radiation is in short supply at most startups, so entrepreneurs need to ...view entire post
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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.  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 need to make sure that the focus of your company's product offer is as razor sharp as possible. Don't be all you can be.  Be as little as you can be.Most startup companies fail because they try to be too many things to too many people right from t ...view entire post
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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 ...view entire post
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February 4, 2009
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.  Startups, on the other hand, have jack squat.  They need to work twice as hard to make half as much, and even then they’re not working nearly enough.  If you had any delusions going into this new venture that things were going to be easy and you were going to be  ...view entire post
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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.Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that you run aimlessly into the startup abyss.  What I want you to avoid is the black hole of planning that most entrepreneurs get into when starting a company.  They get sucked into a time warp where a formerly great idea gives way to months upon months of “thinking” about the idea instead of just makin ...view entire post
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January 6, 2009
Turn People into Money 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? The key is to reverse the trend – turn people into money.Finding out how to bring staff members on board before you have a chance to pay them in real dollars will allow you to ...view entire post
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December 11, 2008
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November 25, 2008
The Magic of Float 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 as a customer, but in the world of business marketing it can absolutely transform your business.  The reason you can grow your marketing budget so actively is because of a whole new breed of on-line marketing tools that a ...view entire post
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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. The thinking goes that if they simply copy the Web site verbatim, they’ll essentially enjoy the same success. This sounds good in theory except for one truth - in five years across three different companies (Swapalease.com, Go BIG Network, and GotCast.com) no one has ever done it successfully. That doesn’ ...view entire post
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October 13, 2008
Anyone who’s survived the last down market knows that there are diamonds in the rubble of a broken economy.  While everyone else is fleeing for the hills, a smart, lean startup company can find its greatest fortune. In order to understand why a down market creates so many opportunities for a startup company, you first need to understand why a bull market makes it so difficult to succeed. In a bull market the cost of everything skyrockets.  As more capital  ...view entire post
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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. Even then, when people are actually forking over their hard earned cash for your product, you still don’t know if you’ve optimized for the be ...view entire post
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September 17, 2008
Recently I sat down with a financial manager who wanted to pitch me on using his firm to manage my finances. He gave me a laundry list of reasons why his firm should be the group that makes the key financial decisions for my money. I waited quietly for his pitch to finish so that I could ask the one question I’ve never gotten a good answer to. I simply asked him “If you’re so smart with capital, why would you have time to manage mine?” This wasn’ ...view entire post
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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. The truth is, it’s not the multi millions that will change your life forever – it’s the first million (or less) than really makes the difference. You see, most of our lives a ...view entire post
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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. That’s because a startup company can create a ton of value in a very short period of time, and in many cases, with relatively little effort. It’s exciting to get others wrapped into your new idea, and their willingness to bet on your idea may feel like something you want to reward with shares of the company. The issue isn’t whether ...view entire post
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August 7, 2008
Take a look around your office right now and ask yourself – is everyone happy? You may think so. People may be working hard, putting in long hours, and cranking through project after project to get your new startup company launched. You may feel like you’ve got the entire team energized and ready to go at the office. But the real question is – are you winning the war at home? Startup company managers need to realize that attracting and retaining key talent is ...view entire post
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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."The suggestion there is spot on - that the entrepreneurs who get to live the life people dream about did so because they were willing to make the sacrifices it took to make that life happen.  So the question really is: can you afford not to be an entrepreneur?If the answer is “yes”, your life will probably be just fine doing whatever it is that you enjoy doing.  But if you really want ...view entire post
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July 9, 2008
Your First idea is only the Beginning Like everything else in this life, the plan for your new startup company will almost certainly change beyond anything you could have contemplated.  We would all love to think that we can have one new product idea that is so brilliant we never need to change a thing, but that rarely happens. In fact, many successful companies launch with one idea in mind but become fabulously successful by shifting directions completely.Google started out just powe ...view entire post
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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.  It may be a disgruntled co-founder or it may be the intern that looked great on paper but turned into a disaster when they walked into the office. While parting company is a tough thing to do, there are definitely better and worse ways to go about it.  There's an art to ending a corporate romance on a positive note, and it s ...view entire post
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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.  Given enough time, you don’t even need to know what the product is. Instead you just start asking whether or not the entrepreneur has the right answer to a handful of questions that validate just about any startup idea.   This isn’t about having a sixth sense about the success or failure of a potential business idea.  No one has  ...view entire post
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June 3, 2008
Here at Go BIG, we read a ton of blogs. Every once and a while you need a blog that breaks the typical news and advice clutter. BrassTacks @ BusinessPlan.com is a new blog that does just that by providing a real and raw view of business planning and business building issues.The BrassTacks main blogger, Brittany Schaeffer, continually provides fun and edgy articles that helps digest industry news and events. Stories like “Web 2.0 Doesn’t Make Money. VC’s Keep Funding”, looks at the continual fund ...view entire post
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May 28, 2008
Dump that Web Site and Just Build a Blog! What’s the fastest way to get your Web startup launched without having to raise capital, hire programmers and spend countless hours developing a Web site?Do it yourself with a blog.Why a Blog?When most people think about blogging, they conjure an image of someone’s personal Web diary or a site bubbling with celebrity gossip.  But blog software has much greater potential,from selling a product to building an entire community.  Sure, you could u ...view entire post
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May 21, 2008
 Wil has written a new article in Forbes that explains how to lower your legal bills when starting a new company. "The most common legal expenses start-ups incur are associated with the process of incorporation. In the past, this often required either navigating a bunch of state or federal forms--or hiring an attorney to do it for you. These days, the entire process can be done online in less than an hour, for an average of $200 (before filing fees)."Read the Full article - How To Lower Your Leg ...view entire post
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May 14, 2008
Your Idea Alone has no Value Contrary to popular belief, great companies are not borne from great ideas alone.  We'd all love to think that if we could simply invent the next Post-It note, we could sit back and watch the cash tumble in.  But if great ideas don't spawn great companies, what does? The short answer is: you.  The longer and far more complicated answer is how you specifically position yourself and your company to execute on an idea.  Anyone who overhear ...view entire post
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May 7, 2008
Jim of MyPersonalBrilliance.com interviews Wil about the Initiative to start a new company. Jim and Wil discuss sustainability, the role of discipline and not confusing great companies with great ideas. You can listen to the forth and last interview with Wil here.  ...view entire post
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May 5, 2008
Jim of MyPersonalBrilliance.com interviews Wil about the Focus needed when launching a startup. Wil discusses why reacting to trends, understanding the little details and when to bring in help is best for your business. You can listen to the third interview with Wil here.  ...view entire post
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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 business decisions and the answers can guide entrepreneurs to a better company. You can listen to the second interview with Wil here. ...view entire post
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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 capital for your business.  I listened closely to your entire plan, and made a few comments about what I didn’t think would work.  You of course ignored my comments and assured me that with the right amount of my money, you’d be able to solve all of your problems.I wrote you a check, you spent the money, and those problems haven’t gone away. So asid ...view entire post
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April 29, 2008
Wil Schroter discusses with Jim Canterucci of MyPersonalBrilliance.com his definition of success and the difficulties of evaluating the market for your idea. Wil also explains how to build a strong team for your venture, being aware of your weaknesses and how to best use GoBIG as a resource. You can listen to the interview with Wil here.  ...view entire post
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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.  Regardless, the thought of losing people may sound like a bad thing – but in fact it’s not. Not all employee attrition is a bad thing. I’m not talking about sitting around your conference room like Dr. Evil and eliminating anyone that doesn’t please you toda ...view entire post
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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.Imagine what would happen if an entrepreneur were cursed with the same affliction. What would their pitch really look like? The Sales Pitch “Hello, I’m Wil Schroter, and thank you for being the only client that was willing to return my phone call. I’ve borrowed my roommate’ ...view entire post
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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 whether a customer would buy that product to begin with. "How do I close a sale on my product when I don't have a product to sell yet?" The typical logic goes that once an investor ponies up the dough to build the product, the entrepreneur will then go out and make the sale.  While it would be nice if we could all build the perfect product and ...view entire post
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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. Yet ideas alone aren’t worth much.  Very few companies, including eBay, became successful based on just an idea.  Unless your idea turns into a patent that no one can replicate, it’s worth nothing until you can add  ...view entire post
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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 giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to create video pitches of their business, making them available to investors, partners and potential employees. What I liked about Vator from the start was that they provide a very human element of the pitch process.  It also gives other entrepreneurs the opportunity to see how different pitches are delivered, fr ...view entire post
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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 their efforts toward growth or in the worst case, slowing decline.It’s natural that many entrepreneurs start companies with a task list that looks a lot like it did at their old job. After all, they’re likely coming from an established career in a big company. Big companies (usually) have the critical infrastructure in place and as inefficient as th ...view entire post
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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 paperwork and get "approved".  Even your business plan, while an important exercise, doesn't guarantee funding is on it's way. Finding an investor that will write a check has a lot to do with who is pitching the plan and how well it's communicated.  If the investor is saying "no", it may not be because your idea sucks.  It could s ...view entire post
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November 28, 2007
The most common question entrepreneurs ask about raising capital is “How much equity should I give up to an investor?” There’s a really simple answer “As little as humanly possible!”Sitting across the table from an investor doesn’t have to feel like a game of Texas Hold’em.  You don’t need to bluff your way into a great deal and hope to “beat” the investor.  There are some easier ways to determine how much equity to hand over to investor in a way that makes you both feel great about the deal.Num ...view entire post
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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 "What's taking so long in my business?" It's not taking too long for your startup to be successful.  You probably just don't have realistic expectations! Companies take a long time to become successful, if they even make it at all.  The fact that some of them start and blossom so quickly doesn't mean all other startups by comparison are ...view entire post
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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, time, and resources.  You settle for some weekend hours from a programmer, one night a week from a corporate CFO, and some off hours from a college intern.Sometimes those bits and pieces add up to something valuable.  Most of the time they don't.When it comes to recruiting staff, if you're not getting at least 51% of someone's time, the chances of gettin ...view entire post
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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 relegated to footnotes in a Web site launch campaign.The good news is that they've been replaced with a new arsenal of Web marketing weapons that are far more effective, relatively trackable, and nearly free. The bad news is they can be hard as hell to figure out.Nowadays, getting the word out means exploiting social networks like MySpace and Facebo ...view entire post
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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 not). Raising money isn't a side business - it's a fulltime job! Unfortunately that fulltime job is both necessary and completely distracting at the same time.  While you jump through hoops to satisfy half-interested investors and partners, the people that you should be jumping through hoops for (your customers!) a ...view entire post
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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.Pouring money back into your startup is a lot like betting at Vegas.  Ideally if you keep winning you’ll be able to keep pouring money back into more growth, and more profits.  But if you lose just once and have already invested all the capital you had ...view entire post
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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 bucket of anxieties just worrying about our own career paths. We worry that we’re not already successful enough. We worry that we’re not growing as quickly as our peers are. We worry that if we can’t take our company public like that twenty-something kid did, we’re just not worthy. All of this anxiety is not only self-imposed, it’s largely se ...view entire post
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October 16, 2007
Hello Go BIG readers, It’s me, Josh, the resident content manager. I know I know. Why are you in Wil’s Blog, and what are you doing here? I sat down with Wil and said, “Wil, Your blogs are great but we need more.” So we agreed, more there shall be. We plan on filling this blog with guest bloggers on the days that Wil doesn’t write. What does that mean for you?There will be more quality content and blogs for your consumption. Below I will be introducing the 3 guest bloggers that will be posting o ...view entire post
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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 simple: we're casting for TV shows online. Up until now, getting cast for television was only for people who were "in the business" or had moved to Hollywood to get famous.  But with the massive switch from scripted TV (think Seinfeld) to reality TV (which is now 85% of what's on television) made the demand for general tal ...view entire post
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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 typically walk into investor meetings totally unprepared for what investors want to see. Aside from a great presentation, there are some basic documents you should always have ready if you expect a deal to get closed. A Good, Short, Executive Summary A good two page doc that quickly outlines the problem you're solving, how you solve it, and how you'l ...view entire post
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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. They are like the organs in your body – you only start with a limited amount and at first they seem like they are free. But like the organs in your body, you only get one chance to give them away, so you had better be real careful about giving them away. It all starts innocently enough. We have a great idea. We need people to implement and support the idea, and  ...view entire post
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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 cover expenses until they can start generating some cash.  The weapon of choice in this instance is a Line of Credit (LOC). What is a Line of Credit? Think of a line of credit the same way you think of a credit card.  You are offered a credit limit of a certain amount (let's say $25,000) and you draw down on that limit as you need it.  At the end o ...view entire post
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September 25, 2007
Disclaimer - this is my explanation of a new service we've just rolled out, not a typical post. Do you need an advisor to help you Go BIG? Judging by the number of emails I get from Go BIG members, many people do. As I always say, starting a startup is tough work.  It's even harder when you don't have someone to show you the ropes and help you avoid some pitfalls. Now we've got another way to help you along - the Go BIG Mentoring Program. I'm spending a ridiculous amount of time writi ...view entire post
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September 19, 2007
How to Keep your Rookie Startup Company from Riding the Bench 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 have the chance to be the greatest of all time.  Yet in a short period of time, they are either going to be known as “One of the Greats” or just another 3rd string bench warmer that never made a name for themselves.So how do you keep your startup on an all-star track without v ...view entire post
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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 you actually get some productivity out of them?  There are lots of misperceptions about what to expect of your free help once it's on board. Common Misperceptions about Free Labor 1. They'll stick around.  If you expect free labor to work just as hard and effectively as paid labor, that's the first mistake.  They will work as  ...view entire post
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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 resource - free labor - and it's what startup companies are best known for, since they usually have very little money to spend. But "free labor" ain't free at all.  It costs you in more ways than one. As much as it may sound great to have a pack of interns working around the clock trying to get work done, that theory doesn't usually hold up well in pra ...view entire post
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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 market, and hiring staff as the biggest challenges. But what about the challenge of dealing with the people around us? A commonly overlooked challenge is the problems created by the people around us.  I'm talking about the friends you interact with both in and out of the office, the members of your family, and of course those working strictly agai ...view entire post
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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 you pay one of those Search Engine Optimization firms to get you better Google rankings?  Should you sponsor your kid's little league team shirts? The answer isn't about where to spend money, it's about what order to spend it in. Presumably all of these placements will produce some visibility for your company.  But startups just don't need visibility,  ...view entire post
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September 5, 2007
The Benefits of Not Raising Capital 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 quicker, add more resources, and launch with a burst of speed.But are there any benefits to not raising capital?  What happens when you avoid taking on capital and take your time to build a company?There are lots of hidden benefits to building slowly, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the ...view entire post
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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 of.  New employees are showing up that you've never interviewed.  The investors are interviewing a "seasoned" CEO to run the company. You and your startup are breaking up - you just don't realize it yet. Ah, the sad cycle of a startup.  An entrepreneur busts his ass to turn his vision into a company, management comes on board to help (via in ...view entire post
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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 themselves. Yet if you really started asking some hard questions, you may be surprised at how lame some of the answers you get are. Here are three that may have you wondering whether or not the guy across the table knows what he's talking about: 1.  How many exits have you had? Investors, particularly venture capital investors, are all about the "exi ...view entire post
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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 lifestyle I'll just stay fully employed and eliminate any cash concerns. 2.  I'll quite my job when the startup takes off.  I'll keep working at my startup until the income from that venture surpasses what I'm currently making. 3.  I'll work nights and weekends.  I'll find the time I need in my free evenings and weekends to make up ...view entire post
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August 22, 2007
As I'm writing this, it's 1:34 A.M. on a Tuesday. I'm working right now, and my guess is most people aren't.It's not that I'm not tired – I am. It's not that I can't sleep – I can. I'm working at 1:34 in the morning because that's what I do. I'm a startup Founder, and I don't sleep.Startup Founders don't sleep because the work of a startup is never done. Many years from now, when this startup idea turns into a big company with lots of managers and bureaucracy, then I can sleep. As it stands now, ...view entire post
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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 totally broke. 2.  Don't mention the problems with our product. 3.  Use our best day/week/month/quarter of sales to gauge our sales projections. 4.  Don't mention the new competitor that just launched. 5.  Pray. Sound familiar?  It should if you're like every single startup company on the planet. Let's face it folks, we're all in the same boat.  Whe ...view entire post
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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, Grey Goose and Target all seem to own their respective categories from one simple concept - they are fundamentally authentic.  By contrast, many brands try to copy them and fail miserably because they are not the real thing. Or said differently - if you're not authentic, you will probably fail.  And you probably should. I've seen this fir ...view entire post
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August 13, 2007
At Go BIG, we work out of a startup company incubator with about 40 other companies.  It's kind of like a big dorm room for startups, with every office being another company, another idea, and another opportunity. If you leave our office incubator on any given night, chances are you'll see my car in the parking lot long after the other cars in the parking lot have left.  Really that's kind of weird, since I've sold a few companies and should be living it up while these other guys are still stu ...view entire post
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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?While there are a lot of variables to consider, entrepreneurs often overlook the variables that really matter. They tend to think in terms of, “how can I get the biggest check on payday?” When the real question is, “what’s the chance that I'll ever see a payday at all?”In order to understand what a stake in a company is really worth, you need to know  ...view entire post
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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 sake of being dishonest, but they still aren't telling the truth.  There is no such thing as a market with zero competition.  Unless you are the sole supplier of water, air, or the essence of life, there is an alternative to your product offer, even if it doesn't feel like a direct competitor. You Compete with Alternatives Your competition is ...view entire post
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July 31, 2007
I was having lunch with a good friend of mine who was talking about acquiring a new startup company. When I asked him if there was any overlap in duties, he responded "Well, at the CEO level yes, but we're going to put the new CEO into a 'special consulting' role going forward." There are lots of ways to be shown the door as an executive.  Being given a meaningless, bad title is the weapon of choice for acquiring companies. If you've been given or about to be given any of the following titles ...view entire post
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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 to have a smaller piece of a much bigger pie.” This has become just another tired business adage that people assume must be true because it has survived so long. But sometimes having a smaller piece of a bigger pie is not a better meal. Diluting your stake in your company in order to grow can backfire dramatically i ...view entire post
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July 24, 2007
Don't take the title of this blog post wrong.  I hope you survive as an Independent Consultant... I really do.  Yet before you jump ship for the bountiful glory that is independent consulting, allow me to tell you the story of Zed - a person much like you that failed to realize the true evil that lurks behind the facade of independent consulting. Meet our Hero: Zed Meet our hero, Zed.  Long ago, Zed was working as a star programmer for a consulting company getting paid $30 per hour while bil ...view entire post
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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. That seems like a long, long time ago doesn't it? It's now Day One of Year Two.  Today you didn't jump out of bed because you were sleeping at your desk.  You responded (3 hours later) to a text message your wife sent you asking if you were going to make it home tonight.  You're not worrying about conquering the world today anymore, you're worr ...view entire post
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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 ran into a few Go BIG members while walking the streets of San Francisco, which was pretty cool. In the last 24 hours I've probably given the Go BIG elevator speech 20 times, pitching reporters, entrepreneurs, investors and just about anyone that will listen. There are 3 reasons I pitch everyone, all the time: You never know to whom you're pitching.  On at lea ...view entire post
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July 11, 2007
Welcome to the first day of your new startup job! We're so excited that you've decided to be part of our venture. You're going to find that compared to your old job at a big, stodgy corporation, a startup is a totally different world. To get you acclimated to the change, let me walk you through the perks and benefits of your new job while you settle in.We have a Premium Coffee ServiceOh, you want to know where the coffee is? We have an amazing service that offers premium coffees and a full assor ...view entire post
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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" and you think getting a check is the only way to start a business, I've got news for you.  There are a lot of ways to move your startup forward without having cash in the bank. Let's assume that it will probably take longer than you think it will to get funded, if you get a check at all.  In the meantime, the more you can get done in the t ...view entire post
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July 5, 2007
I was driving to work this morning thinking about how much I love working at a startup company (and always have).  I think there are a few unique characteristics about startup company Every Effort Matters - No matter what I do today, whether it's adding some Web site content or finding another client service manager, everything I do makes a noticeable impact on the company.  Every day, when I leave work, I feel like I got something done and have driven the company forward. Contrast tha ...view entire post
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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 existing company, and his stock was fully vested, but since he joined a few years ago, he didn't get the sense that the company was still growing (although it was).  He lost the excitement that drove him to that company and kept him there.  He lost it because the Founder stopped cheerleading.  He was ready to leave. As the Founder, it ...view entire post
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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 are made of, the cover of a magazine showcasing a newly minted millionaire beaming with delight at his newfound wealth. Selling your company sounds like holding the winning lottery ticket to heaven. But dealing with your company after you've sold it can feel more like a trip through hell! Most entrepreneurs don't really understand what being acqui ...view entire post
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June 26, 2007
While the startup life is amazing to most, the cost of having a startup life - not having a life outside of a startup - is damn high.Today's let's talk about what to do when you're not starting up.  I'm not talking about what hobbies you should or shouldn't have.  I'm talking about how to deliberately turn your startup world off long enough to let your mind rest and recharge.  For most of us, this takes as much effort as starting a company.You Have to Stop and Recharge.  You can't run at redlin ...view entire post
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June 25, 2007
If you dig what I'm writing in these blog posts and columns, I think you'll enjoy the keynote I'm giving on Wednesday (8:30 a.m.) at the Ohio Growth Summit. I'm going to cover the five points of growing a company like mad - vision, growth, marketing, capital and management.  It's mostly a walk-through of the concepts I've covered in the book, but with some recent updates as to how newer companies are leveraging these same concepts. Registration for BOTH days is only $149 and there are some  ...view entire post
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June 20, 2007
When I was 19 years old, at the dawn of the Internet age, I couldn't figure out why "old people" (basically anyone over 30) didn't inherently understand the Web.  Now I don't mean they couldn't understand it, I mean they didn't inherently get it.  The way when you were 22 you just knew what music was cool and when you're 42 you have no clue, you're still listening to your Winger cassettes. You tend to lose important resources when you get older - your friends and your naivete.   ...view entire post
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June 19, 2007
Yes, we're hiring again.  We actually have six new open positions but I just wanted to talk about two.  We're looking for two Client Service Managers to work with the members of Go BIG. We've hired a few Client Service Managers already over the past couple years and it's been a great way for people to learn about Go BIG, the startup process, and what it's like to work for a fast-growth startup as well. We're based in Columbus, Ohio near the Ohio State University campus and downtown C ...view entire post
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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 can and cannot say to your co-workers along the way. There are lots of things you can't tell your team - these are my favorite three. Before I start, though, let me first say that I'm all about transparency.  The more you can tell your team the better.  It's just that not everything is appropriate. Leave it at home - Whether you spent al ...view entire post
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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 about the consequences. If you succeed, you’ll win big. If you fail, the consequences are so minimal it barely matters. Now you may think that it can’t be that easy. You might think of a million reasons that you’re not ready to start a company. And while some of them may be valid, there are a few incredibly valuable reasons why starting a company whi ...view entire post
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June 11, 2007
If you dig what I'm writing in these blog posts and columns, I think you'll enjoy the keynote I'm giving on Wednesday (8:30 a.m.) at the Ohio Growth Summit. I'm going to cover the five points of growing a company like mad - vision, growth, marketing, capital and management.  It's mostly a walk-through of the concepts I've covered in the book, but with some recent updates as to how newer companies are leveraging these same concepts. Registration for BOTH days is only $149 and there are  ...view entire post
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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 people think there is some secret formula that seasoned entrepreneurs use and VC's require that make your forecasts completely reasonable and reliable. There isn't.  Entrepreneurs, even the seasoned ones, basically take a stab in the dark at forecasting and hope like hell it's accurate. Of course over time you get a l ...view entire post
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June 5, 2007
(Author's Note - This was written to be sarcastic.  I got some people fired up about the article until they read the comments!)  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 because I'm the mouthpiece of your tired startup reality.  I'm the guy telling you to stay later, work harder, forgo pay, and risk more.  I'm the guy your spouse hates.  I'm the reason your childre ...view entire post
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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 hoping the first post convinces you that generating a million dollars per year in income would be enough to pay for most of what you would ever want. Now let's talk about how building a $3 million company (versus a $100 million company) changes your approach significantly. You can avoid investors. Professional investors aren't interested i ...view entire post
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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 focused on the day-to-day details is what makes your big vision come to life. So how do you do both? There’s a bit of an art to managing the present while focusing on the future. The goal is to stack up the details in such a way that they continually build a stairway toward the big vision. Having a ton of energy and enthusiasm for the future is of co ...view entire post
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May 29, 2007
I spend a lot of time talking about going BIG and building market-changing companies. Today I'm going to talk about the value of a small, highly profitable company. Specifically, I'm going to talk about the value of building a company with $3 million in revenues on a 33% ($1 million) profit margin. Let's face it, most people will never start the next Google, and that's perfectly OK.  For every headline-drenched company like Google that's printing money for thousands of people, there are th ...view entire post
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May 24, 2007
As a proud Gen X'er, I get to stand firmly on the line between the old-line thinking of the baby-boomers and Generation Y.  I'm not sure anyone younger than Gen Y even has a label yet, but I hope it's cooler than Gen Y, which was a lame a cop-out for generational monikers. What I'm amazed at, from this vantage point, is how many people in my generation still hold on to old-school ways of thinking, not because they still make sense, but because they carried them from their parents who pres ...view entire post
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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 Columbus, Ohio thinking I've just visited another planet. The problem with Silicon Valley is that the people there are absolutely in love with Silicon Valley.  So much that they tend to forget that the rest of the world doesn't operate anything like they do, yet ultimately they rely on the rest of the world to absorb and digest the products they cre ...view entire post
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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 a "big intimidating customer" that you're too nervous to call on? You wait and wait.  You wait for that moment when your product works perfectly. You wait for that one introduction that will turn it into a "warm lead." You wait to sign just a few more customers so that you look like you know what you're doing. But most of all, you ...view entire post
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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 through Technorati to see if anyone was blogging about it, and performed some domain searches on GoDaddy to see if anyone had the name (they always do.) You went to bed feeling good about your new idea, not finding anyone that had something similar.  You slept like a champion, basking in the glory of your brilliance. Then you woke up the next day on ...view entire post
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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. Let’s talk about going home. We’re not talking about flushing your dreams down the toilet and going back to the crappy job you couldn’t wait to leave. We’re talking about knowing when to let go of an idea that truly isn’t working to make time for one that is. Not Every Idea is a Winner As en ...view entire post
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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 this: Our Company is the <Insert Successful Company> - Killer Netscape will launch the Digg-Killer Socializr is the Evite-Killer AnythingYouCanName.com is the MySpace-Killer I'm so flipping tired of hearing companies describing themselves as the one product that is going to take down some behemoth. When does this actually happen?   ...view entire post
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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, including you. Here are 3 things investors are not looking to write a check for: Ideas - Investors aren't going to write a check to you just because you have an idea.  Millions of people have ideas and most of them are bad.  What makes a good idea is not it's novelty, it's the ability to actually run with it and make it successful in ...view entire post
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May 11, 2007
Most startups fail not because they don't hold onto good ideas long enough, but because they hold on to bad ideas for too long. Today I want you to bail on one idea (preferably a bad one.) I want you to bail on an idea that you've been holding onto for a long time that hasn't seemed to work out.  The kind of idea that seems like a good idea, but if it was really going to be amazing, it would have been implemented and amazing by now. That new feature you were going to implement. That ad p ...view entire post
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May 10, 2007
If I hear one more person ask me if I've heard about "The Secret" I think I'm going to throw myself out of a plane. (Disclaimer - I'm more fired up about this because I didn't think of it first!) Here's "The Secret" in a nutshell: if you want something, get off your ass and make it happen. How is this even remotely surprising?  People react to this movie as if it's the first time it has occurred to them that you need to be focused on your goals in ord ...view entire post
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May 10, 2007
(Special thanks to the folks at KillerStartups.com for providing the links/reviews to these services) I'm a big fan of discovery services on the Web.  Anything that lets me find out about more music, wine, and parties is meaningful to me. Cal Naughton, Jr.: Ricky, if you turn on the stereo, how do you control the volume on the television? Ricky Bobby: If you have the stereo on, why would you turn up the volume on the TV? Cal Naughton, Jr.: Cause I like to party. (that was totally irrelevan ...view entire post
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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 than 3 hours, we can relax. We dream of the great times when we can sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Well that day isn't today.  It's some other day.  But it sure as hell isn't today. If you really want to Go BIG, you need to hit the gas not when you're behind, but also when you're in the lead.  Being ahead is incidental ...view entire post
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May 7, 2007
I'm hearing more and more references to "it's 1999 all over again."  Valuations are up, money is flowing, lame business ideas are coming to market (mostly Internet companies.)  Big deals are happening (YouTube, DoubleClick, et al.) Yes, my friends, times are good again.  But it ain't no 1999. No one is going public.  Sure you're hearing about big deals, but not IPOs.  1999 was all about companies going public, employees getting big stock payouts, and day-traders getting ...view entire post
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May 4, 2007
The New York Post (since when do they get an exclusive?) has broken the news that Microsoft is in talks to buy Yahoo for an estimated $50 billion. I hope to hell they pull it off.  Both companies need this badly. 1.  Terry Semel Needs a Parachute - I have mad respect for Semel's past, but his current endeavors are horrible.  The guy just can't get ahead of the curve.  Since Semel has come on board the company has lost it's ability to innovate ahead of the game. ...view entire post
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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 going to talk about "Re-investing ROI: A Case Study"The premise of my talk is simple and may be something a lot of people can use -1.  Where do you start with a search marketing budget?2.  How do you balance between how much to spend and what you can expect to earn?3.  How do you grow (re-invest money) into your campaigns month over month?I'll go  ...view entire post
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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 you be working on ten?  Either you're trying to go out of your way to fail, or you're not really ready to succeed.  Either way, you're already screwed. There's no prize for working on lots of ideas at once.  The prize goes to those smart entrepreneurs that focus on only one idea, execute brilliantly, and cash out. You know who can w ...view entire post
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May 2, 2007
There are countless examples of highly successful business partnerships. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple Computer. Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft. Sergey Brin and Larry Page launched Google. All-star teams like these might convince you that finding a partner is a critical element in starting a business, but I’m here to tell you it isn’t. More entrepreneurs wind up taking on bad partners for the wrong reasons than good partners for the right ones. We all know that creatin ...view entire post
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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 lopsided argument from either the entrepreneur (complaining about the investors) or the investors (complaining about the entrepreneurs.) Guy attacks the problem from both sides, which provides a much more balanced and actionable response.  His books and blog are required reading for any entrepreneur looking to understand how startups really work!  ...view entire post
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April 30, 2007
World’s largest community of startup companies connects entrepreneurs with programmers, marketers and consultants that are looking to help grow startup companies. Monday, April 30, 2007 – COLUMBUS, OH - The Go BIG Network, the world’s largest community of startup companies, has launched its new “Projects” listing service. The service connects startup companies with programmers, marketers and consultants, many of whom are willing to work for equity or stock options in exchange for their services ...view entire post
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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 equivalent of a proposal that an investor will give to you that outlines the terms of the deal. Most entrepreneurs have never seen a Term Sheet before, and therefore can get easily duped on complex terms.  The site is chock full of solid advice for avoiding the many pitfalls of a term sheet. Here are some of my favorites - Create a board that ...view entire post
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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 cheeseballs (giggety, giggety). As I listen to and read a ton of pitches every day, I'm amazed at how many cheesy pickup lines I've heard entrepreneurs use on investors.  Here are my all time favorites, which are not only bad, but used way too often. 1.  This will make you rich.  I'm an investor with money, I'm already rich, r ...view entire post
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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 aware of a lot of companies that have gone this direction, as most companies grow their service so that they CAN offer a paid model. I think the interesting stat to watch will be how significantly a free model will impact the growth of the business.  Here are some quick thoughts by James on the move. Q: How was HOTorNOT doing before you deci ...view entire post
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April 22, 2007
We just launched a huge new feature at Go BIG - Projects!This is probably the biggest launch we've done since it applies to so many startup companies and those that want to work with startup companies.Startups can post a free ad on Go BIG to get help with:Business Planning Programming / Web Site Design Sales & Marketing Creative ServicesWe can then connect them with over 50,000 members on our site that can help get the job done.  We have tons of service providers, freelancers, advisors and  ...view entire post
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April 19, 2007
I've become a regular columnist for AskMen.com, the largest men's magazine on-line (5 million readers per month.) The first story, How to Position Yourself for a Promotion was published today. Although I do most of my writing about startups, a lot of the techniques I talk about have to do with career planning as well.  Every other week I'll be writing about how to position yourself for a better opportunity within your company. Don't let the alpha-male title of the site fool you though, ...view entire post
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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 Bessemer Venture Partners.  Instead of the obligatory self-aggrandizing monument to their own success page (read: "our portfolio") these guys added a long list of deals that they passed on which went on to become huge hits! Here's Bessemer's Anti-Portfolio Here are some responses to three of my favorite companies - eBay"Stamps? Coins? Comic ...view entire post
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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 order to discern a replicant from a regular human, one had to administer the telltale Voight-Kampff test. The Voight-Kampff test involved a series of questions designed to evoke an emotional response from the subject. Humans would answer the questions with passionate, emotional responses. Robots would answer the question like, well, robots. Recentl ...view entire post
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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 I'm real happy about. What I'm less excited about is their overall feeling that raising capital is some sort of destination or end game. Raising capital is a milestone at best, but it's a band-aid, not a cure for growing a company. If you have read my columns before, you know that I'm a big fan of not raising money and bootstrapping wherever poss ...view entire post
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April 16, 2007
This morning I had a discussion over a can of Red Bull about when it's time for an entrepreneur to retire.  The conventional wisdom is that at some point in your life, whether you've made a lot of money or you've grown old, you should retire and "enjoy" the rest of your life. I think that's a bunch of crap.  Entrepreneurs should never retire.  I can think of 300 reasons, but in the spirit of blog brevity, I'll give you just 3: Only People who Hate their Job Should Retire Retiremen ...view entire post
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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 funding story with us.  What I like about Ben's story is that it's not about a multi-million dollar venture capital deal.  It's about finding $125,000, which is along the lines of what far more startups are initially looking for. Below are a few questions I asked Ben about his deal and the lessons he's learned: Who is ProPractica? ProPracti ...view entire post
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April 13, 2007
Forbes has a nice little Q&A section called "Ask an Expert" that covers the Art of the Pitch.  The full article is here. Good pitches are all about brevity.  Some of the most experienced entrepreneurs can communicate what they do in two sentences and that's it. When people ask us who we are and what we do, it's this simple - The Go BIG Network is the world's largest community of startup companies. (who we are) Startups use Go BIG to find funding, recruit talent and get exper ...view entire post
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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 business plan, and some investor writes you a check to help you see if it works. The reality is that most startups fund themselves by bootstrapping it. You raise capital for a handful of reasons - to hire people, do some marketing, and develop your product.  Yet you don't necessarily need a stack of cash from an investor to do these things. Here's ...view entire post
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April 11, 2007
Me and some of my henchmen from Go BIG are going to be in somewhat-sunny San Francisco on the 25th - 27th for both the SF Beta meetup and the Ad:Tech SF conference.  Anyone else going? If you are, there should be some good times during and after the conferences so if you buy the first round, I'll buy the second two.  Email me at wschroter@goBIGnetwork.com if you're in the area. ...view entire post
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April 10, 2007
Go BIG Network Reports Decreasing Demands of Funding from Startup Companies in the First Quarter of 2007. The Go BIG Network Small Business Funding ReviewCOLUMBUS, Ohio – April 10, 2007 – The Go BIG Network, the world’s largest community of startup companies, has witnessed a slight decrease in demand for small business funding in the first quarter of 2007. California, Florida and Texas as well as the Entertainment, Real Estate and Retail industries were the most active in the first quarter.The ...view entire post
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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 of them pointed out that they started off in crappy offices. Livingston interviewed the founders of companies like Apple, PayPal, and ViaWeb, among many others.  In just about every case they mentioned how they were working out of their apartments or makeshift offices, nothing like the big glass palaces of the corporate behemoths. I think man ...view entire post
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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 light at the end of a dark tunnel. In my experience, entrepreneurs rarely ever see a white light of success until it’s blinding them entirely. They are so busy building their company and trying to get through next week that they don’t have time to seek out any kind of light. The good news is that even though things may be difficult for you now (they  ...view entire post
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April 2, 2007
Now this one may be a first. Jason Caplain of Southern Capital Ventures (great guy) is biting the bullet and inviting all tech-related entrepreneurs to come out to their offices in Raleigh-Durham on April 20th to pitch. Jason details the concept in this blog post. I've known Jason now for a few years and among VC's, he's just an easy to talk to regular kinda guy.  If you are anywhere near the Raleigh area I would highly encourage you to box up your stuff and go visit him ( ...view entire post
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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 excited about risking everything.  Compensation - no cash, just equity in my company. Sound familiar? That's probably because it's one of the most requested resources entrepreneurs have.  Not a day goes by where I don't hear from an entrepreneur that is looking for a "young, smart .NET developer willing to build my site out in exchange for ...view entire post
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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 Google, YouTube, and Yahoo getting investments from big venture capitalists and doing big deals.  Those are the types of deals that make headlines and inspire us all to go do big things.Yet when you put it all in perspective, VC's capture an inordinately small percentage of investments in the startup market.Less than 0.1% of StartupsTo put the role of V ...view entire post
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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 ton of pitches at Go BIG ranging from the absolutely brilliant to the patently absurd.  Both are pretty awesome to watch, by the way. Yet when it comes to email pitches, the most consistently bad approach I hear sounds like an awful infomercial: "Are you ready to make <insert unrealistic figure> dollars?" No, I'm not Ready Let's get somet ...view entire post
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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 one of our Go BIG rants about capital. Note that what Seth is talking about is not necessarily the same for Angel Investors as it is for Venture Capitalists. VC's have the luxury of doing very few deals at very high values and can only afford to do a few deals at those values.  Because of this, they need to operate under strict investing criteria.  ...view entire post
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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 few years of great business education yet couldn’t answer one particular question: How do entrepreneurs evaluate risk before starting a company? My answer: We don’t, we just take it on. At first everyone waited for the punch line. They assumed that great companies were the result of a tremendous amount of research and planning, like writing a term  ...view entire post
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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 potential investors. Building a Board of Advisors is relatively easy to do, since what you're really doing is enlisting the advice (not governance) of some outside individuals to help you along. The Investment Litmus Test Unlike soliciting investors directly, soliciting advisors is a nice way to estimate the interest someone may have in your venture.&nb ...view entire post
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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 entrepreneur, we had a lot in common. Phil and I were talking about the evolution of our startups, and where, as entrepreneurs, we are most effective.  Phil just hired a CEO at AdBrite, which is the hallmark of a startup Founder handing over the reigns. I told Phil that when we hired a CEO at Blue Diesel, the first company I started, I was pretty  ...view entire post
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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 investors to take a fresh and measured approach to their pitch process, giving us entrepreneurs a little bit more guidance in the process.There are a few references for how the top-tier VC's do it right, which some of you may appreciate if you've been overwhelmed by crappy investors.You can view the post here -Click Here ...view entire post
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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 want to ask for more money than you need, not less. Investors value prospective deals by their likelihood to produce a profit, not simply by the amount of money that is required to invest.  If your company is doing well, there will always be more money available to you. Double Down If you're asking for $500,000 to get your company started, consider d ...view entire post
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March 9, 2007
For some reason the myth that you can offer your on-line products and services for free and make the money back in ad revenue continues to spread. The thinking goes something like this: If I offer my service for free, lots of people will use it, and I'll be able to underwrite the costs of operation through advertising.  Often the solution is Google's AdSense product, which allows Web site owners to insert code to automatically display Google Ads.  Site owners then get a small cut of t ...view entire post
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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 company (that’s us) are suddenly unfit to grow the company. Inevitably we get lulled into believing the “Myth of the Seasoned Manager.” The myth goes something like this - there is some super-smart, experienced, well-polished professional that can fill in all of the gaps that we clearly cannot fill ourselves. Once we’ve found this miracle-worker, our ...view entire post
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March 5, 2007
Of all the startups I've done, from software to healthcare to the automotive companies, the hardest by far was a local night club. The night club business isn't very difficult to understand on paper, but in practice it's a business that lives and dies on the details.  In my case, it died. A Quick History The night club was called "Status" and it was a trendy upscale night club that held about 1,000 trendy people.  I had launched the club just after I had sold out of Blue Diesel, and I  ...view entire post
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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 lasting) = How much I make. This "best possible case math" is often used to calculate extraordinary figures that represent the best possible forecast for revenues, and of course, are totally inaccurate.  Although they do make us feel good. While the math is the favorite weapon of salespeople, it unfortunately plagues entrepreneurs as well.  ...view entire post
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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 have spent their entire life in big company cultures.  They know what it means to grow big companies, but really don't know how their experience applies to small companies. Here's a few ways big company strategies will land you in a heap of trouble: Stop the Planning Big companies can afford to spend months creating marketing plans, business  ...view entire post
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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 successful together."  But in practice, partnerships rarely work because they are inherently flawed. They are flawed because in practice they just aren't orchestrated properly.  They often fail for just a few of the very same reasons.  At Go BIG we turn down 9 partnerships for every 1 that we engage in.  That's because we know it's ha ...view entire post
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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 you're doing - turning an amorphous concept into a living, breathing reality. I've had the good fortune to go from dream to reality quite a few times and I can say first hand it never gets old. As entrepreneurs we get excited about our new ideas.  We dream of taking those ideas and creating great organizations behind them.  We want them to ...view entire post
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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. Most entrepreneurs and investors seem to think the answer is "no" while most academics and students think the answer is "yes."   No surprise there. However, I would say people are asking the wrong question. Business can be Taught When academics respond to the question they talk about the business principles of entrepreneurship, like fina ...view entire post
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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 trials that all of the “other” entrepreneurs face when trying to create something out of nothing? If so, my advice is “don’t bother” – starting a company is a crap sandwich – it won’t taste any better if you add condiments! Let’s call it what it is - a painful experience that will put a strain on you financially, emotionally and physically. Try as y ...view entire post
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February 20, 2007
A while back, a reader of my column, Robert Harvey, Jr. commented about my insistence that you must "fail a lot to win."  He said that his ski racing coach used to tell him that when it comes to competitive skiing, "If you're not a willin' to wreck, your not a gonna win". His coach was dead on and I loved the quote.  We need to be willing not just to fail a little, but to wreck altogether if we are going to achieve anything. Big Chances = Big Gains  ...view entire post
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February 19, 2007
How much would you pay to bring someone to your store that didn’t buy anything?    Most people would say "nothing" and I'd have to argue that position.  Of course we want all of our sales and marketing dollars to find only paying customers.  But you need Browsers to get Buyers.  Give it Away Now I launched my new blog (wil.gobignetwork.com) specifically for the purpose of giving something away. Frankly it costs me a lot of time to keep the blog updated with new conten ...view entire post
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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, despite many attempts. Yet somehow, regardless of this overwhelming statistic, we continually make half-assed attempts at ventures we expect to be a success.  What I would like to do is see you ditch any idea that you can't put 100% of your effort into.  100% Effort = One Success (maybe) Most of us are fortunate if we ever have ONE successfu ...view entire post
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February 14, 2007
The past couple of days have had lots of chatter about the demise of startup company FilmLoop.  You may not have heard of FilmLoop, and frankly it doesn't matter (they created Web-based slideshow software.)  Their story does matter, and is a cautionary tale of what happens when your investors turn sour on you. The Short Version Both TechCrunch and VentureBeat have created some timelines about FilmLoop and what happened.  I would highly encourage you to read both the posts and ...view entire post
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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 manage the problem before it becomes devastating. There are two parts to dealing with this problem.  The first is how to detect the problem before it happens, and the second is to react accordingly. How to know your employees are about to leave This isn't rocket science.  Your star performers are anxious about building the company and ...view entire post
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February 12, 2007
I've had the good fortune to sit on quite a few Advisory Boards for all types of companies.  In every case the intent is the same - get a bunch of smart people in  a room and help solve some of the problems the company is having.In theory it sounds great, but in practice, most Advisory Board meetings fail.Here are 3 suggestions for making your next Advisory Board meeting succeed:1.  Solve Problems, Don't Recite Updates Email everyone the updates prior to the meeting.  Spend 15 minutes at most r ...view entire post
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February 8, 2007
They say every great solution is the response to a greater problem.  So what do you do when your great solution doesn't have a great problem to go with it? This happens a lot.  As entrepreneurs we get excited to develop new ideas and rush to put companies behind them.  In the process we wind up forgetting that sometimes we are really developing great solutions in search of a problem to make them worthwhile. That's where the "great idea" part kind of breaks down. Sun's Jini in  ...view entire post
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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.  Of course you're working hard - you've got a task list a mile long and you're motoring through it as fast as possible. The problem is that completing tasks often keep us from achieving goals. Goals versus Tasks It's easy to get lost in a series of tasks at the expense of your goals.  Goals are the big things that you want to get accompli ...view entire post
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February 5, 2007
Hiring the right salesperson is about the hardest thing you can possibly do for your company.  That's because salespeople are incredibly good at selling you on their ability to do their job, even if they aren't so great at selling to customers. Salespeople interview the best Bad salespeople interview really well.  Partially because they are constantly interviewing for new positions and partially because they really need to find another job at any given time.  Assume every ...view entire post
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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." Entrepreneurs are generally pretty smart people.  I would argue that Jobs, Gates and even those Google guys are just as smart as anyone else.  The reason they are in the position that they are is because they were also in the right place at the right time - and they did something about it. A few really right places They were also ...view entire post
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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 role and give you some advice about how to use them.What does a Capital Broker do? A Capital Broker works with a company looking to raise money almost like their agent.  They take the fundraising opportunity to their network of investors to see if someone wants to invest in that deal.The idea is that they are saving you time and money by directly introd ...view entire post
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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.  Otherwise you'd be too busy starting a company. Most people's jobs suck.  That's because when you get past getting paid, it's just a bunch of work for someone else's benefit.  If you really want to get the full value of your output, you need to start a company. You're making your boss twice as much as you're making If you think you're making big dollars at your compan ...view entire post
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January 29, 2007
There is truly a right way and a wrong way to pitch your company via e-mail.  We get about a thousand submissions to Go BIG every week, many of which make their way into my inbox.  Here's a quick primer on the right way and the wrong way to pitch your company via e-mail. First, the wrong way 1.  Write ten paragraphs about your company.  No one has time to read your life story, and frankly, if the type of opportunity doesn't match up with who you're pitching, who cares whe ...view entire post
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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 year in revenue in only four years!"<investor begins to nod off... entrepreneur presses on> "And we can achieve profitability with a 30% margin, generating nearly a million dollars in profit every year!"<investor's head is pointing at the ceiling - he has fallen asleep... entrepreneur presses on> "This is an incredible deal!  So if you cou ...view entire post
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January 27, 2007
I love starting things.  Finishing things - that's another story. I find that a lot of entrepreneurs get excited about starting, but don't have a great sense for finishing. You'll be remembered by what you finished The only founders you hear about who started a great company are those that made something of it - they finished, in whatever way that made them notable.  What you don't hear stories about are people who started lots of great ideas but never went anywhere wi ...view entire post
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January 26, 2007
Yesterday I published my first story on TechCrunch.com, a must-read for the serious entrepreneur, even if you're not particularly tech-minded.  Mike Arrington, the blog's owner, religiously covers the next generation of Web startup companies and has built an incredibly business in and of itself with TechCrunch.ScoopLive is pretty sweet I covered a company whose business model I think is very transformative - ScoopLive.com.  The background is fully covered on TechCrunch but the short version is ...view entire post
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January 23, 2007
OK, so everyone sweats Google.  At the same time it's fashionable to take pot-shots at the company because it's so successful.  Let me be the first to say I like Google, and I wish them the best.  But the gravy train will end sooner than later, and here is why. The lynchpin – CPC inflation The most successful single search engine will force all advertisers to flock there to get customers – that’s wonderful. We did that at Swapalease.com for over 4,000 words and wound up on Google’s doorstep like ...view entire post
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January 22, 2007
This is a temporary post that was not deleted. Please delete this manually. (22957aae-a506-4ba4-93c8-bc399b60cf32) ...view entire post
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January 22, 2007
There's a nice write-up on TechCrunch today about photo-sharing site SmugMug.com.  But what's most intriguing to me is not the site itself (it's a photo sharing site), but the results the company's founders have achieved through pure execution. On paper, SmugMug should be out of business by now. Unlike a million other photo-sharing sites (Flickr, PhotoBucket, et al) that offer the ability to upload and display your photos on the Web for free, SmugMug charges $40 p/y ...view entire post
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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? Well forget it - investors have no interest in paying your salary.Founders get paid last, that's the way it works. Although there are some instances where a Founder can draw a small salary in a going concern, the idea of getting paid to build your business is a complete farce.3 Reasons Why Investors Won't Pay Your Salary:1 . They don't have to - Investors can f ...view entire post
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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. I'm not convinced the U.S. Government can help us in any meaningful way other than lowering our tax burden. To that end, I have a proposal - the Entrepreneurial Tax Credit In my opinion Entrepreneurs get screwed when they start a company. There are only two potential outcomes for me if I start a company - both of them suck: If m ...view entire post
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January 21, 2007
This is a temporary post that was not deleted. Please delete this manually. (441c1ef8-ca6b-4cfc-8fcf-80f4c32fde08) ...view entire post
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January 19, 2007
(If anyone wants to get a sense for how hard it is to recruit talent in the San Fran area, take a look at this post.) James Hong, the Founder of HOTorNOT.com is aggressively looking for a developer for his site.  HOTorNOT is wildly popular and incredibly profitable.  You would think they have everything a developer is looking for - profits, an early entrance (employee #7), a popular name, and of course a cool work environment.  Yet even James has some trouble finding talent.  I post this becaus ...view entire post
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January 19, 2007
A common "mistake" among entrepreneurs is thinking that they need to have investors sign NDA's (non-disclosure agreements) before talking about their company.Generally speaking, investors don't sign NDA's.  It's not even worth asking for one.By asking an investor to sign an NDA one of two things will happen:1.  You turn the investor away - what's the point in killing the deal before you've even had a chance to talk about it?2.  The investor signs it and you have a useless agreement - what are yo ...view entire post
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January 16, 2007
Someone has to tell it like it is.Starting a company isn’t a wondrous, magical experience like visiting Venice or dancing at your wedding. It’s a pain in the ass. It breeds anxiety, insecurity and often bankruptcy. And it’s the only game I want to play.If you want to find a motivational speaker, go to a Tony Robbins lecture. If you want a swift kick in the ass about how startups really work then here you go. Really, I’m actually a wildly optimistic guy. But I’ve done this enough times to know t ...view entire post
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January 12, 2007
  On a quick trip to San Fran to meet with some VC's and catch up with a few people.My first day involves a visit to the famous Sand Hill Road to see two of the most powerful VC shops - Sequoia Capital and Benchmark Capital. It's an "update pitch" for Go BIG, meaning we're not asking for money, we're just staying on their radar. And it's best to talk to investors when you're not really looking for money.Big Names in Tiny OfficesSand Hill Road in and of itself is about the furthest thing from Wal ...view entire post
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January 8, 2007
(Note: This is the first blog post that I’ve written discussing my own personal failures. Many people have read about the things that I’ve done that have worked well, but the truth is I’ve made far more mistakes. I’m hoping that by sharing them candidly I can help someone else out there avoid them as well. It’s also good to know you’re not the only one “screwing it up!”) In 1999 I was working at Blue Diesel, a company that I started in 1994. Blue Diesel was on fire. We were tripling in size eve ...view entire post
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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 markets like NetFlix, Google and MySpace have become bellwethers of the next generation of high growth e-commerce companies. But what about everyone else? While all of the attention goes to the big boys, the reality is that there’s ...view entire post
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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 use it to lure people to work for stock options, convince investors to fork over millions of real dollars, and attract partners to chip in and support the business based on what might happen in the future. The currency of opportunity is the most  ...view entire post
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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 startup abyss. What I want you to avoid is the black hole of{ planning that most entrepreneurs get into when starting a company. They get sucked into a time warp where a formerly great idea gives way to months upon months of “thinking” about the idea  ...view entire post
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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 middle of the day with a computer and a phone next to you, I think you should put this column down right now and get back to work! You’ve got bigger things to work on. There is no time! If you have time to read this column ...view entire post
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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 entrepreneurs and salespeople have a poor understanding of how their audience will receive and process the information they are presenting. They tend to fall into the trap of assuming their audience knows as much about the product as they do, and can’t seem to  ...view entire post
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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. No problem, right? Except for the fact that you have absolutely nothing to offer anyone because your company does not have an office, a product, or a single employee! So how do you get started with this world-changing vision if you have fe ...view entire post
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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 to buy. Perhaps you’ve pitched dozens of investors and no one seems to want to put money into your deal. Or maybe, just maybe - your idea just sucks. We’d all like to believe that we are a fountain of brilliant ideas, but let’s  ...view entire post
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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 scalable business models that generate massive revenues without having to add massive amounts of resources to grow. And they’ve made a ton of money doing it. These companies have not achieved such lofty heights purely by coincide ...view entire post
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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 and the pain it causes. Then, when they find a solution that works, they know how valuable the solution really is. Most entrepreneurs get so enamored by their own solutions that they lose focus on the problem they were solving in the first p ...view entire post
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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, that’s a great idea!”. The pitch gets everyone in the room excited about getting on board with your product and your company. It’s the inspiration that carries everyone along for the ride. The pitch also determines whether or not the comp ...view entire post
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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 focused on skating toward where the puck was going to be. Gretzky knew that if he couldn’t be the fastest in the middle of the game, he would have to figure out how to stay ahead of the game. Sometimes trying to keep up in the middle of th ...view entire post
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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, marry my next door neighbor, and live in my tree house. As it turned out I never got excited about running into a burning building, my next door neighbor grew up to look like Kathy Bates, and aside from a more promising mortgage payment, my t ...view entire post
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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 talk to. At the same time the pretty girl sits around twiddling her thumbs wondering why no one is asking her to dance. The irony is that if he had simply mustered the courage to ask, he would have had his dance. It’s rare that a deficit i ...view entire post
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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 quit their high paying jobs to work for nothing but stock options. As important as selling is to a startup, it’s amazing how many entrepreneurs really suck at it. You might think I’m talking about the introverted CEO who’s afraid to pick up ...view entire post
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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 investment. But at the same time, you’ve got two very real problems standing in your way. The first is that there is tons of noise in the market. You’ve no doubt noticed that the radio and television are flooded with product pitches. The  ...view entire post
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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. My oh my how the world has changed. Nowadays technology is a commodity. It’s the basic cost of doing business, not a differentiator that makes or breaks your company. Any idiot can build a website, software package or neat lit ...view entire post
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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 small opening before they're mowed down by Rebel forces. I often asked myself – “who volunteered to be the first guy through the door?” I’d rather be the second guy through the door (or hopefully the tenth in this case) so I'd have a better se ...view entire post
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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’t play the big marketing game you may not even get the attention of the customers you need to grow your business. So how do you compete if you don’t have the cash to run with the big dogs? The answer lies in growing your marketing budget  ...view entire post
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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 richest man is – Bill Gates. But when asked who numbers two, three and four are, people get confused. The reason is simply that number one garners all the attention, while number two (in this case the great Warren Buffet) gets easily swept aside from our ...view entire post
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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 “first year's worth of marketing guesses” at best. The problem with any marketing launch is that until you have some history of what works and what doesn’t you don’t have any way of knowing where to place bigger bets and what areas to avoi ...view entire post
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January 5, 2007
Picture two newborn babies hanging out in the delivery room, kicking back and thinking about life. Both of them will go on to be just as smart, just as capable and just as educated as the other. Yet one of these babies will grow up to start a wildly successful company, while the other will wind up working for her.How is it that some people go on to become entrepreneurs while others find their path in the rank and file of companies? How is that those that are smarter, more educated, more privile ...view entire post
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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 works hard, you’ll make it to shore safely. Now imagine what would happen if some of the members of your little crew weren’t rowing. Imagine if they were just sitting back and watching everyone else work like mad while they simply watched and ...view entire post
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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. Well I have some bad news for you. The stars will never align. The brilliant flash will probably never come, and nothing you will learn or do working for someone else will make you more ready to start your own company. Now here’s the goo ...view entire post
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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 pretend otherwise, none of us really know what we’re doing. Entrepreneurs are Type-A personalities comfortable taking charge and leading the way, so it generates anxiety when they realize (often without telling anyone) that despite all of ...view entire post
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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 the Wild West. The cowboy didn’t have time to write a fancy plan for taming the west. He shot first and asked questions later because that’s how the job got done. It wasn’t the most elegant solution but it was certainly effective. More oft ...view entire post
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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 equivalent of the Titanic hitting an iceberg and the entire crew plugging the holes in the boat to keep the whole thing for sinking like a rock. The problem with saving a sinking ship isn’t that you can’t plug enough holes – it’s that you just ran ...view entire post
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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 be much uncertainty in a startup, they know they will constantly be hungry for resources. They take action to ensure that there will be plenty to eat, especially when they’re not hungry. The problem with waiting until you have an immediat ...view entire post
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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 yours to ever make a penny. But you’re not the only one who’s suffered to start a company – so you’d better get used to it. Show me a successful entrepreneur and I’ll show you an entrepreneur giving blood, sweat and tears to mak ...view entire post
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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 to capture emerging market opportunities while larger companies are still mired in committee. The trick is knowing how to leverage your smallness to take advantage of these opportunities. Craigslist - the enormous small guy  ...view entire post
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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 share my brazen approach to utter failure. They look at their own failure and rejection as a Scarlet Letter to be worn shamefully which is a bunch of bull! As far as I’m concerned, if you’re not getting turned down, you’re not really trying. ...view entire post
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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 entrepreneur that actually cashes out of their business by selling it to someone else or (hopefully) taking it public, there are a million who could have, should have, but didn’t. And they are wallowing in their sorrows wishing they had. The  ...view entire post
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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 need to make sure that the focus of your company's product offer is as razor sharp as possible. Don't be all you can be. Be as little as you can be.Most startup companies fail because they try to be too many things to too many people right from the  ...view entire post
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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. Startups, on the other hand, have jack squat. They need to work twice as hard to make half as much, and even then they’re not working nearly enough. If you had any delusions going into this new venture that things were going to be easy and yo ...view entire post
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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 successes” took a very long time to materialize. The myth of overnight success easily becomes the basis for a great deal of frustration among wannabe entrepreneurs and the people who get into the startup company game. They get six months  ...view entire post
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January 5, 2007
Take a moment to look around the room at all of the great talent you’ve assembled for your new startup company. You’ve had the long conversations over a few (ok, more than a few) beers where you’ve talked about how big and great your company is going to be. You’ve convinced people to trade their salaries for stock options because they’re so excited. You’ve assembled the most talented team you could possibly find. Now take a moment to consider this: most of these people wil ...view entire post
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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, and I mean always, need more sales. It doesn't matter how full the sales pipeline looks, you need more sales. It doesn't matter that you have no idea how you're going to deliver the order you just took, you need more sales. And it doesn’t matter tha ...view entire post
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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 bad for you, but you’re so thirsty you’ll take just about anything to stay alive. We all know the feeling and we’ve all been there before. The bills start piling up and it’s been a few weeks, months or quarters since you’ve seen a paycheck. Some new  ...view entire post
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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 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. Unfortunately, gamma radiation is in short supply at most startups, so en ...view entire post
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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 having risked everything to develop that idea. Then somewhere along the line the idea turns into a real profitable company and everyone looks back and wonders how it all happened. For as serendipitous as this entire process may seem, it’s al ...view entire post
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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 -- 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 i ...view entire post
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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 and just behind their car that pulls along any car willing to ride right behind. By drafting the car in front of it, the tailing car conserves fuel and power so that at the critical moment, they can pull to the side, punch the acceleration and rocket ...view entire post
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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 options like candy because they seem to have no cost. I’m here to put a stop to all the madness. In a startup company there are only two ways to get a piece of the company – you either write a big check or you forgo your paycheck! The only other way a ...view entire post
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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 entrepreneur unable to share his idea. If someone can sink your new company just because they’ve heard about your idea, it’s probably a pretty lame idea. If you have a great idea and stash it under your pillow – the entrepreneur fairy doesn't ...view entire post
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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 create the money in the first place? The key is to reverse the trend – turn people into money. Finding out how to bring staff members on board before you have a chance to pay them in real dollars will allow you to convert their  ...view entire post
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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 are free. But like the organs in your body, you only get one chance to give them away, so you had better be real careful about giving them away. It all starts innocently enough. We have a great idea. We need people to implement and support ...view entire post
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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, that smaller investors would only expect to play a minor role in the business while the larger investors would make all of the important calls. What you’ll find in practice, though, is that raising and managing small chunks of capital from small inve ...view entire post
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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 as a customer, but in the world of business marketing it can absolutely transform your business. In the last 18 months we’ve grown our marketing budget at Swapalease.com (the company that owns me) by more than 1000% by simply leveraging the concept  ...view entire post
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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 cashing your investors out are getting acquired or going public. While we’d all love to believe our company will list on the NASDAQ and become an S&P 500 industry-shouldering stalwart, let’s face it – that rarely happens. The road to be ...view entire post
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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 first investment, or get to a critical mass, or even before the media gets a hold of your incredible story. Your stock is hottest when it looks like your business is just about to take off. I call this the “Startup Law of Trajectory”. The trajectory ...view entire post
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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 dollars in revenue in 3 to 5 years. Lofty end goal keep us inspired and give us incentives to start businesses. However, what we should be immediately concerned about is how the company is going to get the first $50,000 of revenue through the door. I  ...view entire post
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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 don’t go find capital before you’re really ready to be a startup company. The hallmark of a startup company is its ability to fight through the early stages of development with nothing but an idea and a few nickels in the bank. I call this ...view entire post
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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 may sound like an overwhelmingly obvious point, but you’d be surprised how many startups screw up this formula from the start. And you may be one of them. While no startup succeeds without revenue, plenty of startups fail because they can’t  ...view entire post
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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 really make more money is much simpler – just raise the price of the product. Nothing creates more profit, more revenue and fewer headaches than an upward adjustment of your product price. While this seems incredibly intuitive, it’s amazing h ...view entire post
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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 idea unless you can demonstrate that you’ve got customers who are actually willing to buy. Before you try raising outside capital, you should focus on building your Customer Capital. Customer capital is the value you create for your compa ...view entire post
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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 painful. That said, I think you need to keep one thing in mind while you’re being told what a buffoon you are for presenting your idea – maybe this investor has no idea what they hell he’s talking about! It’s true, most investors do ...view entire post
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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 reply, “Why bother? There’s no money in a paycheck!” Let’s face it, the fastest way to create extraordinary wealth is to get involved at the ground floor in a startup company. That’s because startup companies provide an opportunity to make exp ...view entire post
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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 investors are looking for is a “silver bullet” in the business that ensures their small investment will yield a huge return. You need a silver bullet The silver bullet is the aspect of your business plan that proves your c ...view entire post
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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 opportunity”. They enthusiastically shook your hand on your way out the door and you left feeling elated. Days later you waited patiently by the phone for a follow-up call, but the phone didn’t ring. You checked your e-mail, your instant messenger, and  ...view entire post
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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’m telling you is that you can make starting a business significantly less burdensome if you’re still pulling down a regular paycheck. As long as you’re willing to invest your moonlight hours to develop your business, continuing to take a s ...view entire post
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January 2, 2007
 The Go BIG Network Small Business Funding Review COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Go BIG Network, the world’s largest community of startup companies and entrepreneurs, estimates an as expected decrease for startup and venture capital funding in December. California, Florida and Texas as well as the Entertainment, Real Estate and Internet industries were the most active in the December slide.The Go BIG Network’s survey includes a sampling of 2,000 requests made on its Web site of more than 30,000 small busi ...view entire post
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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 that you tell them every last bit about your industry or big idea. They care about a few things that matter – like how they are going to make a lot of money on this deal. Sitting around telling investors about the inner workings of your software (witho ...view entire post
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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 we recalled them.)So I went back through some of my old business documents and took a look at what types of emails, letters (yeah, we used to send letters) and spreadsheets we had created back then. You know what I found?The “Good Ol’ Days” really s ...view entire post
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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 - investors have no interest in bailing you out of debt. Investors are sharks, not lifeguards – they’ll eat you alive long before they’ll save your life.Every startup is different, but the fact remains that no matter how sweet your opportunity is, n ...view entire post
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December 18, 2006
We know that people can learn how to become better accountants, better salespeople, and better programmers. But why can’t we teach people to become more motivated? I had this discussion with a fellow entrepreneur as we tried to understand why the people around us didn’t seem to share our intense motivation. We tried to inspire them, coach them, and advise them, but in the end what we couldn’t seem to teach them the most important aspect of entrepreneurship – motivation.So why is it that motivati ...view entire post
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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 must need a new idea if all of the existing ideas have already been thought of.This all makes sense until you look at one simple fact – most Web sites are failed attempts at what might otherwise be a good idea. Instead of trying to create a new Web  ...view entire post
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*Each investor listed in GoBigNetwork as a potential funding resource for members must be an “Accredited Investor” as that term is used in federal and state securities laws. To be listed, every investor must supply qualifying information, and certify that it meets all criteria for Accredited Investor status. GoBigNetwork provides a platform through which members and Accredited Investors may identify each other, but makes no actual or implied representations concerning the availability of any potential funding or funding resource GoBigNetwork neither effects nor attempts to effect any funding or business relationship between members and any listed investor, and nothing contained in this website should be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase a security. Members and accredited investors listed in GoBigNetwork are solely responsible for compliance such federal, state or local laws which may apply between them in any funding transaction. GoBigNetwork is compensated solely by membership fees and fees paid by Accredited Investors for the opportunity to be listed as potential funding resources.

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