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RECENT ARTICLES
I have a paranoia that I will miss something. So, I consistently start the day with a question for myself (and my team) — “what don’t we know now?”
Startups are like a long series of runs. The moment you start running, you encounter obstacles large and small that are designed to surprise you.
Once, when meeting with the CEO of a new customer, I pulled out a bottle of ketchup and set it on the table. It was one of these … Once, when meeting with the CEO of a new customer, I pulled out a bottle of ketchup and set it on the table. (Image: istockphoto) It was
Managers love to reward hyper-specialization. But is it better to hire for general problem-solving abilities?
It happens rather quickly. Your new investors sign a shareholder’s agreement, a subscription agreement, and a corporate charter. Usually, you create a new class of (preferred) shares. You receive a notification from your bank that the wires from investors have cleared. Your lawyers file the company’s new corporate charter, and a new board of directors
Human beings are tribal by nature. Our need to belong far outweighs many things in life. So, we naturally split into tribes.
The first time I went to Disney World if my memory serves me, was the summer of my freshman year in college. It was 1990, and it was part of an annual family pilgrimage to Florida to visit our extended relatives in Miami and Port Charlotte areas. We’d drive just under 24 hours from New
It was summer, and I was in a world of hurt. I was at the helm of my third venture. I had just left my Q3 management offsite, and it ended in a shouting match. Our management team all believed we’d invented the best thing since sliced bread for insurance underwriting. But, we just couldn’t
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Dr. Faye Mandell joins John to discuss… How to help your team become their best selves and A simple framework for being present as a CEO.
It starts deep in the pit of my stomach. It’s hard to describe. It’s like a cross between butterflies and sharp fluttering stomach pain. Sometimes, it manifests itself as a pain on the left side of my neck. It feels like a burning, humming sound. The buzz you might hear at a power substation full
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“Crunch, crunch, crunch,” was the sound my gait made as I marched along a distant barren landscape. Here, there were no demanding customers, no competition putting pressure on me. There were no employees anxiously seeking consensus and no investors asking endless questions about our sales forecast. Absent were the industry publications offering views of the
I believe that the life story of everyone on Earth is not just a linear fairy tale with a straightforward beginning and end. Instead, it is a mosaic of mini-stories that come together to create a masterpiece like the work of Antoni Gaudi. When I opened my copy of Michelle Obama’s book Becoming, I half
“Four votes for John,” said one of my four co-founders. It was 1997, and we were deciding who among us would be the titular head of our first venture. It was a simple ceremony, no cryptic puffs of smoke through an old chimney. While I was happy to have won the election — I wanted to win — I
“Resisting pain only increases its intensity.” — Chogyam Trungpa I am 47 years old and I have made a lot of mistakes in my life — both professional and personal ones. I hope I make many more. It’s true. I have hired the wrong people on my management team. I have taken too long to fire people after I realized
As a CEO, one of your jobs — it’s maybe the most important — is to give your fellow sapiens what they need most, something to believe in.
Never fall in love with your product, keep your ego in check, and love your customers.
