At dinner one evening, a close friend and entrepreneur asked me, “what CEO skills are you using the most now in your new role?” (image:istockphoto) ARR, LTV, GTM, churn, positioning, competition, customer satisfaction, valuation. Over the past 18 years, I have been the founder and CEO of two companies where these metrics (and more) were

Trust me, sometimes, getting a NO from a VC — no matter how peculiarly it is delivered — could be the best thing that ever happens to you.

“Empathy is not just an awareness of what others are experiencing; it’s aware of, being sensitive to, and caring about how one’s own behavior affects others.” — Danny Meyers Danny Meyers is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. He is a successful New York City restauranteur and the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group. He is behind successful restaurants

I have noticed a pattern in the 20 years I have been an entrepreneur, advisor, and CEO. Every time there is something wrong with a company, there is a recurring problem. Either someone is not doing their job, or they didn’t know it was their job. It’s more common than you think. A problem with

Twenty years ago, on 11/19/99, I sold my first startup. It was a technology company selling something called “Java Beans.” My four co-founders and I had a life-changing experience when a company called BEA Systems acquired our company for over $100M. We were excited not just for our own lives, but the way it would

In 1971, a young mother of three boarded a small boat to make a journey from her home country, Haiti. She hoped to find her husband, who had fled Haiti’s dictatorship nine years earlier. She reunited with him in a flourishing community of Haitian immigrants in The Bahamas, where he had found safety and work.