The past few months have been the most eventful ones in my adult life. Most importantly, I became a father! I have been in startups my entire career, but this new “startup,” my beautiful daughter Greta, has tested my planning, troubleshooting, and iterating abilities while providing me with an incredible amount of “fire”, clarity, focus,… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Personal Thoughts
Poor Managers Kill Companies – 5 Ways to Improve Your Management Style and Skills
I’ve spent the last several months preparing for the birth of my first child and thinking very hard about the value of my every waking minute. If I am going to spend time away from my child, my work better be making one hell of an impact. So, I have been digging deep and thinking… Continue Reading
If you aren’t scared, you’re either going too slow or you’re a reckless moron!
I have reached my point of saturation seeing all these quotes lately in the startup community about being faster and faster without fear and finally have to say something. Fear is good! Fear is an indicator you know the consequence of your actions, which is a sign of mental maturity. It is when we fail… Continue Reading
Leadership Lessons I Learned at My Father’s Funeral
As I am getting ready for my daughter to be born any day now, I have been thinking a lot about my late father and the impact he had on me. He was an incredible role model and shaped my views on being a father, leader, businessman, and an active community member. As I am… Continue Reading
Lessons from Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Business Leadership
One of my favorite books is Sun Tzu’s Art of War. I have read it several times and is one of my top 5 favorite books. Although the teachings are very old (6th century BC), there is much that can be applied to the modern day hyper-competitive business environment. Here are some of the lessons… Continue Reading
3 Startup Offers You Shouldn’t Accept – How Compensation Shortcuts Hurt You
I love these hot and tumultuous times for emerging companies. Contrary to what some politicians and the media would love to have you believe, with every iteration the whole ecosystem is getting stronger, better, and more agile. But as more companies start up (or expand), there is a desperate rush to snap up the talented… Continue Reading
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due – How I Fell in Love with Technology
If you have been loyal reader of my blog, you know who I give credit to for my iron business ethics standards and love for growing businesses – my father, Apolinaras Sinkevicius II – diplomat, journalist, TV executive, and entrepreneur (yes, I am honored to be the 3rd). For those of you who may have… Continue Reading
How I Became a Business Hacker
Last week, I had dinner with my friend who has a talent for branding and summarizing complex ideas into very simple terms. I was talking with him about my ongoing problem having difficulty explaining my multifaceted experience and work I do in terms people not familiar with my craft can understand. People who know me call… Continue Reading
Beware of Lemmings – Inside Enemies of Your Emerging Company
I originally wrote this post in October of 2008 after spending bit of time in probably most costly entrepreneurial ventures I have invested in. Even after 3 years this post still rings true to me, so I am updating it a bit and re-posting it. I was reading “Failure as an event” post on Seth… Continue Reading
Beware of “Normal” People in Startups and High-growth Companies
I needed a little hiatus from my blog, but lately too many people have been asking when the heck I am going to get back to it. Point taken – time to reorganize my priority list. Since I usually recruit talent for my teams, I often hear from acquaintances how they know someone “just so… Continue Reading