Operations Leadership

Myths Why Startups Don’t Need COOs and Operations Executives

Myths Why Startups Don’t Need COOs and Operations Executives

As my regular readers know, I am a startup operations veteran with "battle scars" from numerous startups. Today, I am going to address some common misconceptions about startup operations executives. Let’s get to it! First and foremost, let’s get the lingo and caveats...

What Do Operations People Do?

What Do Operations People Do?

Your operations people are the reason customers are happy, vendors continue providing you with services, and employees have enough resources. The operations team is the "A-team" of vision logistics, and their #1 mission is to take care of the organization (feed it,...

Being a CEO Is a Brutal and Lonely Job, But It Doesn’t Have To Be

Being a CEO Is a Brutal and Lonely Job, But It Doesn’t Have To Be

Who loses sleep and years of life if a company can't get traction, hit the sales numbers, find enough financing, or retain its high-performers? Who has to be the chief recruiter, fundraiser, strategist and often makes the most expensive mistakes? Who has to listen to...

How a Foosball Table Is Killing Your Startup – part 2

How a Foosball Table Is Killing Your Startup – part 2

Since an article I wrote in June of 2009 called “How a foosball table can kill your startup” is still sparking attention and conversation, I think the time is ripe for me to expand on the topic. Yes, I still believe that tchotchke “benefits” do nothing but waste...

Customers, not shareholders, pay your bills

Customers, not shareholders, pay your bills

I had to get several insurance quotes last week, since my current agent was not living up to my customer service expectations (especially considering the amount of commission they receive).  Only one of the three companies I contacted impressed me, and this prompted...

How a Foosball Table Can Kill Your Startup

How a Foosball Table Can Kill Your Startup

Back when I was working in Chicago at a scale-up company, I used to have great conversations with the president of the company about our various approaches to managing businesses. We shared war stories, ramblings about taxation in the US and EU, and the software...

Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity For Startups

Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity For Startups

As we watch the news and pandemonium the media is creating about the swine flu today, it should remind entrepreneurs that disaster planning is no joke. Of all the entrepreneurs I have asked about disaster preparedness in the last couple of years, 9 out of 10 said they...

Keeping entrepreneurs and CEOs out of jail and an early grave

Keeping entrepreneurs and CEOs out of jail and an early grave

I am often asked what I do for a living and since I am not a PR or marketing professional, describing what I do to an "outsider" is challenging at times. I can hide all I want behind my resume and a great group of people I have worked with, but in order to further...

Coaching 1st-time founders and augmenting seasoned entrepreneurs