startups
Building a startup is building in uncertainty. Creating something that doesn't exist with resources you don't have, solving problems you're still discovering. The pressure is real. The stakes are high. Startups demand everything, time, energy, creativity, mental health, relationships. They test resilience, judgment, and capacity to lead through ambiguity. The work is hard, but growth can be extraordinary. These posts explore what it takes to build a startup, from early stages to scaling.
10 Questions Every Cofounder Team Should Discuss
Most early-stage companies fail because of cofounder conflict. Here are 10 questions to help create alignment early.
How to Get Your First Customers So Your Company Doesn’t Die
Our company almost died in 2015. Most B2B companies with good products struggle because they don’t find predictable, scalable methods of acquiring customers. If you’re exploring a sales-driven acquisition strategy, here’s how to test, validate, and scale your engine. Because death sucks.
How to Be a Startup Advisor (Without Doing More Harm Than Good)
The advisory relationship is one of the most helpful and misunderstood relationships in the startup world. Here’s how to get involved if you’re a domain expert and a mensch and why to stay the fuck away from founders if you’re not.
How to find great advisors for your startup (and avoid the bad)
The advisory relationship is one of the most helpful and misunderstood relationships in the startup world. Here’s my personal take on how to get the best out of an advisory relationship from either side.
Startup CEO Coaching: Why I Coach Startup Leaders
Startup coaching is not therapy or consulting. It is a confidential partnership that helps founders make better decisions under pressure. I coach first-time CEOs, venture-backed founders, and startup leaders facing isolation, conflict, or burnout. The work focuses on decision quality, team alignment, and leadership capacity. If you want the story
Should I Start Another Business After Selling One? Why I Might Not
As I’ve begun to look into the abyss of what might be next, I am realizing there is no way to find my way to a real answer of the work that is mine to do without casting off this identity and these assumptions.
How to Be a Better CEO, The Hardest Change Great Leaders Make
Tears rolled down my face. I walked down Sandhill Road next to the famous venture capitalist who only days earlier had handed me a generous term sheet. Now, I was telling her my life was falling apart and explaining why she’d likely want to pull the term sheet and work with someone else.
