Blog

Leading Change – Part I of a Series

September 30, 2010

At a recent coaching session, our discussions turned to "leading change in an organization". My client is a small software company in a niche market. They have been successful growing the company by hiring junior staff. As a result, their average age demographic is well below 30. In benchmark comparison to other software companies, their …

Optimists, Pessimists and Pragmatists

September 17, 2010

Have you ever been accused of being “Cup Half Empty” versus “Cup Half Full”? Winston Churchill once said “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” I love being around entrepreneurs because as a group, they are “Cup Half Full” people. They are the first to see the …

Trust and Referrals

September 16, 2010

I met a CEO who had hired a new manager. I had referred another candidate to the CEO but that candidate had chosen another offer that was a better fit. She was impressed by the company that she did not choose so she referred a former employee of hers for the job that she had …

Making Big Bets

September 15, 2010

It was Bridgescale’s Mentor Monday this week and one of the speakers was David Ossip, formerly the founder and CEO of Workbrain, now founder and CEO of Dayforce.  David is creating Dayforce by making big bets, but as a successful four-time entrepreneur, his bets are calculated. David believes that it is easier to enter established …

When people ask how I build my Network

August 29, 2010

Somehow I have gotten a reputation as a person with a large network and someone people can come to when they are looking for referrals to talented people.  As a result, I am often asked how I came to have this large and rich network. The funny thing is that 10 years ago, I didn't.  …

Focus – Focus – Focus

August 28, 2010

A big challenge for companies going through their start-up phase is "FOCUS".  I was recently with a client. They are early start-up. Their product is built and they have won their few first customers

Youthful Entrepreneur: An Oxymoron?

August 23, 2010

I read an interesting article in Newsweek (The Golden Age of Innovation) that argues that "new research has found that older workers are more likely to innovate than their under-35 counterparts." Contrary to stereotypes, the most successful entrepreneurs are not the 20-something tech savvy, but rather the 40+mature, experienced engineer. In fact, "the highest rate …

How I hire Sales People

August 18, 2010

A CEO of a start-up recently asked me how I hire software salespeople.  I have a simple rule that has served me well. I look for three things in a salesperson's resume. Experience and successful track record selling software. Selling software is different from other high tech.  Your product is "selling a vision" more than …

Managing Risk in your Go-to-Market Strategy

If you haven’t read Howard Gwin’s blog on Digital Puck regarding VC’s and start-ups in Canada, I would recommend that you do. It has some powerful arguments about how VC’s and entrepreneurs should look at building great companies. Howard also uses a model for assessing risk on go-to-market strategies. He looks at company growth opportunities …

When is it time to fire?

August 9, 2010

I recently met a CEO of a start-up. He was describing his business to me and that even though he had hired a Sales leader, he was being dragged into every sales deal in order to close it. His sales leader had been hired to find & close deals, create & grow a sales force and …