Welcome to my blog. I wanted to take the time and share some of my experiences with those that may benefit as you make your way to growing your companies, and dreams. Know that you are not alone. I started my first company 30 years ago and have continued to launch and co-found many other companies over the years, leading to some very successful exits. Most of my ventures were bootstrapped and now when looking back, I have fond memories on the early 12 months of each startup. However, truth be told, the early days of any startup can only be described as a highly challenging and somewhat brutal period, a fact that most entrepreneurs will acknowledge in their own moments of weakness.
The role of a CEO is often lonely so while navigating the choppy waters of a startup journey, I personally relied on advice from mentors and the school of Hard Knox based on trial and error. I would also take a deep dive into “How to” books to increase my know-how in specific areas of interest. Along the way, I have gathered a vast amount of knowledge pertaining to the operations of a company and have come to realize that many entrepreneurs and employees whom I have mentored find this know-how to be of value.
I have found that while the business world follows some repeatable scientific principles, at times there is no clear way to describe a repeatable path forward. Sometimes, the unique situations that arise in a business require specific and well thought out solutions. It is at these moments that certain principles, which I like to refer to as “Business Guidelines” or “BizGuides”, come in handy. This accumulation of borrowed “BizGuides” has served me well and guided me over the years.
It is important to acknowledge that I do not claim any originality to any of the ideas that I will present in my blogs. In cases where I know a source, I will clearly identify the person and context. Otherwise, I assume the content to be a part of the “Startup Community Folklore” that has been developed by Giants over the decades (using the metaphor attributed to Sir Isaac Newton who stated that his discoveries were somewhat enabled because “He stood on the shoulders of Giants”).
The BizGuides I will outline in my blogs will cover both general purpose topics regarding management principles as well as principles about specific functional areas in a company. My hope is that entrepreneurs and members of the business community will find these ideas worthy of consideration when building and managing their new ventures.
