-startups are best for people who crave flexibility, excitement
-partners (cofounders) are great, it’s so difficult to do it all by yourself
-it’s okay to not have all the answers; trust in the process and in yourself to find the answers when you need them
-focus on the process and the results will take care of themselves — Nick Saban
-a small team with high morale is really hard to beat
-the quality of the team is more important than the quality of the idea
-be ready for changes and be ready to embrace them
-speed is the ultimate weapon
-if you wait too long to hire great people, you may lose them
-in investor meetings, show that you have a detailed plan ready to execute
-schedule multiple investor meetings in the same day and tell investors about the competition
-even if you don’t have term sheets, don’t give up if you believe in the idea and team
-entrepreneurship is not that risky when you consider the skills you acquire along the way
-business schools undervalue sales, even though sales is the heart of business
-business schools do a poor job of teaching executives how to communicate with non-business types
-founders need to know sales skills so they can close (hiring, partnerships, investors)
-bigger is not always better for founders
-be humble and learn where you are weak
-if you do raise venture money, consider raising small amounts and making it work
-at the end of every day, just sit quietly for 10 minutes
-we have a weekly 12min standup meeting, regular 30 minute one-on-one’s, and that’s it for meetings
-useful for trying to partner with or work with a big company, is to know how big companies work internally, think about the level (VP/Director/Manager) of person you’re speaking with and what their concerns are (P&L/market share/stock price)
-the most critical departments, day to day, are sales and operations
-spend some time on help desk and/or sales
-exponential growth what others look for during investing and acquisitions, it also helps with employee morale and hiring
-when hiring, some people are high growth people and some people are not, hire people who fit your goals
-when starting a company, start with sales people and follow quickly with execution people