Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done by full-time employees, in the office or at home. Hire and train your own managers for internal and external work projects. Utilization and personal growth of virtual employees is not my problem.” Don’t get caught off guard.

Cost 346

Cost Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

Yet, as a business consultant, I often find minimal focus on improving employee engagement and assessing their customer-facing performance. For example, I commonly see metrics to keep track of revenue per employee, overtime, and absenteeism, but I don’t often see measures of overall customer satisfaction with individual employees.

Customer 369

Customer Technical Review Metrics Employee 369

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 4, 2024

Use Contracts to Your Advantage Whether you’re hiring employees, working with vendors, or entering into agreements with partners, contracts are essential. Additionally, employment contracts ensure that you and your employees have mutual understanding regarding their roles and the company’s policies.

Intellectual Property 119

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Entrepreneur Limited Liability Company 119

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Don’t let one incident, observation, rumor, or misunderstanding cause a rush to judgement, or hiring mistake.

Analytics 303

Analytics Hiring Open Source Employee 303

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. Hire and train your own managers for internal and external work projects. Utilization and personal growth of virtual employees is not my problem.” Don’t get caught off guard.

Entrepreneur 303

Entrepreneur Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 303

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2021

The CEO must focus on key management team hires and assume a few mistakes which need to get fixed. A great hire can make a company, but a single bad one can break it. Remember that leadership is both upward, as well as downward to direct reports and employees. Provide effective leadership. Communicate company values and culture.

Exit Strategy 407

Exit Strategy Leadership Founder Networking 407

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. As Venture Capital emerged as an industry in the mid 1970’s, investors in venture-funded startups began to give stock options to all their employees. Here’s why.

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Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 335

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required.

Technical Review 308

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Employee 308

Women Entrepreneurs Can

APRIL 26, 2025

If you run a company, its natural to want to get the best out of your employees. The best ways to use tech to your advantage are to outline your business objectives, set targets and communicate with your employees. On average, a new hire costs US businesses $4,700. There are several ways to help your team achieve more.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Employee Software Review Retention 40

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 26, 2023

source ] Hiring a professional fire protection service holds the key to not only enhancing property value but also ensuring the safety and security of your investment. The presence of reliable fire protection systems provides a sense of security and peace of mind to occupants, whether they are homeowners, tenants, or employees.

Software Review 148

Software Review Technical Review Hiring Due Diligence 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on getting the product right, and assume that the right culture and ethics will come later simply by hiring good people. Hire only ethical people, so further time on business ethics is not needed. This is usually an excuse for not developing ethical policies and practices.

Software Review 291

Software Review Offshore Entrepreneur Leadership 291

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

How the leaders of your company handle adherence to the spirit as well as the letter of the law will be seen by all employees, customers, and investors. Partner decisions are more important than team member hiring decisions. Ethics and the view of personal boundaries should be explored fully. Carry minimal historical baggage.

Partner 385

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 385

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

If you’re an early employee at a startup, one day you will wake up to find that what you worked on 24/7 for the last year is no longer the most important thing – you’re no longer the most important employee, and process, meetings, paperwork and managers and bosses have shown up. The company was going to hire a VP of Marketing.

Part-Time VPE 334

Part-Time VPE Employee Cofounder Hiring 334

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Venture Studios are an “idea factory” with their own employees searching for product/market fit and a repeatable and scalable business model. The venture studio’s employees have already identified a product, market fit and early customers — meaning someone else has eliminated many of the early risks of a new venture.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki from Pexels Going beyond hiring security guards, it’s also important for startups to implement the right strategies that prevent attacks through their physical assets. Verify the people you hire As your startup expands, you must hire more people for the team.

Security 167

Security Technical Review Software Review Startup 167

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

While the appearance matters, remember you are hiring the development firm primarily for its development skills, not its graphic design skills. Employee and Contractor Details: How many full-time W2 employees and contractors do they employ, and where are they located? What are the employees and contractors' skills?

Software Developers 297

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 297

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Investors want organizations that manage people talent and growth, through good hiring, performance feedback, development on the job, and building commitment. They look for the use of talent analytics, such as productivity per employee, as well as the practices and attitude toward employee satisfaction.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 12, 2020

Also, if your employees will use personal devices in the workplace, you must ensure they are using the latest security protections, such as: Biometric authentication. You must also routinely review your data security plan as you hire more employees and create more departments. Facial recognition. Fingerprints.

Security 273

Security Software Review Technical Review Networking 273

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Hiring virtual assistants for each specific project can be a lot more efficient and cheaper than hiring and managing employees. Use free e-commerce software and services like PayPal before building an expensive customized solution. Generate revenue around the clock. Use the Internet to outsource staff.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Software Review Internet Revenue 312

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 29, 2020

In the past, working remotely was considered “normal” for entrepreneurs or independent contractors in the gig economy only, but organizations wanted employees, and consultants, to be onsite and working in the office. Employees clearly want and enjoy the flexibility. This greatly narrowed the talent pool. It’s a win-win.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Cofounder Leadership Employee 275

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 20, 2024

One increasingly popular strategy is to hire a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO). link] Now, according to Forbes , a startup has to spend around 15 to 50 percent of its budget on paying its employees. Early-stage startups often operate with tight budgets, making it impractical to hire a full-time CMO.

B2B 148

B2B Hiring Salary Early Stage 148

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

This is one of the key roles in a growing new company which can benefit from someone who clearly has experience dealing with people – whether it be hiring and firing, assisting in performance reviews, or dealing with the day-to-day crises of any growing business. Personnel Manager. All the learning from parenting pays big dividends here.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

Investors want organizations that manage people talent and growth, through good hiring, performance feedback, development on the job, and building commitment. They look for the use of talent analytics, such as productivity per employee, as well as the practices and attitude toward employee satisfaction.

Valuation 311

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Hiring requirements must be anticipated and implemented with the same precision and tracking as manufacturing volumes, sales leads, and customer service.

Cost 260

Cost Hiring Matching Internet 260

VC Cafe

MARCH 31, 2025

Focus on increasing average talent with each hire and hire slowly: Your early employees should ideally be smarter and slightly more risk-averse than the founders. If a potential hire doesn’t increase the company’s average intelligence, it’s a mistake.

Cofounder 88

Cofounder Silicon Valley Technical Review PR 88

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen. The process must be employee friendly, as well as customer friendly, and have feedback mechanisms to correct poor results. If service employees are not happy, the process isn’t working yet. Train and coach continuously.

Technical Review 385

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 385

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Working closely with vendors is beneficial for many companies — for example, it’s cheaper to contract with a security vendor than to hire several new staff members, invest in security cameras and other equipment, and assume the costs of maintaining and replacing that equipment and keeping security positions staffed.

Software Review 264

Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence Management 264

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

Employees are engaged, committed, and accountable. Technical entrepreneurs, in particular, who build an innovative product, often don’t realize that building a successful business requires an equal focus on hiring the right people, providing the right tools and resources, and communicating effectively.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Development 341

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2021

Only the best leaders and CEOs pay real attention to how and when people commit, how employees accept accountability, and how they win. CEOs who make this happen start by hiring the right people, communicating a strategy, and being the role model for collaboration. If your focus is on an effective culture, you are a leader.

Leadership 340

Leadership Framework Demand Employee 340

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

This not only speeds up hiring but also lowers the costs associated with lengthy recruitment cycles. AI-driven platforms can also streamline the onboarding process, providing new hires with personalized learning paths, thereby reducing the need for extensive HR personnel involvement and ensuring quicker employee ramp-up.

Generative AI 297

Generative AI CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 297

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

This is one of the key roles in a growing new company which can benefit from someone who clearly has experience dealing with people – whether it be hiring and firing, assisting in performance reviews, or dealing with the day-to-day crises of any growing business. Personnel Manager. All the learning from parenting pays big dividends here.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2020

Then when you have to hire people, you will pick the best. While highly productive relationships lead to success, dysfunctional relationships make you a poor employee and a bad boss. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you. Make more effective use of your own time.

Leadership 380

Leadership Demand Management Founder 380

The Startup Magazine

JULY 2, 2024

Employees seek more than just financial rewards; they want a fulfilling work experience that aligns with their values and career goals. Ensuring transparent pay and benefits, where employees understand how their compensation is determined and what benefits they are entitled to, promotes trust and fairness within the team.

Development Team Review 148

Development Team Review Retention Salary Hiring 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

A common practice is to hire local employees who know the geographic culture, even though this may well dilute the company culture. This phase is characterized by rapid expansion either regionally or globally for growth (scaling up). This is where the culture of the startup has to adapt to the cultures of the markets served.

Dilution 355

Dilution Startup Merger Flash 355

Duct Tape Marketing

SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

Brian shares insights on effective feedback techniques, the significance of employee engagement, and how to align a team around a common mission. The conversation highlights the role of training and development in fostering a motivated workforce and the importance of understanding employee perspectives through stay interviews.

Wisconsin 91

Wisconsin Cofounder Leadership Employee 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

To be successful, and leave a positive legacy, you need a team of motivated employees and loyal customers. Provide outside training opportunities and hiring to promote this culture. Experiment and pivot to avoid ‘big bang’ expectations. New customers don’t see incremental improvements.

Artificial Inteligence 286

Artificial Inteligence Technology Leadership Business Model 286