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I was asked a question on Quora recently, specifically about start ups but I think my answer applies to more established companies as well. Hope you'll find it useful. The Original Question. How do bootstrapping start-ups in New York handle…

A change map is a way to understand the ramifications of a change in your organization (or your life). It could be a change you’ve already adopted, or one you’re considering. It’s a great tool to bring together the smart…

As soon as I ask that question, I’m sure several aspects of your product come to mind that define quality. In this piece, I want to challenge those thoughts. Andrew Sullivan points to Matthew Yglesias about the benefits of inferior…

It only has 2 Questions: Would you recommend this to a friend? Why or Why not? This is a slightly modified version of John Mariotti's approach. I added the phrase "to a friend" because it adds an emotional element to…

I understand the appeal. After all, didn’t we start our companies because we wanted to make money doing something we love? In my experience the things most entrepreneurs love revolve around sales or making product. Then as the organization grows,…

Here's a picture of my desk. It's got ZERO papers on it. If I'm working on something I'll put that ONE thing on the desk. Then put it away when I'm done, or when I'm interrupted. This concept is new…

Most sales people think they are in control and they move prospects through the various steps toward a sale. I'm suggesting that you think backwards - and look at the process from the buyer's side. The buyer goes through 4…

I visited Zuccotti park on Sunday (Oct 16, 2011) and it brought back memories of marching against the Vietnam war in the 60’s – and yes, despite the fact that I remember the 60’s I really was there. In once…

Shadow Coaching. Surgeon Atul Gawande has a great article in New Yorker about hiring a coach to help him become a better surgeon. He doesn’t call it this, but what he’s describing is “Shadow Coaching”. A shadow coach watches you…

Imagine you’re climbing a mountain and the fog rolls in. You can’t see the trail as far as you’d like, but you know you’re trying to reach the top. So you figure as long as each step takes you higher…

Living in Connecticut with some big trees in the yard, we stocked up on water, food we could eat without cooking, propane and then slept in the finished basement. We spent the entire time with running water (hot AND cold).…

By "most CEO's" I don't mean most of the people who have CEO on their business card; not those in charge of very large, public companies. Most of us run companies with less than 100 people. In fact, 50% of…

I posted four years ago that typical pro-business political positions are often actually bad for business because they are short sighted. In my experience working with business owners, lack of strategic planning is something they are almost always "too busy"…

What makes a SoloPreneur is not the lack of employees. Some companies without employees contract everything from sales, to production, to answering their phone. They are functionally equivalent to one of the other groups because the management frustrations you face…

Companies at this stage have employees doing different jobs. But usually they lack formal departments or managers of those departments. Most employees wear several hats and do what’s needed at the moment. This is not always a bad thing. In…

This is a critical stage for a CEO. For the company to grow you need to stop acting like a one-man band, and more like a conductor. But with a difference. An orchestra conductor makes none of the sound him…

Can you go away for a week? A month? As your firm grows beyond 50 employees the CEO spends less time dealing with day to day situations and more time planning for the future. That means you need systems and…

Every start-up by definition is a small company and they all have the same problem: They don’t have enough revenue to pay for ongoing operations. However there are different ways to solve this problem and choosing the right one depends…

My wife broke her leg recently so I’ve been doing all the driving and grocery shopping. She is able to use a wheeled stool to get around the kitchen and cook again which she is very grateful for – as…

In any new company, there are 4 distinct types of risk to a successful business outcome. It's my experience that seeing these risks in different ways is often at the root of problems between investors and entrepreneurs. Technology Risk. This…

Jason Fried says that the office is a lousy place to get work done because of 2 things: Managers & Meetings. If that's true, then you're not doing it right. And, of course a lot of people aren't doing it…