One of the most important skills that an early stage technology management team really needs to have is the ability to objectively manage the startup budget. This is a very difficult task as senior managers are dealing with so many unknowns it is often hard to know where to spend – and where not to. […]
Pricing Fences, Promotions & 8 Deadly Sins of Customer Care
I recently got of the phone with AT&T “customer care”. It was an unusually frustrating experience, even by the standard of dealing with a multi-billion dollar corporation which has roots as a regulated utility. I had been transferred among 6 different departments over the period of a couple of days. As I write this, I’ve […]
Hiring to your Tech Company Culture
I’ve always believed that the care and maintenance of a tech company culture is one of the most important factors confronting executive management in a growing tech company. I’ve both written about and produced a video on this topic in the past. If you buy into the premise that your corporate culture is important, your […]
Tech Company Employee Stock Options
One mildly controversial topic in our industry is whether to provide employee stock options broadly within a tech company. Mind you, this isn’t very controversial in VC-funded companies. The only discussion in that environment is how much and to who – not whether or not. But VC-backed companies represent only a tiny fraction of the […]
Tech Company Leadership, Followers & Managing Up
A lot of people think the secret to good tech company leadership is being smart and decisive. Or maybe they believe the most important aspect is being able to inspire the troops, or provide the proper resources for the company to be successful. All of that is important, of course. But I think that there […]
