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 usually about how much and to whom, not whether. But VC-backed companies represent only a tiny fraction of the total […]
6 Biggest Obstacles That Startup Software Management Teams Must Overcome
You’ve found a hole in a software market segment. Perhaps it arose from a personal need that you couldn’t find a product to fulfill, or you worked in a VAR or consulting company and realized that customers were repeatedly asking for the same custom solution. So you created a standard software product or SaaS application, […]
When Should a Founder Step Away as CEO?
In every successful entrepreneur’s professional life, there comes a time to pack it in and head for the exits. Deciding when it’s time to make the founder CEO transition is the really tricky part. And when to do so can vary widely depending upon the circumstances. Several common scenarios set the stage for this transition. […]
Key Qualities of a Successful Software Startup CEO
Many articles have been written on what makes a good CEO. It’s important to note that what it takes to be a good Fortune 500 CEO differs from what it takes to succeed as a hardware or software startup CEO. In this article, I’m going to focus on the latter. Many common traits are important […]
What Does It Take to Build a Great Software Company?
A successful software company can come in many different sizes and shapes: SaaS or cloud-based, mobile, open-sourced, consumer, SMB, and Enterprise, etc. Even many successful “hardware” companies could be seen as software companies, as they are often driven primarily by novel software or firmware under the hood. With the diversity of form factors, it’s tough […]
