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Looking through the Keyhole
Investors’ and Board Members’ view of a startup’s inner workings resembles peeking into another room through a keyhole.
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Investing in First-time vs. Serial Entrepreneurs
The passion of a first-time founder who is often pursuing something uniquely personal is captivating. Yet, the learning curve for successfully building a high-potential startup is so steep that investors gravitate towards experienced serial entrepreneurs as a way of de-risking their investment. Yet, there is a balancing act since all startups have multiple dimensions of risk. Let’s unpack some of…
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Winding Down with Professionalism
The decision to stop is difficult. Ideally, one decides in a timely fashion and then professionally executes the startup’s wind-down. Surprisingly, this is the exception rather than the rule, so let’s discuss why it is worth doing.
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Making the Decision to Stop
In my last post, I discussed the powerful motivation that drives entrepreneurs to found and build a high-potential startup and the odds against building a successful startup. Most startups do not make it, which means that many entrepreneurs will someday face the profoundly difficult decision to stop and abandon the attempt. What does that look like—and why is it so…
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Making a Difference
What motivates entrepreneurs to pursue building high-potential companies? Making money? Independence? Making a difference? The answer might surprise you.