Category Archives: Execution

For Startups, Feeling Good Is Not the Same as Progress

Note: We recently re-acquired full rights to my book 6 Secrets to Startup Success (AMACOM, 2011) in order to refresh, enhance and re-purpose the content. Below is the first in a series of revised excerpts from the book (new Kindle version available … Continue reading

Posted in Cognitive Bias, Communication, Culture, Decision Making, Execution, Founder Readiness, The Passion Trap, Trust | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Problem with Absolutes

   (This is a revised version of a post I wrote for American Express OpenForum a couple of years ago… ) With much of the world’s work and play taking place online and the rest of our lives moving in … Continue reading

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The Commoditization of Ideas

Had a great time last week working with 50+ students at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan Flagler Business School. The students are part of the GLOBE program — an 18 month program bringing together undergraduates from three business schools: UNC’s Kenan-Flagler, Copenhagen Business … Continue reading

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Why Startups Fail at Communication (“Let me close the door”)

The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it. Edward … Continue reading

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Don’t Let Complexity Kill Your Value Proposition

I was working with a senior leader of a Fortune 100 company last week.  He was nervous about an upcoming product launch, one that had gotten countless hours of development and a treasure full of capital. Product developers were beaming … Continue reading

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Give Your Idea Time to Take Flight — (Part 2 ): PERSONAL ENDURANCE

Get rich quick.  Swing for the fences.  Change the universe.  Do it now. These are the hopes that fuel many an entrepreneurial dream. But turning even the greatest idea into a viable, sustainable, and healthy business usually takes time. Lots … Continue reading

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Cultivating Trust as a Business Tool (or Why 5-Hour Meetings Might Be a Great Idea)

If you want to launch a business from scratch, it’s hard to find a better entrepreneurial role model than J.C. Faulkner.  J.C. is one of the four core founders whose startup stories I follow throughout my book, and is a … Continue reading

Posted in Alignment, Execution, Relationships/Support, Trust | 1 Comment

Give Your Venture Time to Take Flight

  Last month, to illustrate the importance of “staying power” in getting a new venture off the ground, I wrote a post about the patience displayed by President Obama’s national security team in tracking Osama Bin Laden. After years of painstaking … Continue reading

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Put Time on Your Side – A Lesson for Startup Founders from the Hunt for Osama Bin Laden

  “It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s just that I stay with problems longer.” Albert Einstein When stories first began to pour out about the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden, one detail immediately struck me as especially remarkable: … Continue reading

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Enchantment is Like Fitness: A Conversation with Guy Kawasaki

Last Friday, I enjoyed spending time on the phone with Guy Kawasaki, author of the just-released book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.  Many years ago, Guy helped Apple Computer enchant the world as the company’s Chief Evangelist. He … Continue reading

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