Over the past several weeks, I’ve been neck deep in managing BodeTree’s latest capital raise. My experience this time around, especially compared to our early rounds, has been overwhelmingly positive. The growth and traction that we’ve seen in the marketplace has made the process much easier, however, I’ve found that there is still a significant […]
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For most tech entrepreneurs, raising money is a lot like voting in Chicago: you want to do it early and often. Common wisdom is that you can never bring in too much, and that more money means more opportunity. While there are elements of truth here, I believe that raising too much money can be […]
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It’s been said that patience is a virtue, and like most virtues it doesn’t come easily. When you’re a small, fast-growing company who frequently partners with large, slow-moving organizations, you often find yourself in a “hurry up and wait” scenario. There is a fundamental mismatch in the natural velocity of startups versus established companies that […]
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For startups and small businesses, the opportunity to partner with large companies can seem like an easy path to success. Your scrappy little enterprise brings the innovative solution and the sleepy, established behemoth brings capital and distribution. What could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, it’s never quite that simple when it come to building successful and […]
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There are two things I’m sure of in this world. The first is that life is a journey, full of twists and turns. The second is that hardly anything goes according to plan. The fact that life is unpredictable isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, the most unexpected events can change your personal trajectory in […]
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I’ve found that in business, coming up with new ideas and identifying exciting opportunities is easy. Executing on those ideas, however, is incredibly difficult. Execution takes time, dedication, and a lot of hard work. It’s an unglamorous but entirely necessary process. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs become blinded to the details of execution whenever an exciting opportunity […]
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The world is littered with the ashes of innovative and often superior products that never really caught on. The companies behind these products failed because they created a something that the existing market wasn’t prepared to accept and use. They tried to fit a square peg into a round hole when in reality they should […]
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Of all the so-called Unicorns (companies with valuations of at least $1 billion), Uber stands out above the rest. It currently holds the distinction of being the world’s most highly capitalized startup and its growth appears to be accelerating at breakneck speed. Still, when I saw the news that Uber plans to raise another $1.5 […]
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I’ve adopted a simple rule for all hires we make at BodeTree. We hire people we trust, respect and admire. It sounds trite, but I’ve found that if the candidate fits those criteria, everything from cultural fit to skills naturally falls in line. The problem is that this is easier said than done. After all, […]
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I’ve made my fair share of mistakes as a leader, but the biggest mistake by far was allowing negativity to take root inside of my organization. Negativity is like a cancer inside of your company; it grows undetected until suddenly it consumes you. More often than not, bad attitudes start out fairly innocently. Sometimes it can […]
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