Tim Berry
Tim Berry is co-founder of Have Presence, founder and Chairman of Palo Alto Software, founder of bplans.com, and a co-founder of Borland International. He is author of books and software including LivePlan and Business Plan Pro, The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan, and Lean Business Planning, published by Motivational Press in 2015. He has a Stanford MBA degree and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. He taught starting a business at the University of Oregon for 11 years.
Latest
The Crystal Ball and Chain
One of the somewhat hidden benefits of good planning process in a business is management accountability. And one of the problems that comes up, in organizations that introduce good planning process, is what I call…
What About Business Schools and Creativity?
I’m generally an advocate of education over ignorance, but there is the issue of business schools and creativity. A business professor’s wisdom The best class I took at the Stanford Business School during my MBA…
Do We All Undervalue Bootstrapping?
In business schools, in popular blogs, in business publications, and in general discussion of starting a business, we undervalue bootstrapping. We teach starting a business as if every new business requires sophisticated venture capital. I…
Top 10 Tips for Business Planning
I was asked once again for my 10 top tips on business planning. I can’t do that without noting the different uses of business plans in different situations. I ended up with more than 10…
A Good Resolution: Schedule Regular Management Meetings
It’s not too late to schedule your monthly management meetings for this year. Use some regular meeting schedule such as the third or fourth Thursday of every month. Review your business plan milestone dates, deadlines, tasks,…
Startup Stock Options as Fool’s Gold
Terry had a good job with an established software company but left to join a startup. Why? “Because they’re giving me startup stock options.” Too bad. Two years later that job ended. That startup was going nowhere,…
5 Simple Rules for Better Business Decisions
They teach decision sciences in business schools. Those of us doing business, either as entrepreneurs, business owners, or careerists, talk a lot, and think a lot, about business decisions. We all want better business decisions….
Finding Dumb Investors is a Dumb Idea
Are you looking for dumb investors? “How can I find investors who don’t take much equity?” “How can I find investors who don’t interfere with my running the business? I first posted my objections to…
How to Make Money on Your Brilliant Business Idea
So you have a brilliant business idea that will be very successful. My congratulations to you. Now read all ideas are brilliant and nobody is going to pay you for your ideas. Are you still sure? All right then,…
Startup Culture is as Leaders Do
The question over on Quora was How should a new startup develop and sustain a strong company culture? I decided not to answer the essential how-to, but rather to share my experience in this area, which is…