6 Ideal Team Members for Any Entrepreneurial Venture

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. That’s why investors say they invest in people (bet on the jockey, not the horse), rather than the idea. Yet every entrepreneur…

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Surviving a Bad Work Marriage

Sometimes Love Just Isn’t Enough “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Sometimes—maybe often—they deliver great work. But almost always it comes with a price. They yell, they scream, they manipulate, they brood, they threaten, they bully…and then when people ask what all the drama…

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A Checklist to Find the Startup Partner of Your Dreams

As an advisor to startups, I often get asked what to look for in an ideal co-founder or business partner. My first response is that it’s much like finding that ideal spouse, where chemistry, common interests and complementary communication skills are key. After some reflection, I now realize these attributes are necessary but not sufficient…

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10 Qualities I’d Look for in a Business Partner

Here are 10 qualities I’d look for in a future business partner: Integrity. The whole truth, not just the good news. Actually I want to know the bad news instantly; and the good news can wait. I want to work with people who never make me wonder what they are thinking or what they mean.…

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How to Buy Out a Partner

When a small business starts out, multiple individuals will sometimes partner together or the original founder will bring in a third party to help establish the brand while it’s in its infancy.
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4 Creative Ways to Make Customers Come to You

How can you raise your company’s brand awareness, increase sales, and reduce business risks, all in one fell swoop? Think outside the box to scale your distribution channels. Instead of finding ways to get more customers to come to you, figure out how to get your products or services to reach more customers.
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How to Be a Good Agency Client

For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well.
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