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The Co-Founder Equity Script for Two Students Still in School
The conversation about how to split equity between two founders is one of the more consequential conversations of the early startup years, and it is one of the ones most often postponed until the postponement itself becomes the problem. Two students building together will often work for months without ever formally agreeing on how ownership of the company will be divided, and by the time they finally have the conversation they have already accumulated enough asymmetries betwe
How to Hire Your First Person When You Cannot Really Pay Them Yet
The most important shift in mindset is to stop thinking of the first hire as an employee and start thinking of them as someone who is joining a venture, since the person you can attract without much money is almost never the same kind of person who would take a paid role at a bigger company. Their motivation for joining you is different, and if you understand what that motivation actually is you can structure an arrangement that works for both of you.
Building Systems Before You Think You Need Them
There is a predictable moment in the life of an early company, usually somewhere between the twelfth and the eighteenth month, when the work that had been running smoothly on the founder memory begins to slip out of reach. Magnific.com Customer requests get answered late or not at all, important conversations are forgotten because no one wrote them down, decisions are made twice because the original decision was never recorded, and the founder, who had felt in control of the
The Co-Founder Equity Script for Two Students Still in School
The conversation about how to split equity between two founders is one of the more consequential conversations of the early startup years, and it is one of the ones most often postponed until the postponement itself becomes the problem. Two students building together will often work for months without ever formally agreeing on how ownership of the company will be divided, and by the time they finally have the conversation they have already accumulated enough asymmetries betwe
4 min read
How to Hire Your First Person When You Cannot Really Pay Them Yet
The most important shift in mindset is to stop thinking of the first hire as an employee and start thinking of them as someone who is joining a venture, since the person you can attract without much money is almost never the same kind of person who would take a paid role at a bigger company. Their motivation for joining you is different, and if you understand what that motivation actually is you can structure an arrangement that works for both of you.
4 min read
Building Systems Before You Think You Need Them
There is a predictable moment in the life of an early company, usually somewhere between the twelfth and the eighteenth month, when the work that had been running smoothly on the founder memory begins to slip out of reach. Magnific.com Customer requests get answered late or not at all, important conversations are forgotten because no one wrote them down, decisions are made twice because the original decision was never recorded, and the founder, who had felt in control of the
6 min read
Choosing What to Say No to as You Grow
Most founders begin a startup with a strong instinct to say yes to almost everything, partly because the early months reward generosity and openness and partly because saying yes feels like the kind of behavior that successful founders are supposed to exhibit. Magnific.com The instinct is reasonable in the first year, when the company is small enough that opportunities are rare, and almost any new conversation, partnership, or feature request is worth at least examining. The
5 min read
When to Stop Doing Everything Yourself
Most founders begin a startup by doing every job that needs doing, writing the code, talking to the customers, designing the landing page, answering the support emails, and remembering which invoices are still unpaid, and in the first year that habit is genuinely a strength, because you learn the business by being inside every part of it. In the second year, the same habit quietly becomes the thing that limits the company, because the work expands, the hours run out, the pace
5 min read
How to Create a Customer Loyalty Program that Boosts Retention and Referrals
In today’s highly competitive landscape, focusing on customer loyalty should be every business’s priority. Loyal customers contribute...
8 min read
The Power of Analytics and Data-Driven Insights in Enhancing Your Decision Making and Performance
Data is everywhere. It is generated by every action, interaction, and transaction that we do online or offline. It is collected, stored,...
11 min read
Smart Business: How AI is Revolutionizing Growth Strategies
One scorching summer afternoon, while sitting in a car at a gas station with a friend, I observed customers rushing in and out,...
4 min read
Growth Hacking Secrets: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Do It
Growth hacking is a term that has become popular in the startup world in recent years. It refers to the use of creative and...
9 min read
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