Some of your fathers wore suits and worked for the Man or were the Man themselves. Others were determined to do their own thing, rising to new heights or struggling like Willy Loman. But no matter what your dad happened to do for a living, chances are you’ll have no greater mentor in business than […]

“Your family’s broke.” When I heard these words, I was 28 years old, making $35,000 a year, and tending to a 55-year-old father who was dying of fourth-stage lung cancer. Our attorneys told my younger sister and I that the financial tides had turned for our self-employed father, a self-made millionaire. Suddenly, there were more […]

“Go big, or go home.” Are you ready to adopt that ubiquitous phrase as your mantra for the new year? After all, small businesses are taught that we should scale, replicate, partner, and grow into something so much bigger. It’s thrilling to dream about how you’re going to be the next big thing. You’ll ring […]

As the old song goes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Other companies are throwing parties, passing out swag, and stuffing purses and wallets with options and bonuses. But what if you’ve had a tough year, are struggling to collect on accounts receivable, and can barely meet payroll? Or what if you’re a […]

Do you aggressively go after talent by courting a prospect that you think can help elevate your business? Do you operate like a social media ninja, relying on LinkedIn, Twitter, and the latest online tools to identify and pluck talent virtually? Do you work with in-house and outside recruiters to tap recruits from competitors and […]

Baffled and disappointed that nobody seems interested in your company’s story? Your competitors seem to have all the luck, garnering features in blogs and magazines, while the best you get is a lousy mention in a longer article. I’ve been working in PR for years now, and have a few things to share about why […]

“I don’t want to give you the impression I worry about money all the time. It’s probably only several hundred times a day.” So admits Paul Downs, in his new book, Boss Life: Surviving My Own Small Business. This book is gloriously free of those omnipresent self-congratulatory gurus who write most business books—the types who […]

Whether you already have funding or are still looking for that initial interest from an investor, building out revenue streams has got to be on the top of your wish list. Once the cash starts rolling in, you’ll probably start seeing a pattern before you even look at the reports on QuickBooks. Like crashing waves […]

My grandfather repeated this adage over and over to me when I was a young boy: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” For him, these words became a personal mantra as he lifted himself out of poverty, going from selling beans in rural California to creating two […]

If you’ve been recruited to work at a startup, or are crazy enough to start one, chances are that you’ve dealt with issues of confidence. Both in terms of your co-workers, or even yourself, it can often feel like riding a roller coaster: rising from the heights of overconfidence, plunging to the depths of under-confidence, […]

We all know the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. They’re life-affirming in theory, but most of these vows are made too early in the year, are not sustainable, and get broken almost immediately. Those of us in business are hopefully a bit more practical, and want to get a sense of how the year is […]

Snail mail was long thought to be on marketing’s endangered species list. It was considered too slow, too expensive, too untargeted, and not environmentally friendly. Up until recently, suggesting an old-fashioned direct mail marketing campaign felt like trying to promote a horse and buggy instead of the Model T in the 1920s. The high-tech alternatives—email […]

I stumbled upon CrossFit 10 years ago. It’s had a huge impact on my life, but not necessarily in the way you think. Sure, I’ve gotten in better shape, but I keep coming back to feed an addiction to an endorphin rush—the kind of high I haven’t experienced since high school football. While the crazy […]

Did you ever hear that adage about our people being our greatest asset? Sounds kind of corny, right? It also happens to be true. But how do you keep good employees happy, motivated, and performing at their best? How do they become loyal enough to say no when headhunters start calling? How do you get […]

In this new weekly column, Marco Greenberg, a long-time PR and marketing jedi specializing in venture-backed start-ups, will share his experience of the most common mistakes young entrepreneurs make that keep them from getting the love—and the buzz—they so justly deserve. Chapter Seven: Because Your Competitors Are Making You Crazy Some of you might have read, […]

You’re working too hard. I mean it. It’s bad for your health, a strain on your relationship, and the source of most of your anxiety. You probably know all of this already. And you probably already recognize that disconnecting, unplugging, digital detoxing etc. will make you a better and more present friend, parent, partner, or […]