For startups and small businesses, when it comes to allocating marketing dollars, value is the most important word. We all seek to gain maximum value and exposure with limited budgets. Cultivating brand advocates who are excited to share their experience with you can be a low-cost, high-return marketing strategy. Essentially, a brand advocate is someone who enjoys your […]

As someone who tells stories for a living (a filmmaker), I’ve taken minor offense that the idea of “storytelling” has been co-opted into the lexicon of meaningless business words. It’s often used as a millennial-approved way to say “information dump”. But storytelling actually has the power to facilitate so much more than just information transfer, […]

It’s a question faced by almost every startup founder: Do I need to hire an in-house developer? Hiring technical resources is all about understanding how time and quality interrelate. If you’re working with developers on contract now and are wondering whether it’s time to hire in-house, here are some red flags you should be aware […]

When I graduated from college in 1993, I got a job at Fidelity Investments as a customer service representative. It was a prestigious company in Boston, and after majoring in English, I was delighted to have an opportunity to be trained in something in the financial services industry. It seemed practical and, at such a big and […]

The best thing that ever happened to Steven Weinreb was losing his job. The exact date was January 7th, 2009, in the middle of an economic downturn that had many qualified and intelligent employees scrambling to find work. Infuriated with corrupted corporations and frustrated by the Government’s tendency to bail out the big guys, Weinreb […]

Taking the lead on a project or assignment can be intimidating—who has the time for all that responsibility? I’ve spent the last ten years building a reputation of leadership and rapid growth, but I started by freeing up my time. Here are three essential strategies I discuss in my upcoming time management book. They will […]

When you’re running a startup out of a shared workspace or even your parent’s garage, it might seem like getting your own office space is light years away. But as your startup grows into a sustainable small business, chances are, you’ll quickly find yourself out-growing your space. Even if you’re feeling a space crunch, you […]

Setting up shop in the Bay Area or Boston might seem necessary for a startup, but there are plenty of good reasons to locate your company somewhere between the two coasts. Maybe even where you already live. When I launched ShortStack a few years ago, it was an offshoot of an existing business I owned. […]