3 Secrets To Building Billion Dollar Companies From David Sacks
Plenty of people in Silicon Valley would pay $10,000 to sit down and chat about business with the extraordinary David Sacks. David is one of the all-time great entrepreneurs. He’s the founder and CEO of Yammer, which sold to Microsoft for a cool $1.2 billion. He was also on the original team at PayPal and an angel investor in Facebook,…
Legendary Executive Sue Barsamian Shares Her Playbook For A Successful 36-Year Career
All professional sports teams use a playbook—an extremely detailed outline of repeatable offensive and defensive tactics to win a game. In the business world, top executives use playbooks too. Whether it’s for sales, marketing, product management, or company culture, leaders reference their playbook for replicable, scalable processes directed at boosting the bottom line. Having one…
Jerry Colonna, “The CEO Whisperer,” Says Vulnerability Is The Key To Strong Leadership. Here’s How
When in a position of power, there is strength in vulnerability. I recently had a jam session with Jerry Colonna on my podcast to discuss positional power in the workplace—more specifically, how to lead properly in a place of professional power. For those that don’t know, Jerry is the founder and CEO of Reboot.IO, a coaching company aiming…
What is the number one thing a startup founder can do to ensure a seed stage investment?
Sell category potential. Investors must believe they are getting in early, in an emerging market category. Savvy investors seek potential, not performance. They identify companies leveraging technology to create and dominate new market categories that show promise for significant growth. Because elite tech investors know two things that others don’t: First, the category makes the company. There is no such…
Cards Against Humanity Co-Creator Max Temkin Has An Unorthodox View On Work Ethic. Ironically, It’s What Made Him So Successful. Here’s How
Max Tempkin is creative, irreverent, unpredictable, and quite candidly, one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met. Eight years ago, Max and some friends co-created Cards Against Humanity—a party game for horrible people—with the modest hopes of “delighting a few people.” Within a month after its May 2011 release, the offensively fun card game snatched…
Why Category Creation Is The Hottest Marketing Strategy Today
Giant billboards. Direct mail promotions. Glossy print ads. They’re the oldest marketing strategies in the book. Used for decades, companies simply played the comparison game until someone came out on top. But the days of traditional marketing are over. Having a winning company isn’t about beating rivals in an old game anymore. Instead, today’s most…
How To Build A Legendary Company: Say ‘No’ To Business Models, Forecasting & Projections (And Do This Instead)
By Christopher Lochhead It can be terrifying to start a business. Between finding customers, figuring out your core offering, and projecting revenue, you face a lot of uncertainty as an entrepreneur. And that’s before you’ve even gone to market. To be truly legendary, however, you need the courage to be different than everyone else. Rejecting the pack mentality…
Is There A Formula For Happiness? Science Says There Is
By Christopher Lochhead Lately, it seems that we talk more and more about success and satisfaction and less about being truly happy. This is especially true for young people, who have to work harder than ever for financial security. While NYU Stern Professor of Marketing, Scott Galloway, has done his fair share of research on how…
3 Women Who Are Changing The Way We Think About Designing A Product
The best way to design a category is to find a problem, articulate it powerfully, and make sure others see the solution as you see it. By Christopher Lochhead Most of us can’t go a single hour without reaching for our iPhones. But nobody even knew why they needed an iPhone until Steve Jobs told them. And he…