Back in the dark ages, when we had VHS tapes — weird boxes that held a video on a strip of tape — there was an old saying, “be kind, rewind.” It was so that the next person that got the tape didn’t have to sit for an extra five minutes rewinding it — if you are old enough to know dial-up modems, it was the same level of annoyance as signing onto the internet. Rewinding a tape before you gave it back to Blockbuster was just a kind gesture to do.

Leap. Quit your job. Leave it all behind. Follow your dream. I am tired of reading posts about entrepreneurship written by people who have no idea what they are doing. The notion of walking away from your current career or school is utter nonsense unless you have a venture that can raise capital or sustain itself long enough to hit some inflection point.

I believe empathy is an underutilized skill in leadership. Successful leaders are often portrayed as authoritarians with an unbending will, but this is a weak leadership style to adopt. Ultimately, a true leader should focus on building trust, and an effective way to achieve this trust is through empathy.

Splitting equity? Welcome to the zone of contention. A guide on how to avoid common mistakes

How to avoid role divisions when creating your dream

Founding a company with friends and family? You might want to reconsider

Become a solo founder or enlist co-founders? Pitfalls to consider on both sides

Are you ready to take the jump? Pitfalls to consider when looking to make the dive

Why keeping your idea a secret is going to lead to your downfall

The toughest part of starting any venture is getting the right person to believe in what you are doing.

Easy exercise for writing the right job description

Intro into our module on recruiting; who are you looking for?

Don’t waste valuable time meeting with every candidate. Use the steps below to screen out red flag candidates before sitting down for a full interview.

The deep dive into a candidates past.

The top down interview addresses a candidate’s competency for the role, whereas the culture interview serves as a change to look at cultural fit as well as a chance to revisit anything you’d like to re-examine from the top down interview.

The most overlooked part of an interview process

An alternative recruiting process for sales

A story of how I recruited my technical Co-founder and why I chose not to recruit someone

How to evaluate and validate your idea.

Where do I start developing my network?

Where to begin? I was at an event recently where I was talking with soon-to-be founders. They were extremely excited about the prospect of getting into entrepreneurship, but honestly didn’t know how to start.

We are going to dive into three different topics here: why constructive feedback is necessary, how to give feedback, and how to make sure the other person hears the feedback. I’ll also be weaving in personal stories to help you understand best practices.

Pricing Strategy For Your First 10 Customers

Your pricing is your startup’s hidden weapon to growth and much more

Peter Thiel famously said, “Competition is for losers”. He may be right, but that doesn’t mean competition does not exist.

Which type of entity should I be for a startup?

There are stark differences between the launchpad, incubator and accelerator stages of raising capital.

From my point of view as a venture capitalist, I have realized that many startups share a common struggle: how to determine valuation. There are plenty of articles on how to value your specific startup and the different methodologies behind it, but what many of them neglect to recognize is that for most early-stage (pre-seed) startups, valuation is most likely determined by the surrounding market, or by the investor themselves (hence the abundant use of convertible notes).

After my recent interactions with several entrepreneurs, I realized that I needed to write an article about the importance of being receptive to feedback. It is just as important to be professional and open when receiving feedback as it is when listening to it, because one without the other leads to a zero-sum game.

People have differing views of whether entrepreneurs are born or made, but here are some tips to help you think like one.