Climb the Vertical Learning Curve
Founders need to master a huge number of skills and topics all while scrambling to keep their business running.
Feel the Boot is here to walk with you along the difficult and rewarding path you have chosen.
112. Go Niche or Go Home: Why Your Startup Needs a Narrow Initial Market (and How to Pick One)
In the early stages of your startup, you might feel the urge to cast a wide net, but the key to success is focusing on a niche market.
111. Freemium Business Models: The Good, the Bad, and an Alternative You Should Consider
The freemium business model is popular, but is it right for your startup?
109. What is Secret Sauce? 🔥 Why Every Startup Needs It!
In this article, we unpack the nature of secret sauce, why it is critical to the success of your startup, and why investors focus on it.
106. Why Startups Fail: Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid
It's a sad reality that most startups fail within the first few years. There are ten things that most failed startups have in common.
104. Negotiation skills 🤝 for startup founders
Negotiation is one of the core roles of CEOs. As a founder, you will negotiate with investors, co-founders, employees, vendors, and customers.
At first, most founders are not expert negotiators. I certainly wasn't.
102. Testing Startup Ideas and Assumptions ⚖️ John Li of PickFu Interview
In this episode, I talked with John Li, co-founder of PickFu because of his focus on testing ideas and assumptions in startups.
101. Decoding Startup Sales Strategy 🧐 Michael Regnier Interview
Sales strategy is often a neglected aspect of many tech startups, especially those led by technical founders.
96. Startup Privacy Policies 🥷 What you need to know about GDPR, CCPA and beyond!
In this interview, Sabir Ibrahim, an attorney and entrepreneur, provides valuable insights on the implications of privacy and privacy policies for startups.
94. Escape the Startup Paradox 😬 Strategies for Funding Product Development
There's a paradox that impacts most startups early in their journeys. You can't make your product without money, and you can't get money without a product.
93. Startup Branding and Positioning 🔥 Mara Rada Interview
Mara Rada explains how to use branding and positioning to maximum effect in your startup.
91. 🥳 Non-monetary Startup Rewards and Recognitions
You want to attract and, more importantly, retain top talent. but you can’t pay top dollar. So what can you do?
86. BoD vs. Shareholder ⚖️ Startup Corporate Governance
What can you do as a startup CEO, what requires approval by the Board of Directors, and what needs a shareholder vote? How do those meetings work, and how do you make them official?
80. Fire the Founder? 🔥 Take the initiative and replace yourself as CEO
Most successful startups will eventually outgrow their founding CEO. If you handle it correctly, you can have a good experience and an even better long-term outcome. Here’s what happened to me.
76. Investor Updates: how, why, and an investor update template
Investor update emails are your best tool for keeping investors, potential investors, advisors, and supporters in the loop and engaged with your progress. This framework and template will help.
75. Surviving a Short Runway. Startup burn rate < 6 months cash
Sometimes you will find yourself running out of runway for your startup. What should you do when you only have a few months of capital left?
73. When your startup hits hard times: quit, pivot, or persevere?
Almost every startup finds itself in a dark place where it seems they have few options. Even if things are going well for you now, keeping these strategies in your back pocket will probably help at some point.
69. When to sell your startup? 🤷♂️ Equity and Valuation vs. Risk
If someone came up to you with a check and said they wanted to buy your company, how would you make that decision?
68. How to recruit the perfect advisors (or directors) for your startup
A strong advisory board is a powerful asset for your startup that can transform your ability to grow and fundraise, but who should you ask to join your board and how do you find them?
65. Task Management ✍️ make time for strategic thinking
Founders and CEOs can often get into the trap of working on mundane tasks while failing to take time to do the critical strategic thinking that will make the company soar. I share two frameworks that helped me in my startup.
63. Focus on the fundamentals to create a marketing strategy for your startup – Tim Fitzpatrick Interview
Tim Fitzpatrick, founder of Rialto Marketing talks about marketing strategy, marketing fundamentals, and strategic thinking.
62. Design your C-suite with care. Consider the next 2 years of your startup when handing out titles
Take care with the titles you give to early hires. While everyone likes having a fancy-sounding job title, they can come back to bite you later.
58. How I learned to master complex B2B sales meetings as an inexperienced startup founder
When I started as a founder, I struggled with sales meetings.
I want to share some of my key learnings with you so you can skip straight to mastery.
57. Startup Lifecycles and Surviving No Man’s Land – Ruth King Interview
Profitability Master Ruth King, the award-winning author of 5 books including “the Courage to be Profitable” and “Profit or Wealth?”, talks about the lifecycle of startups and surviving a phase she calls “No Man’s Land.”
54. What projects to prioritize, and which you should kill, in your startup
In startups, resources are critically limited. What are you going to build, and more importantly, what will not get built?
43. Sales Aren’t My Thing: How To Reframe Your Perspective and Close Multi-Million Dollar Deals
When I founded Anonymizer, I struggled with selling and marketing our solutions. I share how I overcame my science habits and prejudices to become effective at it.
28. How to create financials for early stage pre-seed startups that will wow investors
When you talk to an investor, they expect you to show financial projections. How can you do that when you are pre-revenue?
26. Five critical steps to save your startup during a catastrophe like COVID-19
During an economic crisis, companies need to take immediate and radical action to stay alive. These five moves can save your startup.
22. One thing most successful companies share: a pivot
Almost all successful companies share one thing in common: a pivot. Learning and adapting can be the best path to growth and success.
14. My #1 advice to startups: Always be due diligence ready
I learned this from hard personal experience. It is far easier to stay ready for due diligence than to get there at the last moment.
13. The three kinds of viral growth and how to use them in your startup
Virality is the holy grail of business models. Learn the three different kinds of virality which you can use in your startup.
10. Understanding how and why to leverage stock options in your startup
What are the best ways to use stock options to motivate employees?
9. Understanding stock options from the employee perspective
What are stock options, and how do you explain them to your employees so they appreciate them?