business climate

RISE Week Austin Registration Open

May 2, 2013

Registration is now open for RISE Week Austin, named one of the “Must-Attend 2013 Conferences for Entrepreneurs” by a Forbes contributor. Taking place May 13-17, the event “offers entrepreneurs a combination of interactive learning sessions, inspiring keynotes, unique competitions, funding opportunities, and celebratory networking events.” I’ll be hosting a session on Thursday, May 16 called “10 Steps to a 9-Figure+ Exit.” Sessions are kept to only 25 people to allow for in-depth, quality interactions, so sign up soon!

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Success is not a straight line

April 4, 2013

Success is not a straight line

I came across this Success Is a Squiggly Line diagram from Demetri Martin at Lifehacker.com. I love the message, because it accurately describes what a company goes through on the path to success. While I founded and successfully exited two companies to large returns for the team and investors, the path to success was anything but straight.

In an earlier post I described a board meeting where I recommended shutting down one of the companies after the events of 9/11 made it difficult to sell anything. I could tell you about another half a dozen times where I thought the companies would likely fail. As a CEO, you will rarely feel completely confident that your company is going to be a big success.

The phrase I use is paranoid optimism. I think that phrase captures the natural state that a good CEO adopts. There is a constant level of stress: The path to success has too many twist and turns to ever feel comfortable. Which is one reason I’m not desperate to jump right back into the CEO chair!

But I do believe that as a CEO you can set yourself up to be a good leader and make the best decisions possible at any given time, which is the reason I started this blog.

See also: Steering clear of other CEO’s mistakes

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