How Do I Ask for Stock Options/Shares in the Startup Company I Work In?

“Mr. Kim, I truly appreciate the opportunity to work with your company.  After being here for a year and a half, I have come to really believe in the product and the vision that you have set aside for us.  I am even more thankful that I am able to be part of this exact … Read more

What Should Be the Motivation for a Budding Entrepreneur?

When we start from scratch, we are going to encounter problems of all sorts. From recruiting a team to building a product to expanding upon distribution. If these things were easy, we’d all be rich. However, they’re not. I was the former Vice President of Marketing for two former startups. One, we sold leads in … Read more

Why Do People Reply to Emails from Someone They Don’t Know?

Someone on Quora asked: Why Do People Reply to Emails from Someone They Don’t Know? How can we grab the attention of busy founders and leaders in industry through an email or message? For example, if someone wanted input on something or was seeking a mentor, what would compel you to respond? This was my … Read more

What Is It like to Become a Company VP for the First Time?

At a bank? I’d assume that your job would be exactly the same as it once was, just with a pay raise. At a startup? The title feels great, until I came to realize that I was buried in responsibilities, maybe two notches shy of what a CEO does. There are regular VP responsibilities one … Read more

Why Do Companies and Billionaires Lose Money? How Does This Happen?

If you’re a billionaire, or if you’re a multi-billion dollar company, chances are that you operate in multiple countries. When you operate in multiple countries, you have to deal with the change of currency, which is in a market of its own called the foreign exchange. When currency loses value in the country where you … Read more

Is $50k a Reasonable Price to Ask for Writing a Business Plan for a Tech Startup?

Why would anyone in the world pay $50,000 to have you write a business plan, when they can get an outline on how to make one on their own here for free: Leonard Kim’s answer to How does one create a business plan? Also, there are many professionals out there who write killer business plans … Read more