No, there are a lot of family owned businesses, or at least there are here in America. Family is probably the strongest bond there is. When emotions like greed and jealousy arise, it’s easier to realize that you’re family. Family sticks together. — Originally posted on Quora. Leonard Kim is Managing Partner at InfluenceTree. At … Read more
Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come. When you win, what do you learn? Nothing. Except maybe how to gloat. Shove something in someone’s face. Have a huge ego. Think you’re king of the world. Stuff like that. Is that really … Read more
Threatening to walk away when your vendor is wealthy. Quite frankly, they don’t care if you leave. They’ll let you walk straight away. Personally, if someone threatened me to leave, I’d tell them I’m going to raise the prices, tell them they have five minutes to make a decision at the price we’re at now, … Read more
Failing to plan. Many entrepreneurs feel that if they build it, people will come. This isn’t “The Field of Dreams”. Failing to evaluate co-founders. If your co-founders cannot do their assigned tasks, or even worse, cannot be trusted, then your business is bound for failure. Working with friends. Friends are just that. Friends. Business and … Read more
My friend works in import and export. Several months ago, he decided to approach Tory Burch. He had a wire transfer made from his client out in Korea for $1mm as a deposit. He had $3mm in pending orders for Tory Burch items. He went to Tory Burch directly and said he wanted to become … Read more
By discussing it in public and not worrying about someone stealing it. People are too busy to steal your idea. They have their own lives, their own plans, and their own visions. They’re not just going to walk in and steal yours, unless they’re desperate. I posted a whole executive summary for a company I … Read more
Someone on Quora asked: How important is it for a cofounder to be excited about solving problems in their company’s industry? I’ve been asked to cofound a startup. The idea has a lot of business potential, the work would be interesting, and I work well with the other cofounder. But it’s in a space I’m … Read more
Don’t work for any company with a single founder. Interview your C.E.O. Call references. Talk to their clients. See if they’re worth working for. Get feedback from as many people as possible before committing to your venture. Weigh out the pros and cons. If you can’t trust your C.E.O., then there is no future for … Read more
Someone on Quora asked: What is the best way to compensate a contractor with equity at an early stage-startup? Let’s say I’ve got 1M shares assigned to founders, representing 100% of the stock set forth in the articles of incorporation. Bootstrapped, without any non-founder investment, and without any outside professional help toward a valuation (i.e. … Read more
When starting a business, you need to lay out everything backwards. You have to go from the big picture back to where you are today so you don’t miss anything and get into a situation where you give someone too much equity, deal with an unforeseen predicament, etc. Write out what you want to do. … Read more