I am sure you folks have realized that I’ve been “off air” for awhile. The combination of helping out Daily Grommet and joining Pixability has shriveled my capacity for writing to zero. But, I am getting back on the horse and definitely have a lot of material from the “startup trenches” to share.

So that all said, today I want to focus on some of the missteps many of us take in managing our most precious resource – people. I want to point out three major ones I have seen lately in the entrepreneurial community:

1. Fishing problem. Almost daily I hear the question “do you know any good <insert profession>? We’re having a hard time finding anyone.” And every time I follow it up with: “So how have you been recruiting?”  I am always hoping to hear something unique, but sadly, I usually get the same answer. The vast majority of us are “fishing” for the same “fish” in the same overcrowded spots. For me, it is a déjà-vu of ’99, ’03, and ’05. Apparently we have learned nothing. Not only can we not find the people we need, but when we do, the compensation demands are often out of whack. Looking for people who fit the same “template” needs to stop! Searching for the talent in the same places everyone else does is simply lazy.
2. Hiring only “A players”. Paul English (CTO of Kayak.com) might be a great self-promoter and plenty of folks buy into his “hire only A-players” philosophy, but he and the folks like him seem to omit a major detail – millions of dollars in their “war chest”. Not everyone can blow $60K plus in headhunter fees to poach an individual from another company. If we are all only looking for “A players” (add “ninjas”, “gurus”, and “rock stars” to the played out lingo), we are missing out on a lot of talent. Why? Because especially in resource strapped startups, we MUST do talent arbitrage. Forget finding those perfect matches- we need to focus on looking for those “hungry”, yearning to prove their worth, excited to grow, and itching to learn.
3. Working for the sake of working. In startups we love to brag about how many hours we work – it is like a badge of honor. I say we need to stop this wasteful madness! If we do some facts-based analysis, we will see only 40 of those 80+ hours in the office are actually productive while the others are self-defeating. Some of the more progressive companies are discovering they can have more progress with their people working sane hours effectively, rather than allowing (or even pushing for) unhealthy overworking of talent. Energy drink infused work hours are very costly to the progress of the company. We should focus on making sure our people are working ONLY on stuff that moves our companies forward and obsess about how to make it easier for our teams to get stuff done, not about how long they are working. Smart will beat long any day.

To summarize: diversify your recruiting efforts, look for individuals rather than just clones, and focus on work productivity, not hours worked.

About the author:

Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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I recently had a conversation with a friend about the importance of building a diverse team. It is a subject I spend a lot of time on, since my own personal experience and countless research articles have shown that a diverse teams deliver better product and increased efficiency. If you are interested in this research, follow professor Vivek Wadhwa on Twitter. He usually has links to it that do not require journal subscribtion.

Then my friend uttered something that I commonly hear – “are you saying you should engage in discrimination against the majority?” My answer that is: if that is what you call “discrimination”, then hell yes!

Not only should we avoid hiring clones of our current employees, but we should shy away from building an environment and employee benefits based on the “hot” formula that is only appealing to the majority. Hiring “blindly” and on qualifications alone is no longer good enough! Bringing great skills and knowledge onboard is no longer good enough! Every new person you add should bring in a healthy dose of a unique perspective, experience, culture, personal story, etc. The truth is – people like to hire others who are like them. So you must make an effort to hire outside of your “comfort zone”.

If you are still convinced that a monotonous team is just fine, here are a couple of questions to chew on:

• How will a crew of 20-something single white and Asian males with computer science degrees (usually from the same school) know how to create, market, and sell a product to a market that is NOTHING like them?
• How are you supposed to create an environment of innovation and creativity, when everyone on your team is the same? How do you stop the 100% guaranteed groupthink?
• What do you think a member of a different demographic group will do when they get your job offer, if they see an environment of mostly diversity-indifferent employees? How will that affect your efforts to make your team better?’

Still think this diversity “thing” is bogus?

“But all the candidates we get are from the same demographic group!”. This is a result of your “recruiting funnel” failure. If you can’t fill the top of the funnel with a diverse group of candidates, then your entire system will be broken. So how do you fix this?

1. Don’t be shy about finding very diverse companies that are doing well and copying their environment and benefits. Use this as a base and then utilize members of the diverse team you are building to help you further improve things.
2. Referrals are a good source of talent, but to make the top of your funnel attract the most diverse candidates, you have to use creativity. The more creative you get, the better the results. (Example I use a lot: you can find great future developers in music colleges and user experience designers in psychology programs).

“But I have a problem retaining people who are not [insert description of the majority demographic]”. This means you did not work hard enough or have not been open-minded enough about what motivates people different than you. Since this is a big topic, I will write more about this soon.

Until then, I would like to find out what were some of the more unusual places or strategies you used to find great talent. Post a comment, send me an e-mail, or hit me up on Twitter.

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

Photo credit: Chaotic Good01 on FlickrSimilar Posts:

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I’m sure most of you have read my article “Time to end the frat house culture! We need more women in our midst.” I want to see more women in leadership roles and the ranks of techies, scientists, and entrepreneurs. This not only benefits society, but is also great for business (see my previous article for the data).

This article was inspired by several months of conversations with successful female professionals about the subject. I also had the pleasure attending a great event organized by MITX and Girls in Tech called “Lessons Learned: Women’s Careers in Review”. Here are 7 “commandments” that summarize everything I’ve learned so far:

Read the full article on The Operations Guy blog»

 

 

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

Similar Posts:

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• What to Look for in a Chief Right Hand Person (COO, VP of Operations)
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EditMe is a two person startup. We consider ourselves a startup, because we’re still searching for the product/market fit that can result in scalable growth. But, we’re a bit different from your typical startup in that EditMe has bootstrapped every stage of growth by providing real value to customers who have validated (or not validated) the product through real dollars. In a world where most entrepreneurs spend a majority of the time refining their deck, it seems strange to ignore outside investors. Impossible even. Here’s how we do it.

1. Have super-high standards – start with the right people. I’m a firm believer in Joel Spolsky’s Guerrilla Guide to Interview – Find smart people who get things done. Joel writes this about software guys, but it can and should be applied to every person in the business. Sounds easy, but it’s actually not, especially when looking for co-founders. The best way I’ve learned to find the right people is through previous experience working together. Matt Wiseley, the founder of EditMe, and I have worked together in two prior jobs. I used to work for him. He used to work for me. We’re both partners now.

Another key is to find what I’ve heard described as “T” people. T-people have breadth of experience (the top bar of the T), but one area where they have deep focus (the middle line of the “T”). If your small team has breadth of experience it makes it a lot easier to have two-way, constructive dialogue about all aspects of the product, the business, and the customer acquisition process without running into obstacles caused by lack of comprehension. A deep focus in one particular area builds trust between other members of the team. Whatever you’re focused on, your team feels confident that you’re the expert on how to get it done, and will not require oversight by the others.

At EditMe, Matt is a true hands-on CTO who heads up all aspects of our Product, but has marketed this product to a successful tune of 5,000 customers before my arrival on the scene. Meanwhile, I’m focused entirely on Customer Development, Sales, and Marketing, but have contributed to the code base as well.

2. Get properly motivated – burn the ships. When the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico, one of his first orders to his men was to burn the ships. Aside from eliminating the option of going back home, this executive order brought stark symbolism to the fact that it is up to you to get things done.  Stop whining about lack of money, time, resources, and optimum market conditions. Start worrying instead about how to get revenue by building a product that people want. There is no one to blame but you. There is nothing left to do, but get it done. If you’re not properly motivated to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles – then get properly motivated. There’s nothing wrong with faking it until you make it.

At EditMe, getting and staying motivated is a regular task, and requires being a part-time cheerleader. I love to make a big deal out of the good things, like our PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award. And when things don’t go our way, that’s alright, that’s O.K. – we didn’t need it anyway.

3. Focus on execution – work smarter not harder. Even with the “smart, get’s stuff done” kind of people that are gung-ho and motivated, staying disciplined is harder than it looks. With such a small team it is easy to get sucked into the myriad of tasks and activities that all seem important (and probably are). But if these tasks and activities don’t culminate into a shippable product or end-result, it is all just wasted time. Fourteen groundbreaking insights in half-finished blog posts or strategic whiteboard sessions don’t have value. One mediocre blog post that gets a decent amount of inbound traffic has some value. I choose “something” over “nothing” at every turn.  This focus on execution is often described in the Lean Startup world as elimination of waste.

At EditMe, both of us have built entirely different personal systems to keep focused on execution throughout the day, but both generally follow the Get Things Done (GTD) methodology. We use a variety of to-do lists for daily tasks, issue tracking software for medium-sized goals, and our long term planning is done using our company wiki. We keep everything up to date as we move through our activities, which keeps track of decisions we make, changes to plans, and is a constant reminder on what’s important to achieve and when.

4. Laser focus – learn to say no. When there are two of you, there is too much important stuff for it all to get done. Learn to understand that while everything is important, there is still a hierarchy of stuff that’s more important than the rest.  Back to the ships for a second. When your ship is sinking, everyone needs to get into a life raft. That is important. But, if everyone jumps into the same raft at the same time, you’ll swamp it. Everyone is right back where they started (or worse). Analogy too gruesome for you? Go back to paragraph #2.

Staying laser focused requires constant evaluation and discipline. At EditMe our daily status calls and monthly retrospectives keep us honest with each other and laser focused on the critical objectives.

5. Measure what is important – your execution. Put flexible systems in place to measure your execution. And by systems I mean, whatever hacked up PHP script or spreadsheet gives you the data you need without causing too much pain to create. More importantly, don’t fall for the trap of “measure everything,”  or you will be just signing yourself up for more tasks and activities. Find the metrics that correspond directly to the units of execution and track those.

At EditMe, we measure the AARRR metrics described by Dave McClure , because that’s what important to our type of business. Sure, seeing the upward trend in features released and numbers of Twitter followers makes you feel good. Feeling good helps with cheerleading efforts and staying motivated. But, when we have to decide what gets in the life raft and what doesn’t – it’s easy for us to choose. We focus on metrics that tell us how well we’re executing.

About EditMe

Founded in 2003, EditMe is a lean startup focused on creating easy-to-use software supported by fast, friendly customer service. EditMe is a wiki where regular people build collaborative websites and feature-rich web applications right in their web browser without knowing anything technical.

About the author
Matthew Mamet is responsible for customer development at EditMe, and spends lots of time talking with potential and current customers to understand how to make EditMe better. Prior to EditMe, Matthew was Director of Product Marketing at PermissionTV, a SaaS-based online video product, and President of Embarc where he grew revenue and clients until leading the sale of the Agency to Garfield Group of Pennsylvania.

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Six months ago, I was fresh out of a one year entrepreneurship master’s degree program and looking to join a startup or maybe start one of my own… I really didn’t know.  Finding your way when you’re a young, aspiring entrepreneur isn’t easy; there’s a lot of thrashing, uncertainty and mistakes.  Embrace this. Those scars will make you stronger and people will notice if you make things happen.

Of all the advice anyone could give an entrepreneur getting started, the one I think matters most is to HUSTLE.

As a young person, the best thing you can do is Hustle.  It’s the one advantage we have over those older than us that have that infamous word…Experience.  Hustle can make up for a lack of experience, especially if you hustle intelligently.

Here are the rules I’ve learned for making it as a young entrepreneur:

1) Ask For Help
This may seem obvious, but I find myself forgetting it often.  So, repeat after me: “I Can’t Do It Alone.” Really…you can’t. And more importantly, you wouldn’t want to;  there are people that know more than you do, have a key connection or can otherwise help you be more successful faster.  The only way you can get ahead is by asking others for help.

The key for getting help though is knowing WHO to ask to do WHAT, so do your homework on who is the best person to ask for what you need. Chances are, if they’re really an expert in that area, they can help you accomplish something that would have taken you much longer. Work smart, not hard.

2) Pay It Forward
No matter what stage of entrepreneurship you’re in…you can help someone.  In my experience, the most frequent and valuable help I receive are from other people at similar stages to me.  It’s also who I can help most; we’re sharing the same challenges and searching for answers to the same questions.  Chances are whatever you just figured out is also something 5 other young entrepreneurs are searching for too.

Look around you and help whomever you can.  Remember that there may have been a time when you were as lost and confused as someone you meet that asks for your help.  Give them a nudge in the right direction.  Karma will reward you.

3) Be Flexible
This could also be called “the best laid plans of mice and men.” No matter how great your idea is or how thought out your plan is, it will always change. Be prepared and don’t be afraid to correct your course along the way.  This also means you should be testing and listening to what you hear as you develop your idea or execute your plan. There’s no shame in changing your idea based on customer feedback and in fact is a sign of maturity as an entrepreneur. There’s no room for stubborn fools at startups.

4) Remember Your Priorities
In January, I pushed the limits on how much time I could devote to work and lost my priorities. I tried to keep building Greenhorn Connect: pursuing sponsors, managing the blog and continuing to go to networking events every night. At the same time, I was working a part time job for another startup, all while working on a 3^rd startup trying to get into TechStars.  I managed to crush it on all of them, but I paid for it in February.  I felt burnt out for most of February, was not always pleasant to be around and lost touch with way too many people who were important to me.

It’s very easy to get sucked into your idea and push so hard to succeed that you’ll give just about everything up.  This passion is great and important in being a successful entrepreneur, but you need to understand balance is important.  Running yourself into the ground with 100 hour weeks may seem like it works at first and may even feel like a badge of honor, but you will pay for it. The long term physical, psychological and emotional damages are not worth it.

I hope this helps. Apollo asked me to be a young voice on his blog and I’m happy to share my experiences.

About the author:
Jason Evanish is a young entrepreneur in the Boston startup community and co-founder of GreenhornConnect.com, a resource and events hub for Boston entrepreneurs. To learn more about Jason, you can find him on his blog at JasonEvanish.com or @Evanish on Twitter.

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“Cutting costs” has been the buzz phrase for the last decade or so. In some cases, companies got drunk on cheap money and plentiful investors, and in others the unchecked management flaws of greed and vanity led to company bloat. Whatever the root cause, we seem to be only treating the symptoms of the problem. We first look at our staff for the “fat”, then our business process, then… well by then it is usually too late. Although I have mastered the art of cutting costs, I am very aware of the reality: you can’t cut/lose fat without cutting into muscle.

So instead of treating the symptoms, how do we avoid the root cause of wasteful spending?

Read the full article on The Operations Guy blog»
 
 
 

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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Since an article I wrote in June of 2009 called “How a foosball table can kill your startup” is still sparking attention and conversation, I think the time is ripe for me to expand on the topic. Yes, I still believe that tchotchke “benefits” do nothing but waste money.  Instead, use your resources to attract new, retain your best talent, and improve your team’s happiness.

Here are additional issues for us to consider:

1. If we tracked the usage of Guitar Hero setups, foosball tables, pinball machines, etc., we would see that utilization of them is not really worth their cost and the rent we pay for the space they take up.
2. Often the toy/activity choice we make is driven by what we personally like. I highly doubt anyone actually thinks about how employees from other demographic groups perceive them. Therefore, we unconsciously create an environment of discrimination.
3. Innovation happens outside of the walls of our offices. Encourage your employees to get outside and network with their customers and spend more time with their families.
4. Employees are not stupid! We may be able to attract them with these “benefits”, but the novelty wears off quickly. The deeper we can tap into satisfying the needs of our employees, the more likely they will stay with us. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often ignored at our own peril.

So what do I suggest?

1. There is a MUCH higher ROI on well-being focused benefits. E.g. stock your office with free healthy snacks and drinks. Motivate staff to engage in group sports. Spend the budget on group company outings organized by the staff themselves. As an operations person, I always focus on keeping my team healthy, happy, motivated, and engaged.
2. Spontaneous rewards have tremendous ROI! Focus on rewarding exceptional performance the moment it happens (not months away during performance reviews). I have personally seen it do wonders to morale.
3. Enable your staff to be able to work in other locations from time to time and empower them to spend more time with customers (existing ones or prospects).  This takes a lot of planning and thinking through to execute well, but it has fantastic ROI and increases innovation and employee loyalty.

NOTE: the dynamics are a lot different in creative industries like industrial design, advertising agencies, marketing and communications companies, etc. Talent employed in these types of companies have different needs and motivations.

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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The associated risks of starting a company are hard enough when you are young and unattached (though lack of experience and naïveté keeps you brave and motivated). But being in a long-term relationship, married, or a parent adds a whole new level of complications, risks, and motivations.

It is not surprising that VCs like investing in companies led by young, single, male entrepreneurs (some think this is because it is easier to control them and make them work 24×7).  But my own experience tells me that the vast majority of entrepreneurs are married and many are even parents. Our wives/husbands/partners are the true unsung heroes. Some of the most successful business people have a great supporter behind them.

Although I’ve mostly been an intrapreneur in my career, during my last venture I was a co-founder. Sadly, the company did not work out and cost me dearly. My wife was my rock through it all!  There is a reason I call her my “angel investor” – she is my biggest supporter and the best BS detector. Having someone really smart to bounce thoughts off of is an absolutely invaluable asset.

Here is what I have learned so far from my own marriage and business successes/failures:

• Business is second to family. No business is worth sacrificing your family for, and in fact, power, support, and inspiration can be derived directly from your “home team”.
• Communication with your partner is crucial! Especially when things go awry, walking around angry and frustrated will not help you or your marriage. But, if you communicate and use your partner as an advisor, you will get to a much better place faster.
• As the saying goes – perception is reality. Be honest with yourself, err on the side of caution, and set appropriate expectations. Allowing assumptions leads to painful consequences.
• Carve out time every week for your partner. No business conversations, emails, text messages, or voicemails allowed – just you and your better half.

Lastly, one of the biggest bonuses for an entrepreneur/intrapreneur with a great partner at home is that it forces you to think more clearly and learn how to sell your ideas. Almost every idea I could not explain well to my wife turned out to be a steamin’ dud.

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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Since I don’t allow anonymous comments on my blog*, sometimes I get e-mails with long diatribes on why I am wrong. Some are quite extensive and come from people who take my critiques to heart (sometimes taking things too personally). Not only do I love these e-mails, but if you send one, be ready to have a dialog!

I am absolutely honored to hear comments in person or via social media. I enjoy knowing when my answers to a question on LinkedIn (or Answers.onstartups.com) or another blog helps someone. But the world would not advance anywhere if everyone agreed! Therefore, I also highly value feedback from those who disagree with me (as long as it is presented in civilized manner). My critics and detractors keep me on my toes! No one is right all the time and I often advocate that being wrong often helps us move our companies forward faster.

Here’s why I love my critics and why you should too:

• People who agree with you are much less likely to point out your weaknesses. Critics love to latch onto your weak points! Observe, listen, and improve!
• Without critics, one starts “drinking” too much of their own Kool-aid and believing their own BS.
• If no one is pointing out your weaknesses or predicting your failures, it means you are so insignificant that you are not worth someone’s effort to react to what you do.
• Critics are the cheapest way to get consulting. It is free advice you can use to your advantage.
• If no one in your company is criticizing your decisions as a leader, you have hired the wrong people! If no one has the testicular/ovarian fortitude to help you, you may be suffering from Napoleonic syndrome and surrounding yourself with brown-nosers.

* In my opinion, part of freedom of speech is accountability for your words. Since my blog is a conversation, I apply the same rules that I do in real world – if you have a comment, you can’t be a chicken and hide behind the anonymity of the internet.

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of building scalable and capital-efficient operations for technology and professional services companies.
He specializes in business operations, corporate culture, human capital, and technology issues.
To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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I love startups and small businesses! It has been an unpredictable ride over the past 12 years, but I have always enjoyed working and meeting with some incredibly interesting people. I recently met Jason (founder of GreenhornConnect), and he invited me to write a guest blog post sharing some of the major mistakes I think entrepreneurs make. I have made tons of them myself and have also seen many others shoot themselves in the foot. But, perhaps this list will help you avoid some of the biggest ones!

Please read the rest of the article on GreenhornConnect – The 7 deadly sins of entrepreneursSimilar Posts:

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Everywhere you turn, someone is typing away on their Blackberry or iPhone.  While more and more of us are plugged in 24/7, since smartphone technology has become easier to use and cheaper to acquire, you’d think people would be responding more quickly to all their emails.  But, I’m actually not surprised that one of the most searched terms on my blog is: “boss does not respond to e-mails,” because the person sending the message often forgets that they are responsible for making sure the message AND the method of delivery encourages the receiver’s response. I have already written an article on how to write e-mails to your boss or an executive, but now want to focus on a different angle, because many times it is not the message, but in the way it was delivered that keeps it from being read.

Here’s what you can do:

• Not everyone cares for technology. Just because you have seen your CFO with a Blackberry, does not mean he/she uses the darn thing for anything but phone calls. How do you find out? …ASK!!! It’s important to find out how he/she prefers to receive their information. Some just want that contract, proposal, or report printed and handed to them.
• Time your messages! If they do prefer e-mail, ask them when they read most of their messages. One of my former execs was a morning person, so I would time my e-mail program to fire out all e-mails for him at 6AM, because that is when he would fire up Outlook. If I sent him my e-mails at the time I prefer (I am a night owl), my message would be buried at the bottom of his mailbox.
• If all else fails… Some people are just overloaded and you will have to get creative. Don’t get frustrated – ask! The oddest direction I ever received from one of my former executives was to catch him on the way out of the bathroom before he walked back into the office. Anytime I needed a quick executive decision, I would just wait for him to pass my office on the way to the bathroom and I would be right behind him waiting in the hallway for him to walk out.

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When the word “lawyer” or “attorney” is mentioned, most business people either make a joke about how lawyers belong in hell, or complain about how their attorney recently overcharged them. As the head of operations for several companies, I had to deal with attorneys almost every day.  I was also part of a law firm at one point in my career, so I have developed a very intimate and unique perspective of the inner workings of the legal industry.

So why am I writing this open letter to lawyers? Like many others, I have a love and hate relationship with attorneys. I don’t expect I can change much, since many bad practices become engrained during law school.  But, us business people will always need lawyers, so I have a vested interest in helping attorneys understand our perspective.

95% of attorneys are guilty of almost every item on this list. My intent is to show you what you can do better. Let’s get started:

• We pay you for legal, not business, advice. Even if you have an MBA, you are not qualified to council us on business strategy. Unless you had extensive business experience before you went to law school, you are not capable of thinking like a businessperson. Your value is in figuring out how we CAN do what we want to do within the confines of the law. You should act like the safety net of a tightrope walker.
• Like doctors, you are a specialist and are not good at everything. If you don’t know how to approach a certain problem, please look for guidance from another attorney. The Socratic oath should be part of your Bar admittance.
• Hourly billing promotes YOUR inefficiency. Billing 15 minutes to listen to the voicemail we left you is ridiculous!  At least do a mix of some per-project and some hourly billing. I personally refuse to work with any attorney who wants to do straight hourly billing. The internal structure and compensation practices of your law firm are not our problem.
• Be human. An obsession with billing every minute of your life has turned some of you into very unpleasant and fake people. Attaching “Esq” to your name should not turn you into a pompous a-hole. The biggest part of business development is building a relationship. We are not stupid, we know that lunch we just had with you will show up on our bill. Set yourself apart by genuinely getting interested in our businesses and what we are about. You just may build a business relationship with some longevity in it.
• Stop posturing. Through the years I have learned one thing about lawyers of both genders - the fancier the suit, the less experienced attorney and the bigger the BSer behind it. I know a worthless attorney who owns over 70 suits and has an ego the size to match. What a joke! Blowing a large amount of money on school, a wardrobe, and a car does not give you credibility. It may be OK in court, but in the business world, playing a poser does not work. Many of you are extremely smart. Skip the BS and titles and let your work shine!
• Give before you take! I realize your industry is full of rules and that you are scared of them, but grow a pair and genuinely share your expertise with the community. You will be surprised at how many new clients you will obtain this way. If you brag about your connections, make a connection or two as a sign of goodwill.

So dear attorneys, I don’t hate you. You are very valuable guns in my arsenal. I just want the experience of dealing with you to be less like the one I have with proctologists and more like the one I have with fellow business people.

1/14/10 Update: Scott Edward Walker from Walker Corporate Law Group posted a great article on Venture Hacks with his take on the issue – “Top 10 reasons why entrepreneurs hate lawyers“. Admission of a problem is the first step to curing it!

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Many wonderful small businesses around the world, from restaurants to product manufacturers, are run by families.  In my opinion, these companies have a lot of longevity built into them, because exit strategies rarely cross the minds of founders, and family ties keep the employee retention rate high. But, there is the caveat: family businesses are great… if you are a member of the family.
If you are an outsider, there are several dangers:

• Blood is thicker than water. If push comes to shove, you will be shoved.  Even if you are the most productive employee, you are not family, and fairness and professional treatment may not be extended to you.
• Family politics = major distraction. There is unavoidable family baggage on top of regular office politics. Are you politically savvy enough to survive?
• Nepotism. Merit is rarely a criterion. Enough said.
• Sibling rivalry. Even Baby-boomer founders can act like kids, and I have seen grown men get into pissing matches that even teenage siblings can’t top.  This can kill a company.
• Family traditions. Being an innovator (without the founders’ or major shareholders’ voting rights) is not an easy feat. Family ways can infiltrate the business and add an additional hurdle to innovation. Are you ready to push that boulder up the mountain? Have you heard of Sisyphus?

Just to be clear, there are some very good family-run companies that treat their non-family employees with absolute respect. If the company is run by a meritocratic matriarch or patriarch, you just may be in luck. I worked for my father when I was a teenager, and he did not cut me any slack for being his son. I have also heard of several examples of family-run companies that did reach an exit event (sales, merger, etc.) and shared the wealth with ALL their employees. So please don’t be discouraged if you get an offer from a family-run company, but do take the following safeguards into consideration to save your bacon:

• Cash is king! Get paid and don’t get enamored with equity BS. Now don’t take me wrong, I would never turn down equity, but I also know to value it like lottery tickets. A family-owned business provides job security to family members, so you are very unlikely to partake in any kind of juicy sale of the business?  Profit sharing trumps equity in this case.
• Who has how much of the pie? Pay special attention to the distribution of voting rights. The best situation is when the majority of the voting rights are held by one family member. If you have a parent and several siblings with equal rights, think twice, because decision making will take forever and tough choices may never be made.
• Do the job, deliver the value you are paid for… but don’t forget, you are not family. You can be the superstar, but it will not be enough. Keep your network fresh and eyes open and have a clear exit strategy in place.

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I was recently helping a good friend with some logistics for an event she was organizing and I got a little frustrated, because I knew I could have contributed more if she would have asked for my help earlier. This inspired me to say: “Emmi, I am going to write an article about how to ask for help!” In any business endeavor when resources are tight (e.g. money, time, sleep, etc), one must know how to ask for help or a favor.

So why am I using Emmi as an example? Let me start by saying that she is an absolutely fantastic business woman who has an impeccable pulse on her target market, takes care of her clients, and leaves a “wake” of raving fans. But Emmi hates asking for help, because she doesn’t want people to think that she is taking advantage of them. I used to hate asking people for help too. It was a mix of pride, ego, and inexperience that led me to act that way. So what made me change? Back when I was fresh out of school, my mentor set me straight and hammered a couple of things into my mind that helped me immensely with the issue:

1. Start by helping others as much as you can, so you have a savings account for goodwill. The more you deposit in it, the more you will have to draw upon when you need it. Start “depositing” early and often.
2. People love helping. If someone is your friend, he/she wants to see you succeed and will find the time to give you a helping hand. I personally garner great pleasure from helping my friends.
3. Put your ego and pride away! Asking for help does not make you look weak, stupid, unsuccessful, etc. Ask any serial entrepreneur, who has made it, and I have no doubt you will hear about the vast network of people they have supporting them.

So Emmi, are you going to hesitate to ask for a favor the next time you are putting together another one of your fabulous events?

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I previously mentioned that I was blessed to have a father who was a very powerful role model (see my article “12 rules of business I learned from my father” to read more about him).  He shaped my views on leadership, teamwork, and business, and I wanted to share a story with you about a very sad, yet inspirational, day in my life.

While I was a wide-eyed teenager, eagerly soaking up my dad’s business advice, my father always used to say that the best indication of how well you have done in your life and people’s lives you have touched is by how many people pay their respects at your funeral. Sadly, several years later his words came to fruition. We tried to keep the news of his death quiet, because that is what he would have wanted, but much to my surprise, the word spread like wildfire.  The next day we had droves of people streaming in to pay their respects at his wake. I was floored. As the oldest son in the family, and bearer of his name, I stood there for two days greeting every person who visited. To a twenty-something fresh out of college punk, this was almost too much to handle.

I heard hundreds of stories during those two days. One woman (his former employee) came up to me and told me how he pulled a lot of favors to get her son in to see one of the top doctors in the country.  Her son was standing next to her. Another man told me how my father hired him when no one else would. This man went onto become a well respected reporter. Many people also mentioned how my father all always had his door open and found time to talk to people about their concerns.

So what are the powerful lessons I learned from all of those stories?

• A good leader does not sit in an “Ivory Tower” and delegate. “The air is thin up there and brown-nosing is rampant”, my father used to say. A good leader is close to their “troops” and cares about every single one of them (no matter if he/she has 1 or 2000). They lead by example and are the first ones out on the battlefield.
• People either love or fear their leaders. You have a lot more impact if your employees admire your actions.
• Caring about your employees at a personal level builds loyalty and dedication, which will help you weather the storms.
• Being a business leader is not just about profitability, it is also about changing the lives of your employees for the better! Put your people first and the value your shareholders will follow!

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I made the biggest mistake of my career when I lived in Chicago – I rarely networked.  I went to maybe 1-2 events per year and made an occasional phone call. My excuse was that I was too busy for it. In retrospect, I cringe when I think about how many business opportunities and great talent I may have missed out on recruiting for my company, because I was too cooped-up in the office preventing “fires” and taking care of my people.

But I’ve changed my ways.  Ever since I moved to Boston, I’ve made sure to partake in at least one networking event each week, and I have a much larger network now than I ever had in Chicago.

But as I network, I have noticed a huge problem for someone like me, who is more valuable for mid to late stage startups/SMBs  – individuals, who need you and know how to value you, have been getting busier and busier in the last 3-4 quarters and now are too overwhelmed to network. This causes a catch-22: they need talented individuals to join their teams, so they can scale, but at the same time, in order to find those professionals, heavy networking is required.

I frequently find myself networking outside of my market “bull’s-eye”. Although I realize the time investment I have put into building relationships has a great long term payback, I still need to deal with the reality of building more relevant connections for the near term. However much I enjoy hanging out with the 1^st time entrepreneurs, most don’t know what they don’t know enough yet to be able to value my knowledge and experience (see my article on why 1^st time entrepreneurs don’t need consultants).

So what is the solution? I really don’t see having/attending more events solving the problem. If busy business leaders can’t get out of their offices, what is the point of having more events? But, we are blessed to have the Internet. I think the solution at this point is to “open source” and share your knowledge, and actively promote it, so it is easier for those business leaders to find you. Share what you know. Don’t worry about people “stealing” your ideas. It is all about execution and if you are really good at your craft, you have nothing to fear. For the more immediate term, concentrate your efforts in building a larger online footprint. It is time for us to pony up the money on a professional blog theme framework (Headway or Thesis can be had for about $87), stop using free poorly coded themes (especially if you can’t hack PHP or CSS), increase number of articles you write, and start contributing to other blogs. The market is saturated with snake-oil salesmen, fakers, and rookies. If you are a real seasoned pro, you need to bring up your volume. The right people know how to distinguish high quality and valuable content from “snake oil”, but first they need to be able to find you first.

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I wrote a post several weeks ago about the many lessons I’ve learned from my entrepreneurial father.  Now I would like to share some tips from experience I have gained working in a startup world for 12+ years. These are things you definitely learn from rolling up your sleeves and working, not from a classroom or a textbook.

• Even one word in a 40-page contract can land you in a very bad situation. It does not matter how experienced or expensive your attorney is – learn how to read contracts yourself. Also, demand that your documents be written in “normal human” English because this helps both sides know what they need to do to be compliant with the contract. The language lawyers use serves only… lawyers.
• Family-run companies are great companies… if you are member of the family. Every organization has unavoidable office politics, but in family-run companies the office politics are at a whole new level. Again, there is nothing wrong with these companies, but you will only succeed if you are also politically savvy.
• If you hold substantial equity (read: anything more than 1/10^th of the company), require to see the books at least quarterly. Learn how to read financial documents and navigate QuickBooks. Many companies go under because those, who you thought were your partners and friends, mishandled money.
• In the startups world, those who flaunt their education or pedigree usually have nothing else to offer but their titles. I love people with proverbial dirt under their nails who were able to rise up through the ranks through their hard work. They are a very valuable asset to your company.
• A lack of adaptability is often confused with resilience. The big difference is: resilient leaders will navigate their companies around the storm, while others will drive right into the storm exclaiming they are “trailblazing” entrepreneurs (only to run out of steam and perish).
• Though I heavily advocate against using titles inside of the startups, if you are an employee, make sure you get one matching your contribution to the company (even if the company has a flat org-chart). All of us will move on someday and the outside world loves titles.
• A person with a highly complex coffee order who does not tip tends to be an egocentric and vain asshole.  If you are interviewing with senior level managers or executives, try to have at least one meeting in a coffee shop or restaurant and watch how your future boss treats their hard-working barista or waiter. Bob Sutton, author of “No Asshole Rule”, would definitely agree with this statement. He calls it “Asshole Metric: The Starbucks Test”.

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I recently read a great article “Entrepreneurs: Beware the curse of the new building” by Steven Blank, who is a down to earth and experienced entrepreneur I greatly admire. While the case he describes is a bit dramatic and partly stems from deeper issues, many of his points were definitely something I have seen. The one sentence summary of his article: brand new offices disrupted SuperMac’s culture, detracted from growing the company, caused excess politics, and gave competitors lead time. I will not discuss the benefits or detractions new offices create. At one time or another we will all need to move our companies.  Instead, I wanted to share what I have learned from my experiences.

I have moved two companies during my career. One was a small move, but the other was a major production that was complicated by the fact we were moving in the middle of busy season. As I have mentioned, though I mostly agree with Steve’s points, in my case it was a bit different situation because the companies were late stage startups (4- and 7-year-old companies).  I’d like to share my tips for moving, which I acknowledge are more applicable to organizations like software development or professional services companies, that are dominated by knowledge workers.

• Avoid giving anyone offices if you can.  Even your CEO should be in the midst of it. If the mayor of NYC does not need an office, you don’t need one either. Office walls help create a “bubble” effect and rob you of 18-25% of usable space, make you less flexible, create needless hierarchy and status, and most importantly – exponentially magnifies office politics. An open office creates better accountability.
• It is a myth you can’t control noise in an open office. Cubes work, but they are not flexible. Partitions are much cheaper, more flexible, and do the job. Plus, open office helps with employee etiquette (you know, the stinky food, cellphones, and other issues). If your fish dish just stank up the office, now you have an angry CEO. You want to bet you will not do that again?
• Don’t segregate sales from your developers or other folks who make the product. Sales folks need to know what is down the pipe (meetings don’t cut it) and product people should know how hard it is to sell. Now there are product folks who cannot handle distractions. The solution is to buy them the best darn noise-cancelling headphones on the market.
• Not all the conference rooms need to be enclosed. I personally see conference rooms as an expense one should avoid. They are a waste of money. Either make a deal with a neighboring office to use their conference room, or take the money you have saved from not having that room and hold your meetings in the restaurant. If you choose to add expensive furniture in those rooms, the numbers will be even worse. The best option is to have bunch of foldable rolling tables, so the teams can put needed setups together for group conversations. Everyone can roll up their chairs too (that is $100-$400 of savings per person right there, just in chair costs).
• Those who will service the infrastructure (like your ops and IT guys) should be part of every stage of planning. Some ideas might sound great for you, but may be a huge budget drain for your infrastructure folks. One badly placed power outlet or the lack of the right number of outlets in certain places could cause major headaches and needless retrofit costs.
• Don’t EVER ignore local building codes and laws. A fire marshal can shut down your entire office for one infraction he/she deems not safe. Back when I was in IL, the fire marshal could shut down your office even for one space heater your team member decided to bring in and use. Huge bonus points if your operations person knows the fire marshal on a first name basis.
• Don’t let marketing people anywhere close to layouts, color schemes, etc. Every time they look at it, your costs go up. Most first impressions about the company are made outside of the office walls. Invest in that, not garish color schemes that cause eye fatigue.
• Buy used office furniture. You can get impressive stuff for 1/3 the cost and no one will know. If you can buy it from another soon-to-move company directly, you will save even more. If you really have the funds, than go for quality IKEA type furniture (however much I love IKEA, I am convinced it is cheaper to get more quality stuff long-term).
• Make your building manager love you. Give gifts to them on their birthdays, occasional “just cause” cases of cookies, and gift certificates to restaurants. I found that an extremely cooperative building manager is worth their weight in gold.
• And the last one - be frugal but not cheap. Example: don’t ever be so cheap you use flat paint on the walls. Pay extra for at least eggshell or semi-gloss. You will be surprised how even the cleanest team creates endless scuffs and stains on the walls.

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It has been almost a decade since I lost my father to cancer, but the lessons I learned watching him run large companies, creating startups, and turning around languishing businesses are still fresh in my mind. I credit him for my business ethics, “workaholism”, leadership style, and pragmatic yet optimistic outlook. He was a man of few words, but when he opened his mouth, everyone listened. In this post I will share some of the rules of business he taught me.

• Run from those who think they are smarter than everyone else and those thinking that all of their ideas are “hot”.
• The best relationships are those built in bad times.
• There is no age limit to having a mentor.
• If you feel like you are surrounded by a-holes, maybe it is you who is making people act that way.
• B.S. always floats to the top and people will find out who it belongs to.
• Youth gives you ideas, but age allows you to sense which ones are B.S.
• Air is thinner at the top, so don’t build high mountains. (Less layers of management are better)
• Be wary if no one is criticizing you anymore or if all you hear is praise. They either drank too much of your “Kool-aid” or they are looking to pull wool over your eyes.
• Only morons don’t make mistakes, because all they do is a mistake. (I know, this does not translate too well from Lithuanian)
• Let your competitors waste money on “rainmaker” salespeople. Hire the best customer service team you can afford and make best product you can.
• It is hard to swim in a wake of a big ship. Don’t follow big competitors, outmaneuver them.
• Loyalty and dedication to the company must start from the top. So do sacrifices to keep the company alive.

I would love to hear about any business rules you learned from your mom or dad. Please share them in the comments section.

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable. He is usually brought in to build new or improve older business processes, provide structure to a rapidly growing business, and create higher level of predictability for the executive team.To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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I chat with many consultants during my busy events schedule.  Boston boasts a large number of consultants who are true experts in their areas. But, we also have snake-oil salespeople who love to call themselves business “coaches”, “gurus”, etc. If you are smart, you just smile at them, look for an excuse to run away, take their card, and chuck it the next moment you find a trash can. But, some early stage entrepreneurs fall prey to these vultures. That is part of learning process and natural selection. This article is for those of you with solid expertise and experience getting ready to start your startup consulting career.

Though being an “execution guy” is more of my cup of tea, I do enjoy occasionally performing consulting or advisory work.  I decided to write this article to share what I have discovered about startup consulting. I want to save you some time and frustration, so you can focus your talent and efforts on those who truly need and value it.

So, let me make a statement that many seasoned startup consulting pros will agree with: founders in early stages of startups don’t need your help. Why?

• Vast majority of true 1^st time entrepreneurs don’t know what they don’t know. With luck, they will start a startup in the area of their expertise. Problem is, just because you are an absolute genius software developer, does not mean you are a great business manager. Unfortunately, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want help.
• Attitude of “let’s wing it” is something that is required for survival in an early stage startup, especially if you are self-funded /bootstrapped. It is many times more expensive to fix the mistakes down the road that are being made in this stage. But, as the saying goes: “the first pancake is always burnt”. I never “chase” first time entrepreneurs in the early stage. Until you have burnt yourself, you will not know the value of good advice or execution.
• Excitement of starting his/her first venture is something that takes over someone’s entire mind. Early stage is a highly emotional stage for vast majority of 1^st-timers. It is like that high-school crush. You need to let it pass. In order for them to run their business properly, they need to learn how to control their adrenaline and emotions. Entrepreneurs in this stage need mentors and not consultants.

Bottom line: focus your efforts on people who know the value of your work. There are times when it is not worth it to educate your customer – this is one of those times.

Photo credit: Robert D. Raio

About the author:
Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of building scalable and capital-efficient operations for technology and professional services companies.
He specializes in business operations, corporate culture, human capital, and technology issues.
To learn more about Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius please visit his site TheOperationsGuy.com

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