Boards
We’re announcing today that I’m joining the board of directors of Profisee, a leader in master data management (MDM). I’m doing so for several reasons, mostly reflecting my belief that successful technology companies are about three things: the people, the space, and the product. I like the
Boards
I am surprised by how many startup CEOs leave the board hanging at the end of the quarter. As a CEO my rule of thumb was that if a board member ever asked me about the quarter then I'd failed in being sufficiently proactive in communications. In tight
Boards
The folks at Host Analytics kindly asked me to speak at their annual conference, Host Perform 2019, today in Las Vegas and I had a wonderful time speaking about one of my favorite topics: the board view of enterprise performance management (EPM) and, to some extent, companies and management teams
Boards
I’m super excited for the upcoming SaaStr Annual 2019 conference in San Jose from February 5th through the 7th at the San Jose Convention Center. I hope to see you there -- particularly for my session from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM on Tuesday, February 5th. Last
Boards
While most companies put real thought into how they present numbers in their post-quarter board decks and other management reports, one area in which you'll find a lack of discipline is in how they present quarterly sales forecasts to the board. They're typically done as a
Boards
Startup boards are complex. While all board members own stock in the company their interests are not necessarily aligned. * Founders may be motivated by a vision to change the world, to hit a certain net worth target, to see their name in an S-1, to make the Forbes 500, or
Boards
Dave Kellogg's presentation at SaaStr 2018 on the ten non-obvious things about scaling a SaaS startup.
Boards
As someone who has assembled many startup board decks over the years, I thought I'd offer some advice to executives who contribute slides to board decks that should make it easier for the point-person to assemble, improve the deck's appearance, and avoid any painful and/or
Boards
[Updated 5/1/18 to add net new ARR, LTV/CAC, and both customer and employee NPS.] In the course of my board and advisory work, I get to look at a lot of software as a service (SaaS) startups financials and I'm often surprised how people choose
Boards
I once asked one of my board members which CEO ran the best board meetings across his portfolio companies. His answer was, let's call him, Jack. Here's what he said about him: * Jack got the board deck out 3-4 days in advance of the board meeting
Boards
Last week a scathing post by Andy Dunn, the founder of Bonobos, entitled Dear Dumb VC, generated some stiff controversy in the blog- and Twitter-spheres. Serial entrepreneur turned venture capitalist Mark Suster, author of the superb Both Sides of the Table blog, weighed in with a long, fact-filled response, entitled
Boards
I remember during my first year at Cal we’d sometimes see a local band, Psycotic Pineapple [sic], who performed a song entitled “The Devil has Work for Idle Hands.” Every time they sang the chorus, audience members would hold their arms above their heads and dangle their crossed hands