One of the keys to Donald Trump’s appeal to large numbers of Americans is that they believe him when he tells them he is a huge success. They believe that he has accomplished great things in this life and that he can figure things out if he becomes president because he’s pretty savvy. He has effectively delivered […]

Anyone who starts a business, with rare exception, deserves a lot of credit. It is hard work, risky and often demoralizing. However, if you are applying to work for a startup or if you are looking to invest in a younger company, it is sometimes important to recognize a “real” startup (and its leadership) versus one that […]

Short of hero worship but more than reserved respect, many people place undue accolades on entrepreneurs as risk takers. What is more risky? Having 100 percent of your income as an employee tied to one company for which you work or having a business that has hundreds of customers and therefore, many sources of income? […]

Business finance runs along a continuum where the lowest cost of capital is a loan and the highest cost of capital is equity. Everyone knows that loans must be paid back regularly from the cash flow of a business. On the other side of the continuum, you have equity, where there is no legal obligation […]

I’ve spent most of my career encouraging people to start businesses and advising them on how to run startups effectively. There is so much content around the coolness of entrepreneurship that it surrounds us. We all know that great fortunes are made in entrepreneurship, but in the annals of Inc., you rarely hear reasons why […]

There are several ways that a business’ value is determined. But before describing them, it is important to point out that the value of your business is largely determined by the industry in which you operate. For example, when I first got out of school, I ran a chain of coin laundromats. Whether it’s right or wrong, […]

Entrepreneurs don’t usually like finance, and to some degree, it’s perfectly understandable. Many of them are so busy actually running their company that they never really understand the financial aspects of their business. However, this lack of understanding can lead to massive mistakes. Even if you have a CFO (which you may not, depending on the size of […]

After arriving at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1988, two things took me by surprise almost immediately. First, I realized that Duke had a good basketball team. I remember telling people I was going to school there and they would almost immediately mention something about basketball. I was perplexed because I just didn’t know […]

Working in a true startup environment is an intense and demanding experience. Businesses in their early stages require a tremendous amount of effort and focus at the jump off point. It takes a very specific type of person to be successful in this environment. Furthermore, the first five or ten employees at an ambitious startup […]

As a young adult, two experiences laid the groundwork for my career in entrepreneurship:The first was quite straightforward; I started a series of enterprises when I was in middle school and high school. Whether I was selling soap door-to-door (true story) or shoveling walkways during tough Connecticut winters, I learned entrepreneurship at a very young […]