Startup CEO : A Field Guide to Scaling up Your Business (Techstars).

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: The Importance of Authentic Leadership in Changing Times -- What Is Authentic Leadership? -- Why Now? -- Think of It as an Opportunity -- Mind the Gap -- Diversity and Inclusion and Unconscious Bias -- Leadership Development -- Politics in the Workplace -- Part One Storytelling -- Chapter 2: Dream the Possible Dream -- Entrepreneurship and Creativity -- "A Faster Horse" -- Vetting Ideas -- Chapter 3: Defining and Testing the Story -- Start Out by Admitting You're Wrong -- A Lean Business Plan Template -- Problem -- Solution -- Key Metrics -- Unique Value Proposition and Unfair Advantage -- Channels -- Customer Segments -- Cost Structure and Revenue Streams -- Second Edition Update -- Chapter 4: Telling the Story to Your Investors -- The Business Plan Is Dead - Long Live the Business Plan -- The Investor Presentation -- The Elevator Pitch -- The Size of the Opportunity -- Your Competitive Advantage -- Current Status and Roadmap from Today -- The Strength of Your Team -- Summary Financials -- Investor Presentations for Larger Startups -- Chapter 5: Telling the Story to Your Team -- Defining Your Mission, Vision, and Values -- The Top‐Down Approach -- The Bottom‐Up Approach -- The Hybrid Approach -- Design a Lofty Mission Statement -- Chapter 6: Revising the Story -- Workshopping -- Knowing When It's Time to Make a Change -- Corporate Pivots: Telling the Story Differently -- Consolidating -- Diversifying -- Focusing -- Business Pivots: Telling a Different Story -- Chapter 7: Bringing the Story to Life -- Building Your Company Purposefully -- The Critical Elements of Company Building -- Articulating Purpose: The Moral of the Story -- You Can Be a Force for Helping Others - Even If Indirectly.

Part Two Building the Company's Human Capital -- Chapter 8: Fielding a Great Team -- From Protozoa to Pancreas -- The Best and the Brightest -- What about HR? -- What About Sales and Marketing? -- Scaling Your Team Over Time -- Chapter 9: The CEO as Functional Supervisor -- Rules for General Managers -- Chapter 10: Crafting Your Company's Culture -- Introducing Fig Wasp 879 -- Six Legs and a Pair of Wings -- Let People Be People -- Build an Environment of Trust -- Chapter 11: The Hiring Challenge -- Unique Challenges for Startups -- Recruiting Outstanding Talent -- Staying "In‐Market" -- Recruitment Tools -- The Interview: Filtering Potential Candidates -- Two Ears, One Mouth -- Whom Should You Interview? -- Onboarding: The First 90 Days -- Chapter 12: Every Day in Every Way, We Get a Little Better -- The Feedback Matrix -- 1:1 Check‐ins -- "Hallway" Feedback -- Performance Reviews -- The 360 -- Soliciting Feedback on Your Own Performance -- Crafting and Meeting Development Plans -- Chapter 13: Compensation -- General Guidelines for Determining Compensation -- The Three Elements of Startup Compensation -- Base Pay -- Incentive Pay -- Equity -- Chapter 14: Promoting -- Recruiting from Within -- Applying the "Peter Principle" to Management -- Scaling Horizontally -- Promoting Responsibilities Rather than Swapping Titles -- Chapter 15: Rewarding: "It's the Little Things" That Matter -- It Never Goes without Saying -- Building a Culture of Appreciation -- Chapter 16: Managing Remote Offices and Employees -- Brick‐and‐Mortar Values in a Virtual World -- Best Practices for Managing Remote Employees -- Chapter 17: Firing: When It's Not Working -- No One Should Ever Be Surprised to Be Fired -- Termination and the Limits of Transparency -- Layoffs -- Part Three Execution -- Chapter 18: Creating a Company Operating System -- Creating Company Rhythms.

A Marathon, or a Sprint? -- Chapter 19: Creating Your Operating Plan and Setting Goals -- Turning Strategic Plans into Operating Plans -- Financial Planning -- Bringing Your Team into Alignment with Your Plans -- Guidelines for Setting Goals -- Chapter 20: Making Sure There's Enough Money in the Bank -- Scaling Your Financial Instincts -- Boiling the Frog -- To Grow or to Profit? That Is the Question -- First, Perfect the Model -- Choosing Growth -- Choosing Profits -- The Third Way -- Chapter 21: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Financing -- Equity Investors -- Venture Capitalists -- Angel Investors -- Strategic Investors -- Debt -- Convertible Debt -- Venture Debt -- Bank Loans -- Personal Debt -- Bootstrapping -- Customer Financing -- Your Own Cash Flow -- Chapter 22: When and How to Raise Money -- When to Start Looking for VC Money -- The Top 11 Takeaways for Financing Negotiations -- Chapter 23: Forecasting and Budgeting -- Rigorous Financial Modeling -- Of Course You're Wrong - But Wrong How? -- Budgeting in a Context of Uncertainty -- Forecast, Early and Often -- Chapter 24: Collecting Data -- External Data -- Learning from Customers -- Learning from (Un)Employees -- Internal Data -- Skip‐Level Meetings -- Subbing -- Productive Eavesdropping -- Chapter 25: Managing in Tough Times -- Managing in an Economic Downturn -- Hope Is Not a Strategy - But It's Not a Bad Tactic -- Look for Nickels and Dimes under the Sofa -- Never Waste a Good Crisis -- Managing in a Difficult Business Situation -- Chapter 26: Meeting Routines -- Lencioni's Meeting Framework -- Skip‐Level Meetings -- Running a Productive Offsite -- Chapter 27: Driving Alignment -- Five Keys to Startup Alignment -- Aligning Individual Incentives with Global Goals -- Chapter 28: Have You Learned Your Lesson? -- The Value (and Limitations) of Benchmarking -- The Art of the Postmortem.

Chapter 29: Going Global -- Should Your Business Go Global? -- How to Establish a Global Presence -- Overcoming the Challenges of Going Global -- Best Practices for Managing International Offices and Employees -- Chapter 30: The Role of M&amp -- A -- Using Acquisitions as a Tool in Your Strategic Arsenal -- The Mechanics of Financing and Closing Acquisitions -- Stock -- Cash -- Earn‐Out -- The Flipside of M&amp -- A: Divestiture -- Odds and Ends -- Integration (and Separation) -- Chapter 31: Competition -- Playing Hardball -- Playing Offense versus Playing Defense -- Good and Bad Competitors -- Chapter 32: Failure -- Failure and the Startup Model -- Failure Is Not an Orphan -- Part Four Building and Leading a Board of Directors -- Chapter 33: The Value of a Good Board -- Why Have a Board? -- Everybody Needs a Boss -- The Board as Forcing Function -- Pattern Matching -- Forests, Trees -- Honest Discussion and Debate -- Chapter 34: Building Your Board -- What Makes a Great Board Member? -- Recruiting a Board Member -- Compensating Your Board -- Boards as Teams -- Structuring Your Board -- Board Size -- Board Committees -- Chairing the Board -- Running a Board Feedback Process -- Building an Advisory Board -- Chapter 35: Board Meeting Materials -- The Board Book -- Sample Return Path Board Book -- The Value of Preparing for Board Meetings -- Chapter 36: Running Effective Board Meetings -- Scheduling Board Meetings -- Building a Forward‐Looking Agenda -- In‐Meeting Materials -- Protocol -- Attendance and Seating -- Device‐Free Meetings -- Executive and Closed Sessions -- Chapter 37: Non-Board Meeting Time -- Ad Hoc Meetings -- Pre‐meetings -- Social Outings -- Chapter 38: Decision Making and the Board -- The Buck Stops - Where? -- Making Difficult Decisions in Concert -- Managing Conflict with Your Board.

Chapter 39: Working with the Board on Your Compensation and Review -- The CEO's Performance Review -- Your Compensation -- Incentive Pay -- Equity -- Expenses -- Chapter 40: Serving on Other Boards -- The Basics of Serving on Other Boards -- Substance or Style? -- Part Five Managing Yourself So You Can Manage Others -- Chapter 41: Creating a Personal Operating System -- Managing Your Agenda -- Managing Your Calendar -- Managing Your Time -- Feedback Loops -- Chapter 42: Working with an Executive Assistant -- Finding an Executive Assistant -- What an Executive Assistant Does -- Chapter 43: Working with a Coach -- The Value of Executive Coaches -- Areas Where an Executive Coach Can Help -- Chapter 44: The Importance of Peer Groups -- The Gang of Six -- Problem Solving in Tandem -- Chapter 45: Staying Fresh -- Managing the Highs and Lows -- Staying Mentally Fresh -- At Your Company -- Out and About -- Staying Healthy -- Me Time -- Chapter 46: Your Family -- Making Room for Home Life -- Involving Family in Work -- Bringing Work Principles Home -- Chapter 47: Traveling -- Sealing the Deal with a Handshake -- Making the Most of Travel Time -- Staying Disciplined on the Road -- Chapter 48: Taking Stock of the Year -- Celebrating "Yes" -- Addressing "No" -- Are You Having Fun? -- Are You Learning and Growing as a Professional? -- Is It Financially Rewarding? -- Are You Making an Impact? -- Part Six Selling Your Company -- Chapter 49: A Note on Exits -- Chapter 50: Preparing Yourself for an Exit -- How Do You Know It's Time to Sell? -- Mental Preparation -- Brace for Impact -- Chapter 51: Preparing Your Company for an Exit -- Private Discussions versus Public Discussions -- Due Diligence and Disclosure Schedules -- Chapter 52: The Sale Process -- The Arcs of a Deal -- Principals versus Outside Advisers -- Optimizing for Different Stakeholders.

Chapter 53: Transition and Integration.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.