Entrepreneur's Agony Aunt Blog

Archived: The Tech Startup Founder Blog

CEO/founder perspective posts from a startup entrepreneur. Mostly written over a two-year period in response to specific, but rarely discussed startup challenges

The posts published here represent my previous tech startup experiences as a founder, mostly dating from 2012 - 2019. These days I'm too busy on my latest startup to write here - plus times and the preferred means of sharing of information change. So, if and when I have something new and useful to say, I will post the article on LinkedIn and add a link to it from here.

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Productivity problems in your startup?

it is demotivating and scary when no one else seems to be working as hard as you. When productivity problems hit, your startup suddenly feel

Startup fears we really need to talk about but don't

It's OK to not be OK. Despite your peers' amazing PR - the reality is always tougher than it seems. These fears are shared by most e

Five ways to innovate with data

It is very comforting to have data, but it's completely worthless til you actually do something meaningful with it. That means you need

10 ways you must sweat your startup numbers

Success as a startup is ultimately about the people and the numbers. Yet so many founders and entrepreneurs don't have a strong grip on

Stop telling entrepreneurs that it's not personal

When you tell a founder to stop taking it so personally it is not just annoying, it's also dangerous. The walls come up and the entrepre

Leaders: measure what really matters to your business

Measurement is your business navigation system, an ongoing learning process, not a one-off job, a technology or an afterthought. Just becaus

10 things about business life I wished I'd learned sooner

I've been called both wise and a pioneer in the space of 24 hours. I think that translates as old and been around the block a few times,

How to come up with ideas for a startup

This is my process for good idea generation. This works well for me as a disciplined way of both generating and more importantly filtering-o

10 mistakes that cost startup founders their companies

Four out of five founder investor backed founder CEOs are forced to step down. But there are things a founder can do to mitigate against too

Can startups survive selling to enterprise customers?

When your business is little more than an idea and a spreadsheet selling to enterprise customers makes complete sense. For a start, very lar

10 people challenges startups have to overcome to succeed

In the founder/CEO world of fire-fighting and spinning plates, the startup people challenges can sometimes feel like too much to handle. Her

Product market fit: what is it and what next if you don't have it?

If, like me, you have ever found yourself searching for the term "do I have product market fit?" - you definitely haven't got

My tips on raising money for your early stage startup

Do not think of raising money as what you need to do so you can start - think of creating value for a paying customer, or compelling commerc

10 start-up fundamentals for founders who want scale

When I was starting my last business, a serial entrepreneur kindly shared his founding principles for success with me. This was so absolutel

5 lessons I took back to school at 45

From failing fabulously, to doing less and telling more - 5 life learnings from Vicky Brock, founder, entrepreneur, CEO

Five fabulous things I’ve learned by failing

Bridges aren't that flammable and you have friends in surprising places - if you let them in. A founders thoughts on surviving and growi

You have to be in the game to win

Speech from Alderman Peel High School Prize Giving - 3 things I didn't win, failing your way to success. And why you have to be in the g

Garden leave - one nasty clause I’ll never include in a contract again

Garden/gardening leave. What it is. How it feels - and how people cope. An admittedly biased account from an employee prerspective

Historic Posts

Why strong friends can help your startup thrive in uncertain times

How to find your startup problem worth solving

You don't need adult supervision

Do less, tell more. Advice to my 22 year old self

How to get further in the first 6 months of your startup

How to bounce back from a startup failure

What to avoid when you build your first board

Difference, ethnicity, diversity and enterprise

Exit myth busters: why that startup big exit you're dreaming of probably won't happen

My new startup launched this week, here's how it happened

10 signs a startup leader needs to scaleup or step back

How to cope with an involuntary pause

How to nail your Q and A to secure your startup investment

Sharks, snails and starvation - 3 things that destroy founders and their companies

Funding your startup in desperate times

10 important lessons I learned from other people in 2017

Networks, tribes and advisors

New Entrepreneur Agony Aunt Podcast

Three sad facts about startup money

How to startup as a first time founder - part 1 (the how)