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As a company of nearly 200 employees — almost all of which are allowed to work from home — we know this struggle well.

Over the past few years we've developed a significant work from home policy at Startups.com and have learned a ton from our experience.

Won't everyone just goof off at home?

Unreliable employees will totally goof off — they will absolutely abuse the luxury.

In our first few months converting to work-from (only one day a week) we quickly learned that some employees totally took advantage of the freedom, in some cases just considering it a day off.

Sadly that meant we had to part company with some folks, but in retrospect, it only advanced a decision that would have taken us much longer to make had we not needed to evalua...

What is a product roadmap?

A product roadmap is an illustration of how you get from your company’s big-picture, high-level goals to the actual actions you need to take to achieve those goals. It not only shows what you’re building, but why you’re building it.

A project roadmap has two main audiences: External and internal stakeholders. (Like investors and employees, respectively.) You might even want to create two different roadmaps — or, at least, two different versions of your roadmap — for each audience.

For external stakeholders, the goal is to make sure everyone is informed about what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. It may also be useful when you’re trying to procure more investment.

For internal stakeholders, a pro...

If you’ve decided to contract out to build a new website for your company, it may be a good idea to look at some of the most commonly made mistakes before you get started.

In the 15 years my web-design firm Intechnic has been in business, we’ve experienced every possible crazy, stressful situation, and have worked hard to find the best solution or compromise in each case. In the spirit of problem solving—and helping others avoid similar issues—I’ve provided a look at some common obstacles we’ve faced, along with suggestions on how to avoid them.

Not Having SMART Objectives

Setting objectives is not enough. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) objectives is a great place to start, but you must also have a sol...

You would think that after 20 years of founding companies, I would have the whole work/life balance thing down to a science. When I sit down and talk to young entrepreneurs, often the first thing I’m asked is, “How do you maintain the other facets of your life while building a company?”

The reality is that though I can’t claim to be living a perfectly balanced life, it is a goal I strive for everyday. Even after all of these years, it’s still a daily struggle. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

1. Understand That Your Lifestyle Will Not Be Normal

One of the luxuries of entrepreneurship is that you can structure your time any way you like. If you’d like to spend more time outside of work, you can choose to do that. But first,...

At age 17, Noor Siddiqui co-founded Remedy, which provides instant consults for clinicians. She also forewent the traditional route to college and was chosen as a Thiel Fellow, where she was one of 20 entrepreneurs under 20 years old who received a $100,000 grant to bring an idea to life. If anyone can help you execute an idea, it’s Noor.

The below video and write-up are the first in a series of 10 where Noor helps explain how to bring your own startup business idea to life – and how to make it stick.

1. You Must Validate your startup business idea

According to Noor, the first thing you need to do when you have a startup business idea is validate it. Not everyone will see what you see when looking at it. To her, the most important th...

Nancy Duarte is a pro when it comes to presentations. Not just giving presentations, but starting them, finishing them, and every step in between. Author and co-founder of Duarte Designs, Nancy is a seasoned veteran when it comes to incorporating storytelling into speaking and creating connections with an audience.

The below video is the first part in a series of 10 in which Nancy shares the key components to making a successful pitch using creativity and critical thinking. Find out what she has to say:

Before you make a few modifications to your same, old, boring presentation and click “Save As” thinking you’re ready to go…think again. Take a step back and take an empathetic approach to your delivery of information. When creating a...

We all know what it means to give equity away. But what does it take to get it back?

There are a few different methods we can use to begin clawing back some of our hard-lost equity, but all of them require quite a bit of effort — and aren't nearly as easy as giving it away!

Will investors incentivize us with additional stock?

When we look at future funding rounds, if things are going well, we may be able to negotiate some additional stock awards based on the next financing.

This is only an option if the company is doing well and we can point to a significant track record that we've demonstrated to get it there. It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen.

Oh, and if we don't negotiate hard for it, no one is ever going to suggest it for u...

Creating a healthy sales organization is imperative for startups that want to eventually scale-up. Mastering the ups and downs of sales cycles requires that you get a lot of important factors right –from hiring and managing, to prospecting and pitching, to reporting and pipeline analysis, and much more. Throw in the fact that you’re selling at a startup and you end up with a lot of unknown factors that you, as a sales leader, and your sales team have to account for and plan against.

So how can you get really good at sales? How can get your sales organization to a place where it’s the department you worry about least? How can you get through this quarter with flying colors? More importantly, how can you set yourself up for success all year r...

Brand promotion through email marketing is a crucial tool for customer acquisition and engagement. Many businesses waste precious effort and resources because they don’t plan their brand promotion properly.

Traditionally, retailers have been able to just post huge signs and distribute flyers making consumers aware of the sale in the back. Their storefronts could remain nicely decorated.

Ecommerce retailers face a new challenge. They promote multiple product categories, various CTAs, and a sense of urgency practically daily to customers. While it may be efficient in the short-term, it dilutes the value of the brand.

Consumers aren’t curious to see new advertisements or flyer graphics, but they might be curious about new products and discount...

Determination, according to Paul Graham’s essay, is the best predictor of startup success. Determined people, he says, have three qualities: discipline, ambition, and willfulness.

The Anatomy of Determination in Startups

Successful startups are extremely rare compared to the number of startups ever started. It means that at least one of these three qualities is rare in people. Which one? Let’s look at them one by one.

Discipline

Discipline is simply doing what you’ve planned to do. It requires a plan, any plan, and your execution of it. Discipline is straightforward. So why would it ever be a problem? It is not difficult to make a plan. Most people get that far. But the doing part is more difficult—it requires something less than what we n...