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I have long argued that BuzzFeed was the most likely to become the first lasting, stand alone large public company of the digital media era.

Yes, a company called BuzzFeed could be this era’s answer to the Washington Post or CNN. And recent news reports show that investors agree: BuzzFeed is rumored to be prepping for an IPO.

But even I didn’t see that one coming back in 2012, when I interviewed CEO Jonah Peretti about his past viral sensations, his recent past building Huffington Post, and his current and future at BuzzFeed.

Given all BuzzFeed has accomplished since this interview, some of the questions are almost quaint– like my asking whether there would ever be a White House Correspondent from BuzzFeed. More stunning was Pe...

As Founders, it's really hard for us to separate "startup peril” with a feeling of personal safety.

So often our apocalyptic version of what will happen with our startup gets exponentially grafted onto this nightmare scenario of our future selves.

How can I feel safe when my startup is in peril?

When things are going rough at our startup, the first step we need to take is to isolate the startup's outcome from our own.

Our startup could end horribly. We will lose any income we had. We may lose a substantial amount of our savings or net worth.

But that doesn't mean we're unsafe personally.

We're capable of creating more income (yeah, a "job"), and we won't be hungry on the side of the road. Given a single year, we can come back fighting. ...

As startups — unless you’re VC-funded — we don’t usually have the big marketing budgets that established companies have. We may not be able to drop thousands on a single ad campaign. But the good news is that we don’t have to. We have strengths we can tap into that can power our marketing and help us land customers.

One of those strengths is our ability to wow customers in ways that the big guys — with their bloated infrastructure and slow-moving cogs — just can’t.

Startups can use customer stories to illustrate how their products and services solve problems and make life wonderful, motivating potential customers to move forward in the buying journey.

How Customers Stories Boost Marketing

Customer stories, or case studies, can be use...

Every company starts small and it is understandable that not everything is going properly as the company is growing. Besides that organized chaos, there are some attitudes that founders and CEOs must broadcast throughout the company.

My background as an entrepreneur and as startup employee have helped me identify pain points about employee motivation (the subject was also the thesis I chose for mastering in Entrepreneurship in 2013 — find the recommendations part here in French).

To increase the rate of your success—apply the exact opposite of the 11 situations outlined below when it comes to motivating your startup employees:

1. Don’t have a vision for your company.

Failing to provide a vision reveals the pilot himself doesn’t know w...

I had a classmate Brian in grade school that would drive teachers crazy by asking them, “Why do we have to learn this?” He wasn’t a troublemaker at all, and I think this is what unnerved the teachers most. Dealing with hell raisers was an expected part of the job, but an ordinary kid questioning how things run? Well, that could bring the whole show crashing down…

With social media, we’ve all turned into Brian, asking aloud, “Why are you showing me this?” But unlike Brian, we have the power to turn away. Stories we don’t care about? Not gonna read ‘em. Sales pitches for goods we’ve never shown any interest in whatsoever? See ya.

So, how do you reach an audience of Brians that can tune out whatever they damn well please?

Quuu is a servi...

I think I’ve won the startup game. No, I didn’t sell my company for a billion dollars. I didn’t raise at a unicorn valuation. I’m not headlining TechCrunch Disrupt.

I won because I decided to not give a shit about any of that. I opted out. I focused on my own business and stopped worrying about what everyone else was doing.

It was the most life changing thing I ever did. And, now I’m hoping you join me.

I GREW UP WHEN I SHUT DOWN

My victory didn’t come from what I did – it came from what I stopped doing.

• I stopped paying attention to what other people posted on social media.
• I stopped worrying about what was reported in startup news.
• I stopped comparing my success to how my friends were doing...

Sara Blakely, the founder of SPANX, joined social media 5 weeks ago (Instagram to be more exact) and at the MA Conference for Women in the span of 10 minutes, she gained 2K new followers.

Wait…what? Can I do this too!? Here’s my breakdown of how she did it through the influence of public speaking and tips on how you can move the crowd to build your tribe.

On Thursday, December 8th, I’ve had the honor to be one of the few males to attend and speak at the nation’s largest conference for women, the Massachusetts Conference for Women (Yes, it was fun if you were wondering and the wifey had no objections because it was a conference. Win-win!).

In front of a sold-out audience of 11,000, Sara Blakely was interviewed by Gayle King (Co-host of CBS ...

According to research from Kaufman, 40% of first-time entrepreneurs in the United States are women.

Even more impressive? The number of women-run businesses in the US is growing at twice the rate of men-owned businesses. The rate of women starting businesses and startups throughout the country is at an all-time high.

Let’s take a closer look at women-owned businesses, including certification and funding opportunities.

What it is a woman-owned business?

In its simplest form, a women-owned business is a business owned by at least one woman.

But when it comes to qualifying for certain grants, loans, and contracts, a women-owned business is at least 51% owned by controlled, operated, and managed by a woman or women.

What is WBENC Certificatio...

It’s not “How are you feeling?”

For years I’ve been having one-on-one meetings with my employees. These meetings are invaluable for building trust, providing feedback, and sincerely understanding how I may help each employee. They’re my favorite meetings as they’re also the most productive.

During each one-on-one meeting I go over the questions provided by Lead Honestly. These questions ensure we’re continually discussing new topics, creating new insights, learnings, and feedback.

There is also one question I ask during every one-on-one meeting. Given the nature of a one-on-one meeting, and it’s focus on an employee’s emotions, many are quick to guess that this question is “How are you feeling?” It’s not.

I’ve tried this question wit...

Startups often adopt a sprinter’s mentality. They want to get as far ahead as possible in as little time as necessary. Progress is measured in terms of growth, profitability, and revenue, but there’s a big difference between generating revenue and driving actual value. Just because a company is growing doesn’t mean it’s actually becoming a greater asset. It’s just a larger version of its previous self.

To boost your company’s value, I recommend creating a startup exit strategy as part of your startup’s overall business plan. You may be thinking, “I’m not ready to sell!” But hear me out.

All business owners should be taking steps from day one that will determine how profitable thei...