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Confession: I dream of becoming a startup consultant. Get paid mad money to tell people the things I know and to help them move their company along?

Yes please.

But, the very things that appeal to me about startup consulting — high pay, low risk (for me) — are the reasons why startup consultant might not always be a great idea for startups.

Which isn’t to say they’re never a great idea.

But, before we get into that, let’s talk about what a startup consultant actually does.

What is a startup consultant?

This is one of those terms that’s more slippery than it looks, mainly because there seems to be some confusion between a consultant, a freelance contractor, a startup coach, and a mentor. If you’re talking generally, all of those categories ...

Virtual reality (VR) is a term and technology that has garnered a lot of buzz, especially in recent years. But while VR is a phrase many are familiar with, that ubiquity hasn’t translated into widespread use, despite some notable advancements to make it more accessible.

When Facebook bought Oculus in 2014, many felt the move would usher VR into the modern era. It took another two years of development before the merger’s first consumer shipments went out, but even after that lead time, most customers still don’t consider VR a must-have. Content producers and hardware manufacturers are chock full of ideas for home-based systems with hardly anyone to buy in to them.

The good news is that those who have tried VR can vouch for its potential. It ...

Founders can make or break startups. That's no secret. The founding team is the cornerstone of any new venture, and their ethics, motivations, and philosophies tend to become firmly ingrained into their company's culture and strategy. Like a fractal, a startup is an aggregate mirror of its founders' priorities, whether that be Airbnb's obsession with design or Theranos' obsession with fraud.All the more reason for good founders to be properly compensated, with a founder salary that includes incentives that align their goals with those of their investors and employees.Unfortunately, it's harder than it sounds. Every startup is different, and every founder has a different relationship with every investor, so there is no real one-size-fits-all...

Toward the end of Season 1 of HBO’s incredible Silicon Valley, there’s an amazing scene that this writer has legit watched on YouTube about a hundred times.

The Pied Piper team is at TechCrunch Disrupt, coming off the high of unveiling their compression algorithm to a veritable whos-who of the tech world. Then, disaster strikes. Mega-corporation Hooli is there, and they’re presenting a technology that is identical to the product Pied Piper is building.

Panic inevitably ensues among the Pied Piper ranks. Then, a notably manic Jared, fresh from the traumatic experience of being kidnapped by a self-driving car, has a brainwave.

What Pied Piper needs to do, he thinks, is pivot.

“A lot of successful startups launched with a different business mo...

Jennifer Justice is as much of a bad-ass as her Marvel Superhero name implies. She’s the current President of Corporate Development at Superfly, producers of festivals like Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Before that, she spent 17 years as the personal entertainment lawyer for Jay Z. She’s also a single mom of twins, who has been outspoken about the power she gained after becoming a mother.

Her journey is all the more impressive when you understood where she came from: The daughter of a single mom who didn’t even finish high school, raised in poverty. Her story of clawing her way into the inner circles of superstardom and how her children made her even more ambitious is one of my favorites.

Sarah Lacy: You’re a lawyer. Now, did you feel ...

People often wonder why they haven’t caught their “break” yet. They’re waiting for that moment when they’ll hit it big and everything will be like they dreamed.

I wanted to give a brief look at why it’s not some random occurrence. Breaks don’t just come along and say, “whelp, I guess it’s Tommy’s turn today!”

I’ll share some of my successes and failures so you can understand more about how the specific roads I chose led to any breaks that I got. I’ll also talk about the other roads I could have chosen, which would have clearly led to different outcomes.

Let’s look back to high school. When I was in high school I didn’t underst...

For decades, Zig Ziglar has been speaking and writing about personal development and has helped countless people achieve their dreams, both professionally and personally.

In the business world, closed-mindedness and an unbalanced lifestyle can bring down businesspeople that have real potential to succeed. Could that be you?

If so, then keep reading, because Zig Ziglar has a thing or two to teach us all about how to achieve real success in life.

1. Stop with the impractical dreaming and start with the realistic goal-making.

Some people have the tendency to set pretty far-fetched goals without giving any detailed thought to how they’re even going to get there.

According to Ziglar, it’s all about the details.

Set a goal that’s practical and pr...

Every business is different yet what makes a successful wholesale distribution business in 2017 is the same no matter what products you sell. Cash flow planning, sales and inventory management and planning are key areas every B2B wholesale distribution business should be focusing on.

Here are 8 tips for running a successful wholesale distribution business in 2017.

1. Be the GURU of your Cash Flow position daily

Money in vs money out is a basic concept of cash flow, the tricky part is when cash is tied up in stock in your warehouse. It gets really complicated to forecast what will be sold, what to purchase and making sure monthly overheads are covered. This is a very delicate balancing act that could make or send any successful business int...

Business grants for women is a popular topic — and no wonder. According to research from Kaufman, 40 percent 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 man-owned businesses. The rate of women starting businesses and startups throughout the country is at an all-time high.

But women aren’t getting nearly as much money for those businesses as men are. In the startup world, women founders got only 2 percent of VC funding in 2017.

That means women are forced to look to other money sources when they’re looking to launch a startup or small business. VC money is the “free” money of the startup world. (Well, not “free,” exactly. ...

When you’re working on an early-stage startup, figuring out what your business goals should be — like what you should be achieving and at what stage — is difficult. It’s not like school, where there are clear steps that lead to the next level. Or even like traditional businesses, which have clear business goal templates. No — early-stage startup founders often struggle with the nebulous nature of their business goals.

Lucky for you, there are experts in this who have great advice about what should be achieved — and when — for early stage startups.

Here are seven business goal posts you should be aiming for as you grow your early-stage startup.

Business Goal #1: Minimum Viable Product

TIMELINE: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Your minimum viable produc...