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When I started my company 12 Labs, I initially struggled. But once I learned how to be productive, I was able to grow my app to 450K+ downloads, a 4.5-star rating and a place in the top 100 Health and Fitness apps in the app store. In this post, I reveal my secrets for getting things done.

I used to perpetually procrastinate—even to the point of missing bills. I needed inspiration before I could be productive, but it never came. The first two winters of building my business I also struggled with depression, until figuring out how to master things. The core reason for my startup depression was stress.

Quitting a nice-paying job is stressful, though it wasn’t obvious right away. I only recognized it as guilt for not getting things done. A few...

“The problem here: a) making a business that didn’t give us money early on, and b) not giving up; we kept putting money into the business without knowing we were already dead.”

The special guest of this Startups Live session, Caya, has some great stories to tell. “Started my first business in 2011 (I was 22) and it failed terribly. I ended up with $15K in credit card debt that I just finished paying up last year. The problem here: a) making a business that didn’t give us money early on, and b) not giving up; we kept putting money into the business without knowing we were already dead.”

Well, this may not sound ‘great’, but even this painful experience, which Caya freely shares, comes with silver linings. You might say that he has a knack fo...

As your business grows, so does your need to scale sales efficiently. Scale can be your best friend, or the elephant in the room threatening to knock your growth off course. Your sales team needs special attention to scale efficiently. They’re a huge part of why your company is successful, don’t lose the magic that makes you special. Here are the areas to pay attention to when it’s time to scale your sales team.

Sales Training & Mentorship

Training a small team is easy. You know exactly what works and how to communicate it. Communicating the skills and strategies your team needs as a big organization becomes much more difficult. You won’t always get 1-on-1 time with each rep who talks to your customers.

It’s important to develop internal...

People are hardwired to value transparency. From an evolutionary perspective, transparency has always been essential for survival. Our safety has depended upon determining whether other humans are trustworthy. Complementing this need to understand is the psychological desire to understand and be understood. Transparency is an integral part of the need for belonging, which Maslow ranked next to safety in importance.

When you first meet someone, there’s little transparency, and little trust. Over time, as your new friend shares experiences, opinions, and insights, transparency — and trust — increase.

We, as humans, like transparency. And not just in friendships. Transparency makes business sense because we like companies and brands that are ...

I bet, even if it was just once, that many of you set up a lemonade stand as a kid. As we grow, we begin to experience the world and all of it’s challenges.

And many of us experience our moments of brilliance in the shower. You know what it’s like when you’re soaking under hot water, your mind begins to drift and suddenly you have great idea. Sometimes it’s a solution to a current problem, sometimes it’s a business concept and sometimes it’s both.

Generally people solving their own problems make the best entrepreneurs, especially if they have industry or market experience.

Now, to give you some context here, I have background in professional photography. So, a couple of years ago, on sunny spring morning, I’m in the shower, reflecting on m...

As Founders we’ve all more or less come to the conclusion that if we work really hard and make lots of sacrifices, one day we’ll actually be able to pursue our real passions.

We’re willing to trade a painful now for a pleasurable later.

But what if we didn’t have to do that? What if instead of putting ourselves through the ringer to – maybe – get to that place we really wanted to go, we instead started by aligning our startup with our passion now. In a way, it’s like starting with your “retirement job” and working backward.

Deferred Living is a Mistake

Before Startups.co, I spent nearly 2 decades building 8 different startups. It was mostly fun, but required a ton of sacrifice and essentially took “deferred living” to a whole other level. ...

“It’s the same as having the proper form with lifting weights; if you don’t have the right form, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

–Joshua Davidson, Six Customer Service Principles To Abide By

Taking care of people. It’s a calling, an art. It’s a service. It can also be a way of life, company culture, and doing business. Joshua Davidson is somewhat of an evangelist on the topic of customer service, preaching the principles of outstanding customer service with the conviction of a man who has religion.

And his principles, the quality and clarity of his thinking – are all of the highest level. The same can be said for the questions posed to him during this Startup Live chat, as well as this discussion on customer service as a whole. Given the u...

Most early-stage startups that are fundraising automatically go to angel investors or traditional financial VCs; however, for founders who are starting to worry about the “funding crunch,” think strategically about the venture arms of Fortune 500 companies.

There are an incredible amount of dollars invested in corporations, and increasingly, corporations are recognizing the disruptive power of smaller startups.

How should you approach corporate VCs? What questions should you come prepared to ask?

6 Best Questions to ask corporate VC’s

1. Are there any conflicts of interest?

Founders’ biggest fear is often that someone else, especially a big company with significantly more power and money will rip off their idea.

While this shouldn’t pre...

Entrepreneurs often ask themselves when the right time to launch a company might be. They hang around waiting for the stars to align, for their moment of inspiration to hit, and for their career to prepare them for something big.

There really is a right time to start your company, and it’s called “today.”

Well I have some bad news for you. The stars will never align. The brilliant flash will probably never come, and nothing you will learn or do working for someone else will make you more ready to launch your own company.

Now here’s the good news – none of that matters. The truth is that you’re already ready. There’s absolutely nothing to hold out for in order to start your company. You really just need to get off your butt and get started. ...

Truly, it has been a busy and productive year! Here at Startups.co, we will be taking it easy, spending time with our families and drinking way too much ‘nog until the New Year.

While we are on this short hiatus — lets take a stroll down memory lane and review the top 17 articles that we published in 2017.

Read them all at once, or portion them out like a kid trying to make Christmas candy last until Easter. Either way — we won’t judge. Enjoy!

1. How to Write a Business Plan For Investors (That They Will Love)

A good business plan should do more than explain what your company does, how you earn money and what you want to do. It should also tell a persuasive story and illustrate the many ways that your company and product are Grade-A Awesom...