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As a startup reviewer, not a week goes by when I’m not introduced to a new solution intent on burying the spreadsheet forever. Like weeds, however, spreadsheets keep turning up.

That comparison may sound unfair, but, aside from email, it’s hard to think of a more reviled tool than the spreadsheet. And maybe it’s time to let go of our loathing. After all, if spreadsheets have enough inherent value that we continue to use them, couldn’t they be improved instead of abandoned? Is it possible for us to move beyond regarding the spreadsheet as a necessary evil?

If you’re thinking it would take no less than magic to invoke such a change of heart, you’re close to the mark. The Magic Spreadsheet, developed by HEAT Intelligence, uses a dash of AI sor...

A lot of entrepreneurs start companies based on their own needs: Travis Kalanick couldn’t get cab — Uber was born. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were having trouble making rent, so they rented out their apartment — and we ultimately got AirBnB. It’s a common narrative but, sometimes, entrepreneurs start companies that have nothing to do with their own needs and have everything to do with the gaps they see in the market.

I like creating things that have a positive impact on the world.

That’s the case for Chris Gatbonton, the founder of Creation Crate. Chris is one of those guys who’s been running businesses as long as he can remember. In college he creating a beverage that was deemed “the greatest chaser to alcohol,” which was an aloe vera dri...

Question: My Startup company is scaling and, therefore, hiring rapidly. What is one thing I should do to avoid diluting our culture?

The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

Match New Employees to Veteran Mentors

I like to match each new hire with one of my veteran team members. We care a lot about our culture, and for me, it’s a part of the onboarding process. Mentoring has worked very well to keep the habits that built us up stick around.

— Adam ...

1984. A novel that probably most folks were forced to read begrudgingly at some point or another while attending english class (also begrudgingly). As a millennial, I can see among my peers that there’s an undercurrent attitude of irreverence towards the old ways of doing things. It’s like we have some weird anti-establishment angst that we just never grew out of and carry with us wherever we go.

A lot of it is just mob mentality — out with the old, in with the new! Down with bureaucracy! Big brother is evil! Overthrow the tyrannical parents!

Attitudes like that, coupled with the enormous success of the irreverent celebrities of our time (think Zuckerberg with his refusal to wear suits) makes us want to do things differently, even if diffe...

In today’s world information spreads so quickly that it changed the way companies compete. We, at the Standuply team, believe that for an online company the most crucial thing is the product’s quality. And therefore, one of the most important persons in a company is the Product Manager. Being fans of Slack, we decided to investigate.

What can Slack offer to Product Managers?

It turns out that managers can satisfy almost all their needs using Slack and its apps. Some of the apps are still raw, others are just plain integrations with 3rd party services. But there are already a lot of well made, useful products designed purely for Slack, for example Growbot, and we too are doing our best with Standuply to be among the best as well.

Here is ou...

Office distractions take many forms: checking emails throughout the day, responding to text messages, making phone calls, responding to Skype requests, having quick meetings, and even figuring out what’s for lunch. All of these sap our daily decision-making “battery” (yes, science has proven we can only make so many decisions during a day) and subtract from our ability to focus on what’s most important.

For these reasons, I’ve found that quarterly meetings that are unplugged and off-site are a reliable way to get more clarity about where my team and I are going, what’s working, and what isn’t working.

Why Go Off-Site?

My friend Leo Patching, one of the most seasoned, successful entrepreneurs I know, calls an off-site meeting a chance to get...

So, you’re launching a startup. Big goals obviously aren’t an issue. You want 10x customers! You want to 4x your retention rate! You want to be the next Facebook or the Airbnb of X!

The big stuff is what entrepreneurs are good at. But it’s in breaking those big steps down into smaller, actionable ones where we tend to trip up. I’d even go as far as to say that the inability to break big goals down into smaller business goals and then into short-term objectives is one of the main reasons that the majority of startups fail.

Sound familiar?

So, how do you go from big goal to smaller goal to actionable steps you can start taking right now? The process is going to be different for every startup, of course, but here’s how to start.

Name the big g...

See part one of our interview.

James Wolf started one of his companies, The Bike Shop — which is located in the expat hub of Thao Dien in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — after pressure from friends pointing out that it was a much-needed business for the neighborhood. But he’s not in it for the cash. Ultimately, he told me, it’s more about meeting a neighborhood need and not so much about making any real money.

“There’s virtually no profit in the business,” Wolf chuckles. “If you just pay everyone salaries, keep people employed, and keep the neighborhood rolling along, you have to consider that successful. You can’t expect to take home money as a bike shop owner. It’s kind of the standard — there’s no money in the industry. But as far as keepin...

There’s never a good time for an entrepreneur. Twice I’ve thought about going back to the corporate life, but there’s always been something that kept me out of it. Each time it’s felt like a message from the startup gods.

When I quit my first ever full time job, I had nothing lined up to transition into. It was a time of year when no one was hiring. I had quit with intentions of freelancing instead, but I was still applying for full time jobs, just in case.

I struggled a lot in the first month or two which were full of rejections, work that left me feeling unsatisfied, and low pay.

I had an idea for a project and I needed some sponsors to get it off the ground. The first person I contacted was a cold email to my state’s library manager. Ar...

“Because you’re worth it.”

The L’Oréal Fallacy afflicts those founders who find themselves faced with an offer for their company and the chance of an exit.

This is the moment many have dreamed of. But life is no respecter of dreams: the potential exit is often smaller than the founder has hoped. The founder finds himself conflicted: wanting an exit, but believing that the offer on the table undervalues his work and the potential of his company.

The L’Oréal Fallacy is the belief that you should hold out for the exit you deserve—because you’re worth it.

This fallacy corrupts decision making at a crucial point—the point when monetary success is actually a tangible prospect.

First-time founders, in particular, should take their exit when they c...