What Every Entrepreneur Should Learn From Factory Floors

"What would you need to do to double your revenue (or profit)?" That’s usually my opening question when we have strategic reviews with our businesses. The answer highlights the biggest constraints to the growth of the business. I start with this specific question because many leaders have one problem in common: they come up with … Continue reading What Every Entrepreneur Should Learn From Factory Floors

A thank you note from your future self

I was reminded of an important point today: We are oftentimes limited in the projects we can take on, simply because we don't have enough capable people in our organizations.  We have new products to launch, markets to enter, marketing initiatives to execute; why aren't we? Every single one of our businesses has an endless … Continue reading A thank you note from your future self

The Meta-Machine: A Guide to Building a Company

Being an entrepreneur is about building a company. Fast-growing companies may seem chaotic and frequently focus more on firefighting problems rather than on actually building up the company.  “The real enemy of execution is your day job!” McChesney et al. argue1. “We call it the whirlwind. It’s the massive amount of energy that’s necessary just … Continue reading The Meta-Machine: A Guide to Building a Company

Learning Trees: 7 steps to structure and accelerate your learning

It used to be that people would spend the first part of their life going to school, the second part of their life applying what they learnt in school, and the third part of their life retired and potentially teaching others. Things are changing rapidly nowadays. It used to be sufficient to accumulate knowledge in … Continue reading Learning Trees: 7 steps to structure and accelerate your learning

Generating Value Through Execution: 7 Steps to Rising in a Start-Up

The pinnacle of generating value within our companies is the ability to execute. Unless you're in a corporate environment with a strict career ladder, the opportunity to grow within a company and attain more responsibility is determined by your ability to generate value for your team and the company as a whole. As we will … Continue reading Generating Value Through Execution: 7 Steps to Rising in a Start-Up

AirHelp

Henrik Zillmer, AirHelp founder, on being part of Y Combinator and moving to Silicon Valley as a foreigner

Henrik Zillmer has been a friend of mine for some years now. In the past, we built e-commerce companies across the continents, but nowadays, Henrik works on AirHelp, which he co-founded and now heads as the CEO. AirHelp was picked to be part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2014 Class and has since succeeded in helping … Continue reading Henrik Zillmer, AirHelp founder, on being part of Y Combinator and moving to Silicon Valley as a foreigner

Danny Dover on Fulfilling The Bucket List and Beating Depression

In AntarcticaThe second part of my interview with SEO expert Danny Dover delves further into his personal development and his bucket list. You can read the first part which is about SEO and his career here. When I spoke to Danny Dover we got off-track early on.  I remember asking him a few questions about … Continue reading Danny Dover on Fulfilling The Bucket List and Beating Depression