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I was asked by the owner of a Micro-ISV (that a very small independent software vendor) how exactly should he spend his time marketing and selling. He knew he should devote more time to it, but he didn't know what…

Guy Kawasaki has a great post on how to fire someone. I was conflicted by one point that he makes: his dismissal of the idea that you should fire someone quickly. He says you should give them a second chance.…

The biggest mistake is often thinking you know something. This is a bit paradoxical because you can't be successful in business without an over abundance of confidence. So you have to be confident and questioning at the same time. This…

I don't usually write about big companies because the stuff is not applicable to us small-frys. But, as you may have heard, Bill Gates is leaving the day to day work at Microsoft to devote more time to philantrhopy. It…

An effective schedule is composed solely of Routine, Rocks and Reserves. You should be able to look at your calendar and see them. Routine. This is missing from most entrepreneur's schedule. It's the routine meetings and regular times you review…

The job of a manager is not to control people. And it's not to cut costs. It's to set up an environment that allows people to do their best. By environment, I don't mean cushy chairs, beautiful artwork, free food…

Systems that support, not hinder what people do, and allow them to do it better. Most of us don't think of systems that way. Instead we feel they hinder the "real" us. But, as Seth Godin says here, "If process…

When you hire a accountant or a lawyer or someone who charges by the hour, do you really want those hours? Does it make sense that if you ask a question they don't know, and need to research you should…

What's considered "newsworthy" by the business press is either about trends that have a very broad appeal, or what Hugh McLeod calls business porn. The reason any kind of porn has any appeal at all is that it's a fantasy.…

Work is defined as moving objects at or near the surface of the earth, or telling others to do so. The first is uncomfortable and ill paid, the second is more enjoyable and better paid. ~ Old Joke (which isn’t…