Leadership

Sep 18

Where to find a code-cranking unicorn (aka CTO)

By Dan Martell | Leadership, Startups, Strategy | One Comment

Steve Jobs (Apple) had Steve Wozniak.
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) had Dustin Moskovitz.
Bill Gates (Microsoft) had Paul Allen.

Even though they could all code themselves, the greatest business leaders of our generation, all had a technical co-founder by their side.

Why?

They knew they’d need help building the actual product as their focus shifted to growing the business.

I had the same experience in my companies.

How did they find these people?

How did they convince them to join them in their vision? Read More

Aug 21

Tools For Entrepreneurs: Managing Software Development

By Dan Martell | Leadership, Productivity, Startups | No Comments

In 2001, I got a job I wasn’t qualified for.

I was hired by a big oil company to lead a new project with dozens of developers to build a product that would be used by every employee in the company.

No pressure, right?

On the first day, the hiring manager realized I was in way over my head and pulled me aside to tell me I had 2 weeks to “figure things out”.

Umm… ok?

I had no clue what that meant… but the stakes were clear, and I couldn’t lose this project.

I hadn’t worked in 2 months and if I failed, it meant moving back in with my parents. Read More

Jun 05

4 Critical Things You Need to Delegate to a Virtual Assistant

By Dan Martell | Leadership, Personal, Productivity | 7 Comments

Want to learn how I manage over 100 virtual assistants to manage all my work?

Watch this week’s video.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:

“Why the hell do you need 100 VA’s?” Read More

May 22

How to Run a Remote Team – 5 Strategies To Keep Them Productive

By Dan Martell | Community, Leadership, Startups | No Comments

Did you know that Slideshare.net built their product in India?

Automattic (creators of WordPress) – 2,000 people in a distributed team.

Even GitHub (raised $250M+ in funding) has a global team of remote workers.

The future of teams are distributed.

Over my past 3 companies (Spheric, Flowtown, Clarity) and everything in between, I’ve always had world class team members work from wherever they lived.

In many cases we had an office, but not everyone worked from there – and truth was – we just used it to get together and meet with partners.

Now, over the years I’ve learned A LOT about building and managing distributed teams without sacrificing our culture. Read More

Apr 03

The Power of a Private Facebook Group To Build Your Network

By Dan Martell | Community, Leadership | 4 Comments

My barber blew my mind.

I’m sitting there and he’s cutting my hair and we’re talking about advice and mentorship…

… so I shared with him this silly Facebook group I started that eventually became one of the most valuable resources in my professional life.

That’s when he told me he was part of a similar group with barbers from other major cities…

… and they all connect online to share best practices, resources and stories to help each other out?!

Mr. Ryan Browne – my barber – has a virtual mastermind group?!!!

What? Read More

Mar 20

Why Companies Fail & How To Prevent It

By Dan Martell | Financial, Leadership, Startups | 8 Comments

Are you running out of money?

Do you have something people want to buy?

Do you have a cost effective marketing plan?

Do you have the skills to lead your team?

Are you able to hire great people?

Have you built a system that outlines how you deliver value to your customers in a repeatable way?

Feeling overwhelmed by this avalanche of questions, and wishing you could get back to your regularly-scheduled programming of being “fake busy” and avoiding the hard sh*t? Read More

Feb 27

Build Your Startup Team With These 6 Characteristics To Filter Out The Duds

By Dan Martell | Community, Leadership, Startups | 18 Comments

Over the years I’ve been involved in hiring 100’s of people for my companies.

In the early days when I started a new project I would just grab whoever was nearby and free.

There was ZERO process.

That’s why I struggled to succeed.

I’d say between the ages of 18 – 24 I worked with dozens of different people and most fell extremely short of my expectations.

I hired a bunch of duds.

Why? Read More

Jan 30

How To Research, Recruit, And Compensate Great Advisors For Your Business

By Dan Martell | Community, Leadership, Startups | 3 Comments

Am I the only one whose Apple Watch is always dead?

I can’t seem to remember to charge it up…

… anyway, I digress.

When I started Clarity I put in the time to build one of the best advisory boards for the business.

It cost me time and $$$ but in the end, the ROI was 100X.

Having the best people in your corner to help guide strategic decision, solve major issues and pull you up when you’re feeling like a sack of potatoes is invaluable.

The challenge is finding them, negotiating compensation and deciding how to best leverage them. Read More

Jan 16

The 3 Business Personalities & How To Understand Which One You Are

By Dan Martell | Leadership, Personal, Strategy | 8 Comments

I used to believe that ANYONE could be an entrepreneur.

Until the day my friend Julie went bankrupt.

When she started her business, I was pumped… probably more so than I should’ve been.

She left our meeting excited to take on the challenges and get going.

The reason she failed is because she didn’t understand her role in relation to her business… Read More

Jan 02

It’s Not The Founder, It’s The Leadership Strategy That Matters

By Dan Martell | Leadership, Motivation, Strategy | No Comments

Even though he almost fired me after 2 weeks…

… my leadership style came from a guy named Darcy.

I was 21 years old, and just got a contract position with a company in Fort McMurray, Alberta working on the tech team at Syncrude.

Somehow I was hired even though the people reporting to me were 10 years older.

Darcy gave me 2 weeks to “figure it out.” Read More