For better or for worse: Managing founder-CEO tension inside a startup
How a founder and a CEO work through points of tension could help determine the ultimate success of a company.
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Dear Sophie: Can I do anything to speed up the EAD renewal process?
I’m on an L-2 visa as a dependent spouse to my husband’s L-1A. My EAD (work permit) is expiring in May. How long is the current process?
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How to evolve your DTC startup’s data strategy and identify critical metrics
We’re generally big fans of plug-and-play business intelligence tools, but they won’t scale with your business. Don’t rely on them after...
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Start up solo, or bring on a co-founder? 4 factors to consider
While the data show solo founders raise more funding, a holistic approach to understanding your gaps and how to fill them is imperative.
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To win insurtech 2.0, focus on underwriting before growth
Focusing on customer experience on the front end leads to rapid growth indeed, but failing to focus on underwriting on the back end can lead to a...
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To boost early-stage growth, adopt a jobs-to-be-done approach to marketing
Thinking of and using the jobs users want to accomplish to inform your strategy will help boost SEO, improve conversion on generic pages, and...
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‘Move fast and break things’ is a bad idea for health tech startups
When you're building a digital health company, the ultimate end user is a person in need of medical care.
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When and how to hire your startup’s first growth marketer
When hiring a Head of Growth, you must keep an eye out for two critical traits: they must demonstrate are that they are a generalist and already...
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Dear Sophie: What are the visa options for international founders?
I started a startup in Pakistan with a couple of co-founders a few years ago. One of the co-founders and I want to move to the United States to...
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Finding your startup’s valuation: 5 factors to consider
"What is your valuation?" As an angel investor, this is one of my first questions when talking to founders for a potential investment. And...
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The age of the centaur: $100M ARR is the new cloud valuation milestone
As the public cloud market pulls back, VCs and founders alike must prioritize recurring revenue over sky high valuations that are often as mythical...
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Use data from Q5 to boost mobile app growth for the entire year
Wondering how to improve the marketing performance of your mobile app in the spring without experimenting and extra costs? Take advantage of results...
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A founder’s guide to calculating CAC and LTV the right way
There’s one metric that companies must get right in order to demonstrate their potential for growth and attract investors: their LTV/CAC ratio.
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Consumers and data are driving changes in the insurance sector: Where are we headed?
Digital transformation in insurance is still in its early stages, but the combination of data, automation and massive investments in the sector is a...
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6 places where investors look for problems when you’re fundraising
It takes time and effort to gather, verify and package all this information for external review, so it helps to know what data and documents will be...
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Budgeting and planning for your first digital product
There are five main points you should consider when developing a digital product. The first, and most important, is to establish how much you can...
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Dear Sophie: Any USCIS updates on automatic work extensions and premium processing?
My H-1B expires soon and my employer filed an extension. I’m thinking about self-petitioning an EB-2 NIW green card -- what's the latest on...
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Make human services more accessible without losing the ‘human’ touch
Utilizing AI and automation tools to enhance the delivery of human services can make exclusive services available to more people. For this to happen,...
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What most startup founders get wrong about financial projections
Financial projections are essential for any business, but in the case of tech startups, a financial model is one of the most important and overlooked...
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H1 2022 cybersecurity product-led growth market map
Product-led growth is one of the buzziest topics in the startup world as the market cap of public companies utilizing the growth tactic skyrocketed...
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The corporate venture comeback: What startups considering CVC need to know
Corporates generally aren't hard to find because of their bigger presence, but founders have to take care to perform due diligence around which...
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Early-stage fundraising is a tale of two planets
For every story I hear about a huge round that came together in two weeks, I meet 20 great founders who hustle for months and can’t raise a penny.
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Klaviyo co-founder Ed Hallen’s 3 top pieces of advice for launching a startup
In addition to being chief product officer at Klaviyo, I now also have the honor of getting to speak to a lot of new and hopeful founders. Here are...
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10 IP and commercial contract loose ends to tie up before you approach investors
For startups, ensuring their intellectual property and commercial contracts are in order can be helpful to achieving a smooth financing.
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4 questions every CISO should be asking about the metaverse
Most businesses today struggle with securing the data and infrastructure they already have. In the multidimensional world of the metaverse, this will...
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Dear Sophie: Can a startup sponsor a graduating co-founder?
What are the options for an advanced-degree graduate from a U.S. university who wants to co-found a startup upon graduation? Can the newly minted...
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Study up on churn rate basics to set customer and revenue benchmarks
In the early stages of building a company, churn gives you quick feedback, which other metrics seldom do. Studying churn lets you run tests on your...
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What am I worth now?
We speak with about 200 private companies every quarter, and the vast majority of our conversations over the last three months have revolved around...
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