This formula is proof you can launch a business for under $1,000. — I’ve built companies for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I’ve built companies for hundreds of dollars. I’ve also lost hundreds of thousands of dollars (typically on those more expensive-to-build companies), and I’ve made hundreds of thousands on companies with an initial investment of under a thousand. I’m living proof…

A few considerations before you accept venture capital (or any other type of funding). — A few years ago I received an email out of the blue that really took me by surprise. I was at least a couple of years into my startup journey (also known as, living in a dingy 400 square foot studio apartment and trying to stretch my savings as long…

What I learned in my first startup failure and how you can determine if and when to cut your losses. — Let’s be honest: I know why you’re here. You’re excited to hear another startup failure story from someone whose dreams have crashed and burned before them, even better to hear it was all their fault (what a poor, pathetic loser of an entrepreneur they must be), and you can’t wait…

How a boy named Esmeralda changed my life. A love story for those who don’t believe in love. — Let me preface this with the fact that I’m not a very emotional person. I don’t open up quickly or easily and I have an auto-cringe response to most anything mushy or gushy hurled my way. I like to keep my friends, enemies, and pretty much all humans a good six to ten emotional feet away from me on a fairly regular basis.

No, entrepreneurship doesn’t have to mean being a slave to your startup. However, you can only blame yourself for what you’ve built. — When it comes to pet peeves, one of my biggest (though perhaps unwarranted) ones is when people are on their phones, far from present, delaying or disconnecting from “IRL” (in real life) experiences. While I can appreciate that the social media age is upon us and many people are connected…

Cut the smooth-talking B.S. and use these three tactics instead. — If you’re looking for an entertaining, but deeply cringe-worthy experience, look no further than a salesmanship class. I’m not ragging on the (often entrepreneurial) mentors hosting these classes, but rather on the overly confident, yet severely under-skilled attendees who find themselves in front of an arbitrary audience, failing the “sell…

Success really is rented, not bought, and earned every day — There’s a six-word phrase I’ve probably repeated more than any other statement in my life, to which I often receive knee-jerk pushback. I’m sure I’ve likely uttered this phrase at the very beginning of my career, in the “lost” times in between ventures and failures, as would be expected. Ironically…

If revenues are down, you’re burnt out, or the recession-induced fear-mongering is getting to you, here’s the best use of your time. — I’m just going to tell it like it is: Passive income is freaking weird. By weird, I don’t mean to imply that it isn’t an amazing thing to build into your business; it is. All I mean is that divorcing yourself from the idea that the money you make is…

Birthdays, weekends, and vacations keep the middle-class middle class and the stressed entrepreneurs stressed and unhappy. — It was my birthday the other day, so naturally, I attended a friend’s kid’s birthday party that happened to fall on the same day. Some adults might not choose to spend their birthday watching three-year-olds (to whom they have no relation) fight over cake and rainbow lollipops, but I’ve since…