Corey Dreckman

Preserving Your Startup Culture

Wed, 08 May 2013 04:36:00 -0400

When you have a small and lean team the relationships and admiration for each other is inevitable. However when one of those team members is let go, what can be done to prevent it from destroying your startup culture?

Here are a few items to keep in mind:

1. Transparency: Be upfront with the rest of the team and let them know why the decision was made and be willing to answer the tough question of why?
2. Plan for moving forward: Communicate this to the rest of the team and let them know who’s going to support our clients, make the sales call, finish coding the product; although each is dependent upon the position you must have a plan to move forward and relay to them how bright the future looks!
3. Be Positive: The next few days at the office might seem weird without he/she around. Don’t let that effect the rest of the team. You must go out of your way to be upbeat and stay positive!!
4. Trust: Regardless of weather you agree with the decision or not, you must trust that the founder made the right decision for the company. If you do that you’ll be able to move forward quicker. If not then you might not have enough trust in your founder and you yourself may need to be looking for a position elsewhere.

This is a post from Fred Wilson’s blog today; a great...

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:49:00 -0400

This is a post from Fred Wilson’s blog today; a great video!

—————————
Life Lessons From Improv

The Gotham Gal and I just watched Dick Costolo’s commencement speech which he gave yesterday at the University Of Michigan. He went back to his time doing improv in Chicago and cited two big lessions he got from that experience; take big chances and be in the moment.

It’s a good talk, brief as these things go, and relevant to everyone working in the startup world. It’s about 17 minutes long.

reecepacheco.com: If you never want to be criticized...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:35:38 -0500

reecepacheco.com: If you never want to be criticized... :

reecepacheco:

“If you never want to be criticized, for goodness sake don’t do anything new.” —Jeff Bezos, at re: Invent Conference. November, 2012

Inventing something new isn’t easy. Be it a company, a product, or even just a theory, getting the idea right… designing it, building it, testing it,…

Bijan Sabet: Sleep on it

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:22:22 -0500

Bijan Sabet: Sleep on it:

bijan:

We all have our warts.

Mine is the desire to make decisions quickly. Probably it comes from my days in startups where time is a luxury and a decision needs to be made.

Or its just my personality.

It’s an area where I’ve been making steady improvements over the years. But sometimes the old…

California by Delta Spirit shared from exfm

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:17:22 -0500

California by Delta Spirit

shared from exfm

The Right Ingredients

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 09:56:00 -0500

We had the conversation this week of why do angels and VC’s invest in certain companies. Although there are many reasons why (including product and market) the one that kept on surfacing was because of either the founder or the founding team members.

I first realized the importance of this several years ago after reading Howard Schultz’s book “Pour Your Heart Into It”. Howard chronicles the challenges of raising capital for ll Giornale and tells how their first outside investor was a physician who wasn’t sold on the idea of bringing the Italian coffee bar to America. However he did believe in Howard’s drive and vision which is why he invested $100,000 into the company and when II Giornale turned into Starbucks his return was $10 million after the IPO. You can have the best product in the world with a wide open market but if you don’t have the right team you’re going to fail.

I’ve experienced first hand both ends of the spectrum in my dealings with startups. I’ve been part of a company which had a great product and a wide open market however the team was not right and thus failed. I’m on the opposite end of that now and feel extremely fortunate to be part of a current startup team that from my perspective has all the right ingredients (product, niche market and the right founding team members).

Lartigue by Casey Shea shared from exfm

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 09:08:27 -0500

Lartigue by Casey Shea

shared from exfm

Hire For Cultural Fit Over Competence

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 06:11:56 -0500

This is a great post by Brad Feld of Foundry Group about how to hire for your startup. Be sure to check out the video at the end of his post;

This first appeared in the Wall Street Journal’s Accelerator series last week under the title Cultural Fit Trumps Competence. Also, I’m going to be doing online office hours with the WSJ on Friday 12/21 at 3pm ET – join and ask questions!

The first people you hire in your startup are critical to your company’s success. So it’s easy to say that you need to hire the “absolute best people you can find.” But what does this actually mean?

Take two different spectrums – (1) competence and (2) cultural fit. Imagine that you have a spectrum for each person – from low to high.

Now, you obviously will not hire someone who is low on both competence and cultural fit. And you obviously will hire someone who is high on both competence and culture fit. But what about the other two cases?

Many people default into choosing people who have high competence but a low cultural fit. This is a deadly mistake in a startup, as this is exactly the wrong person to hire. While they may have great skills for the role you are looking for, the overhead of managing and integrating this person into your young team will be extremely difficult. This is especially true if they are in a leadership position, as they will hire other people who have a cultural fit with them, rather than with the organization, creating even more polarization within your young company.

In contrast, people with low competence but a high culture fit are also not great hires. But if they are “medium” competence, or high competence on in a related role, or early in the career and ambitious about learning new skills, they may be worth taking a risk on.

While you always want to shoot for high competence, high cultural fit people when you are hiring early in your company’s life, it’s always better to chose cultural fit over competence when you have to make a choice.

If you are interested in working with a company that is an expert at figuring this out, go take a look at RoundPegg.

Outfit by Drive-By Truckers shared from exfm

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 20:52:21 -0500

Outfit by Drive-By Truckers

shared from exfm

Why I Love Startups

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:53:00 -0500

I love startups because they strip away the unnecessary parts of corporate America and focus on putting together a team to build an awesome company to address a market and (hopefully) to solve a problem that people (and customers) want solved. The purpose of a startup is –I believe- simple. Build a grand successful business, attract acquisition potential (with the hopes of selling), go public or fail as quickly as possible. Surviving and thriving in a startup is an ongoing challenge. There are days when it’s hard to listen to customers ask you about a feature that’s not done yet; or how they’re not going to continuing using your product until it is or when you’re not even sure what to do next.

However then there are the days when you look at what’s possible to get done in a brief amount of time with small amounts of resources and the results of that output are nothing short of amazing and that my friends is the reason why I love startups.

Happy 7th birthday to the most loyal dog in the world....

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:44:53 -0500

Happy 7th birthday to the most loyal dog in the world. Here’s to another 7 years Ames!

Kids photo shoot with @jennhopkins

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:54:39 -0500

Kids photo shoot with @jennhopkins

"Sometimes when defining success you need to reflect on the past to have a vision for the future"

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:53:41 -0500

““Sometimes when defining success you need to reflect on the past to have a vision for the future””

My new lock and home screen!

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 20:44:06 -0500

My new lock and home screen!

Audio

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 23:02:00 -0400

Bijan Sabet: Unsung heroes in startups

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:24:01 -0400

Bijan Sabet: Unsung heroes in startups:

bijan:

In startups, the heroes often cited are the founders. Or the product leads. Or the designers. They are the ones making the headlines or get invited to speak at conferences.

And for good reason. They are driving the vision of the product experience and often breaking new ground. So the praise is…

Couldn’t agree more;

Thick Skin

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 22:11:00 -0400

When you’re part of a startup there is a lot “first”; your first sales call, your first client meeting introducing your new technology, your first investor pitch and so on; whatever “your first” may be you need to seek out and accept constructive criticism. It’s the only way you’re going to get better and when it’s your lively hood on the line you should always be looking to improve. Look towards your teammates to provide that criticism and feedback as they will want you to return the favor. If they don’t, then they might not be start-up material.

hiring for your startup

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 05:52:00 -0400

It’s a big decision when you start hiring employee No. 3,4,5, etc in your startup as they play a huge role in the direction of your company. There’s a lot of great advice about hiring for a startup and before I give you mine here are a few articles I found helpful as the stacks of resumes complied on my desk.

— Hazards of hiring by Eric Sink
— Whom Should You Hire at a Startup? by Mark Suster
— Why startup should ALWAYS compromise when hiring by Dharmesh Shah

Here’s my take on what has worked for us:

Can they sell?
Regardless of the job description, every member of your startup team is a ‘salesmen.’ Every day they should be selling your company/product/technology to anyone they come in contact with and must have an undeniable enthusiasm for it. If not, they might not be right for your startup.

Demo Day
Each candidate making it through the first round of interviews participates in ‘demo day.’ Depending upon the position, each candidate performs “tasks” which are related to the position they’re being hired for. For example, all potential sales execs join us at an on-site client visit as well as make a ‘mock’ presentation of our product as we gauge both their communication and selling skills.

Always be hiring
You’ve heard the old adage, “Good people are hard to fine” which is why you should always be looking for future employees. During interaction with colleagues, vendors or even competitors you need to keep your eye on the talent that’s available even if you’re a few years away from hiring them. Why? The rule of thumb is that it takes 3-6 months to hire a really good person. Why so long? Good people are rare and won’t change jobs very often especially if their employers appreciate their skills and compensates for them. Thus good people choose where they want to work, not vice versa. That’s why it’s important to market your startup as a great place to work so you can start attracting those types of good people.

Communication skills required
Although not every employee needs to write like Ernest Hemingway or speak like Billy Graham they do however need to communicate clearly. Weather they’re writing code in some dark corner office or making 125 cold calls a day in your sales pit, everyone must have good communication skills. In the startup environment there is no layer separating employees from clients because everyone talks to everyone. You must trust that your employees are representing the company well weather their writing blog entries, sending tweets, on the phone offering client support or sending emails.

Hire startup minded people
If someone applies who just spend her entire career at a Fortune 500 company, is she a good fit for your startup? Be aware if they ask about performance reviews, want clear requirements and defined processes. If those types of questions come up, then you need to thank them for their time and show them the door.
Startups are crazy with changing procedures which come with a ton of growing pains. Most of us work outside our “job description” every day and understand rules change constantly. The startup environment is not for everyone so you need to ensure your hire can handle the bedlam of a startup.

These are just a few examples of what we do; what are your tips on hiring?

when one door opens another door opens wider

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:53:00 -0400

Back in April I wrote a post about my newly appointed position as President of Lemon Frog Learning and during the last three months we’ve laid a solid foundation to become a player in the educational technology space. Although I’m not ready to walk away from what we’ve started there are times in life when opportunities present themselves that you can’t walk away from and this new opportunity is one of those. Today I’m excited to announce I’m joining Craig Mandeville’s startup team at Forcura. Forcura is a Healthcare IT leader in document workflow and patient care collaboration whose platform allows physicians and post-acute providers to generate and approve medical orders and forms online. In simple terms Forcura’s technology allows Home Health Agencies and Durable Medical Equipment companies the ability to go paperless and interact without a fax machine. Those familiar with healthcare can appreciate it’s significant and the impact it will have on those companies. I’m grateful for the opportunity with Lemon Frog Learning as it opened the door for me to join Forcura.

lemon frog announces the drop in ceiling mount

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:57:00 -0400

Our newest product launch……..

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - May 16, 2012 – Lemon Frog Learning, a leader in educational technology solutions, announced the addition of the Universal Projector Drop-In Ceiling Mount to their product line. This patented design simply replaces a standard ceiling tile and installs in minutes without a mess.

The Drop-In Ceiling Mount allows teachers the opportunity to create an active learning environment without the hassle of sharing a wheel carted classroom projector. Its design and flexibility fits any classroom projector, provides 360° rotation and comes with a lifetime warranty.

Manufactured by A-V Mounts, the Drop-In Ceiling Mount has already been installed in over 40,000 classrooms throughout the country and Lemon Frog Learning is excited to join their exclusive re-seller network.

“This revolutionary design and structure is intended to meet the challenge of the K-12 environment,” said Corey Dreckman, President of Lemon Frog Learning. “The Drop-In Ceiling Mount fits our mission to provide affordable and accessible technology with special education pricing to fit any budget.”

The Universal Projector Drop-In Ceiling Mount is available for $99 through their full service e-school store, www.LemonFrogLearning.com. Several purchasing options are available ranging from an easy 1 page online checkout to the acceptance of all standard school purchase orders. Volume discounts and guaranteed district pricing as well as fast service with a 24 hour turnaround on most products is also available.

“We have installed this innovative product in every one of our classrooms,” said Mr. Espinoza, a Houston area principal. “It has helped create a more active learning environment for our students.”

About Lemon Frog Learning
Lemon Frog Learning is designed to provide innovative solutions and technology products for today’s classroom. From the art room to the gymnasium to the science lab, Lemon Frog Learning provides affordable and accessible technology products to help save time, money and help educators make a significant impact on student outcomes. We know you’re educating the world leaders of tomorrow and Lemon Frog Learning is here is make that task a little easier.

For more information on Lemon Frog Learning, visit www.lemonfroglearning.com, or Like us on Facebook or follow on Twitter.