http://www.ovp.com Wed, 16 May 2012 20:49:57 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.ovp.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.ovp.com http://www.ovp.com/content/view/499/174/ (and why should you do one) I recently was handed the task of stepping in as the “provisional government” while the CEO of one of our portfolio companies underwent some major medical issues for 3-6 months. As part of the planning for how that would work, he and I sat down with his management team and laid out an “authority audit” process so everyone would be clear on when to pull me in, and when not to. Blog - Entrepreneurship Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:43:28 +0100 http://www.ovp.com/content/view/481/174/ That's part of the title of my book - the rest of which reads, An Insider's Guide to Venture Capital. It's all about how to raise money from venture capital firms, and then use it wisely, based on my observations and painful lessons after almost 20 years on the VC side of the table and a previous 11 as a consumer of venture capital. Rather than wax eloquently about the benefits you might get from reading it, I'll leave that to others on the web sites where it can be obtained (Smashwords.com (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/70334) for eBooks and Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/take-the-money-and-run-an-insiders-guide-to-venture-capital/17147084?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/3) for print). Instead, here is some of what I've learned from the process of writing and publishing my first book. Blog - Entrepreneurship Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:45:18 +0100 http://www.ovp.com/content/view/477/174/ A update to a previous blog post, but a topic that is really never outdated! If you have ever been a CEO or a Board Member,or aspire to either, you know how significant and painful it can be to remove a leader. Not just for the individual, but for the enterprise as a whole. Gerry Langeler was asked to put together a presentation as part of a webinar for Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. We thought it might be useful to share with a wider audience. Check it out at http://live.oen.org/7_reasons_to_replace_a_ceo Blog - Entrepreneurship Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:28:48 +0100 http://www.ovp.com/content/view/473/174/ Over the past decade or so, companies have moved from separate sick time and vacation time allocations to a more flexible and employee-friendly personal time off or PTO approach. For well established firms, this makes a lot of sense as it rewards employees who stay healthy with more actual time off, and doesn't encourage skirting the truth about whether one was sick or just needed a break from work. My personal favorite story was from the pre-PTO days when a young woman in my firm called in to take one of her sick days on a sunny spring morning. The next day she showed up at work with reverse raccoon goggles and a cast on her leg - courtesy of a day on the slopes. Busted! But for early-stage start-ups, PTO comes with a downside, one we're living with right now. Blog - Entrepreneurship Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:13:34 +0100