“There are no silver bullets for this, only lead bullets.” They

both unassuming and classy.

it’s possible to do something ten times better, it’s also possible that you won’t be the only company to figure that out. Therefore, you must take the market before somebody else does. Very few products are ten times better than the competition’s, so unseating the new incumbent is much more difficult than unseating the old one.

When founders come in to pitch our firm—one as the CEO and the other as president—the conversation often goes like this: “Who is running the company?” “We are,” they both say. “Who makes the final decision?” “We do.” “How long do you expect to run that way?” “Forever.” “So you’ve decided to make it more difficult for every employee to get work done

As a CEO, there is no such luxury. As CEO,

is the employee’s meeting rather than the manager’s meeting.

On one such call, a salesperson described an account that he’d forecast in detail: “I have buy-in from my champion, the vice president that he reports to, and the head of purchasing. My champion assures me that they’ll be able to complete the deal by the end of the fiscal quarter.” Mark quickly replied, “Have you spoken to the vice president’s peer

we instituted a ruthlessly enforced ten-dollar-per-minute fine for being late to a meeting with an entrepreneur.

so treat them with the appropriate level of respect. Still, the company must move forward, so be careful not to apologize too much.