Partner Vetting Questions Founders Skip
Partner vetting at mid-market is operational due diligence, not an M&A room. CISA Secure by Demand (6 Aug 2024) plus registrar, restore date, and named operator. Four shrugs is a no.
Pillar
Entrepreneurship
Lessons from starting and running ventures
13 articles • Page 1 of 2
Who Owns the Site, the Host, and the Login on a Retainer
Who owns your website on a retainer is three questions: site, host, and login. U.S. copyright vests in the author unless assigned. Keep the registrar. Let an operator hold the night-shift login.
Managed Website and Writing Without a Ten-Person Team
Managed website and writing without a ten-person team: one retained department for site, host, and night-shift login. Brooks: more people, more paths. You keep the registrar and the data. SparkToro 2024: 58.5 percent of US Google searches had no click.
Burnout Doesn't Look Like What You Think It Looks Like
72% of entrepreneurs are impacted by mental health conditions. 77% never seek help. Peer-reviewed research shows detachment doesn't work for founders — but control does.
Watch Competitors. Don't Build Their Roadmap.
Competitor awareness is not the same as competitor obsession. One keeps you informed. The other replaces your roadmap with theirs.
IT Platform Consolidation Cost Savings vs Claims
IT platform consolidation cost savings vs vendor claims should be scored against waste you already have. Flexera 2025: 27 percent of IaaS and PaaS spend unused. Changing the logo is not savings.
When to Automate and When to Hire
Automation and hiring solve different problems. Conflating them is one of the more expensive strategic mistakes a growing business makes.
The Real Cost of Context-Switching
Gerald Weinberg's research shows that switching between two projects costs 20% of productive capacity to each. Three projects: 40%. Founders run eight simultaneously and wonder why nothing ships.
When to Fire a Client
The clients who consume the most capacity rarely produce the most revenue. The math on who stays is straightforward. The conversation is harder.