Kitsap Small Business Update

KITSAP/BUSINESS—Startups don’t need to pay high salaries because they can offer something better: part ownership of the company itself, Equity is the one form of compensation that can effectively oriented people toward creating value for the future. However, for Equity to create commitment rather than conflict, you must allocate it carefully. Giving everyone equal shares

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WA POPULATION—24,486 Bainbridge Island is a small city in western Washington state. It’s connected to Seattle by ferry. The forested Bloedel Reserve has landscaped gardens and trails. Nearby, coastal Fay Bainbridge Park and Campground feature an east-facing beach with the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound views. SILVERDALE, WA POPULATION—21,677 Silverdale is a town

KITSAP/BUSINESS—For people to be fully committed, they should be adequately compensated. Whenever an entrepreneur invests in his company, the very first thing he should be thinking about is how much he will pay himself? Yes, a company does better the less it pays the CEO—that’s one of the single most evident patterns noticed in a

KITSAP/BUSINESS—Companies also realize that a good mood is contagious and can spread from one person to another. Were you not convinced? What do you do when a baby smiles at you? Smile back, of course. So the mood of the people providing a service is also contagious. Psychologists label it as emotional contagion7—the phenomenon of

Evangelism comes from the Greek word that means “to proclaim the good news.” “When people believe in your product, they will help you succeed through credible, continuous, and cost-effective proselytization.” Evangelism is not mucked up with the desire to kill competitors and make fortunes. Customers don’t care if you want to destroy the competition. They

There’s one more test to apply to candidates, the Shopping Mall Test. “Life is too short to work with people you don’t like—especially in a startup.” This is how it works. Suppose you are at a shopping mall; you see a candidate before he notices you. At that point, you can do one of the

KITSAP/BUSINESS—Make it clear to anyone you hire that working in a startup is different from what they are used to and separate from the movies and sitcoms. For the former, you need to ask, “Can you fly coach, function without a secretary, and stay in cheap motels?” You might scare off a few desirable prospects,

GIST KITSAP/BUSINESS—Few tasks are more exciting than recruiting great people for a hot startup, and few factors are more critical to success than great people. It’s not enough that candidates are qualified to work for your startup; they must also believe in your product because working for a startup is closer to a religion than

SEATTLE/BUSINESS—If there’s a crud in your company that you haven’t or can’t clean up immediately, disclose it to investors early in the fund-raising process. The later you reveal it, the harder it is to inform, and the more it will harm your credibility. For example, Garage Technology Ventures once invested in a company that disclosed