Burn vs. build: Putting your VC money to work

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conquer the Chaos and CEO of Infusionsoft. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

Raising a pile of cash is a huge blessing for entrepreneurs.  But it can also be a serious curse.

When entrepreneurs suddenly have a wealth of capital to grow their business, the decisions about how to invest that capital become difficult.  As an entrepreneur, it’s often hard to know whether … Continue Reading

3 strategies to achieve web start-up success

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conquer the Chaos and CEO of Infusionsoft. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

It used to be that software companies could become very large – and very successful – by putting a bunch of “shelf ware” into the market.  In other words, it didn’t matter whether the customer used the software.  As long as the customer paid that fat licensing fee, the … Continue Reading

3 ways to avoid costly customers

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conquer the Chaos and CEO of Infusionsoft. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

Ambitious entrepreneurs push hard to acquire more customers and grow the business.  But too often, we push forward in our business growth initiatives without realizing the cost of acquiring the wrong customers.  These are the ones who complain often, demand extra resources and erode employee morale.  They might add to … Continue Reading

5 things you’re doing that are killing your culture

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conquer the Chaos and CEO of Infusionsoft. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

We’re kind of crazy about culture at my company.  We know that happy employees make happy customers make happy shareholders.  Plus, it’s just a lot more fun to go to work when you enjoy the environment, your co-workers and the company’s mission.  We make it a point to study great … Continue Reading

5 metrics every software CEO should obsess over

Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conquer the Chaos and CEO of Infusionsoft,. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

There’s an old business maxim that goes “Where performance is measured, performance improves.  Where performance is measured and reported, performance improves dramatically.” And pretty much every manager has observed the truth in it.

Humans, though, can only focus on so many things at once.  So, measuring the right things is … Continue Reading

6 ways to grow a successful small business without going crazy

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conquer the Chaos and CEO of Infusionsoft,. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

The lifelong “company man” has become a relic of the past. New businesses are being launched in record numbers as the Internet lowers the barriers to entry and levels the playing field.

But most startups fail. In the next 12 months, 600,000 new small businesses will be created in the … Continue Reading

5 reasons today’s entrepreneurs are taking the plunge

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is the co-founder and CEO of software company Infusionsoft. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

If you took the time to sit down and sift through the US Census Bureau data, you’d see that over the past few years, entrepreneurs are starting new businesses at an unprecedented rate.  Consistently, the number of existing businesses at the end of the year has increased by between 500,000 and 1million.

That means that before … Continue Reading

5 tips for managing a growth-stage company

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is the co-founder and CEO of software company Infusionsoft. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

Starting and growing a business is not for the faint of heart – especially if you want to grow fast.  When I say “grow fast” I’m talking about rates of 80-100 percent per year.  It’s achievable, even in this economy, but it results in spectacular highs and lows and tests and stretches the entrepreneurial venture in … Continue Reading

Our secret to getting funded

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is the co-founder and CEO of software company Infusionsoft. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

While many entrepreneurs dream of raising capital from the outset, the reality is that most startups must be bootstrapped long before an angel investor or venture capital firm will give them the time of day.

At Infusionsoft, we bootstrapped the company in the beginning and eventually secured $17 million in two rounds of venture capital … Continue Reading

10 lessons in bootstrapping a business

(Editor’s note: Clate Mask is co-founder and CEO of Infusionsoft. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

There are two ways to build a business: Raise a bunch of money or bootstrap. When I was in business school, there wasn’t much attention given to the bootstrapping notion. The “MBA way” of growing a business is to write a business plan, raise money and then execute the business plan. But I think that’s almost always the wrong … Continue Reading