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This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

You did it all: you built a valuable venture and sold it. The contract was signed... finally! The wire transfer came through. You are wealthy. Congratulations! So, what's next?

Why even think about that ahead of time? Two reasons. First, if you think about it clearly now, you will be better positioned to know what you want when you negotiate your exit. Secondly, many people go a bit "off the rails" when they finally get to relax after years of hard venture-building. This post assumes you had a big payday; if the exit was just enough for you to pay off some debts, you'll probably be back at work on Monday -- not much else to consider.

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

There are two schools of thought about founders as CEOs. One school says that founders rarely make good CEOs: the skill sets are simply different. The founders may make more money in the end, but they need to hire professional CEOs. The poster children for this school are Sergey Brin and Larry Page as Google's founders, with Eric Schmidt as CEO. The other school says that no one has as much passion, drive, and deep market and technological understanding as the founder, and so they are best off remaining as CEO. The poster children for this school are Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. As a founder, which school of thought do you belong to? If you have a point of view, how do you make sure your point of view prevails? Above all, make sure you at least have a point of view.

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

If you have raised money from investors, you will need to sell the company at some point for them to get a financial return. It's simple: if you don't want to sell your company, then don't raise external equity capital; if you want to maintain control indefinitely, then opt to incur debt instead (and meet your debt covenants). You may find an unusual breed of equity investor who is looking for long-term dividends. But the normal deal with venture investors is to sell the company within approximately five years so that they can get a capital gain.

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

When you first start out, you will find it amazing that anyone will even listen attentively to your idea. Then, someone actually investing money at all in your venture seems extraordinary. When your first revenue comes in, the validation is wonderful. What happens after that? A quick exit and off to have some fun? Perhaps, but many entrepreneurs go through a grind-it-out phase. How you approach this phase will depend on how much you enjoy it and how effective you are at it.

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

There comes a time for every venture when the owners have to decide whether hockey-stick-like growth is feasible or not. In your initial plan, you indicated a sudden surge in revenue at a certain point in time, i.e. where the hockey stick shows up. You have now reached that point. You may have a great business, but will it hit the big time?

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

The three steps to building an online brand are:

1. Look good,

2. Get noticed,

3. Build trust.

In the long run, only the last one matters. Enron's logo was just fine, and it got noticed, but on that last count, well...

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

If you have kids, you will often hear (or use) the phrase, "That is not age-appropriate behavior." Young ventures need age-appropriate systems and processes, too. Too little process, and the venture descends into chaos. Too much process, and the venture becomes a slow-moving bureaucracy, and that is equally deadly. For example, having an accounts receivable process that was designed for a company with billions of dollars in sales is pointless when your venture is just starting out. So, how do you build age-appropriate systems and processes?

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

The language of business is numbers, not concepts. All kinds of numbers exist, profit being the most obvious. Some are forward-looking: proxies and drivers of revenue and profit. As CEO, you will be held accountable for "hitting your numbers." If you hit them, your life will be easy and your business valuable. If you don't, expect the opposite. It's that simple.

You have to hit your numbers. But how do you do that?

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

We added this chapter after reading a recent comment:

"Can you/anyone help me to find the best reading on "Building an A-Team"? I have a friend who has a problem relating to this title and can't wait for the chapter to be written.

This CEO has two partners who are more of a pair of lead bookends than contributors.

I've made recommendations, but he's too timid to call them to task or, better still, hit the eject button on them.

Hate to see him sink."

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

In How to Be an Effective CEO, we noted three things that a CEO has to do. One of them is to hire and fire a top management team. One of the simplest rules to understand is:

Hire an A-Team and it will hire an A-Team. Hire a B-Team and it will hire a C-Team.

This is simple to understand but hard to execute.