SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 Once you’ve secured your advisor(s), the question becomes more complicated: How are you going to generate the greatest possible ROI from the relationship? In other words, how do you manage an advisor to make it worth your time and money? Professional advisors have the potential to make a major impact on the…

DECEMBER 29, 2016 The drama and glamour of launch will create a swell of emotion that is hard to resist even for the most stoic entrepreneur. The glamour of a start-up launch is hard to resist. Maybe there’s a provocative splash page or a mysterious sign-up list that makes people want to be among the…

NOVEMBER 23, 2016 Great press and the hype surrounding launches can feed an entrepreneur’s ego and even spark a temporary swell of excitement and energy into a company, but often at the expense of doing the hard, slow work of serving customers well. Silicon Valley is obsessed with “launching” things. Like ideas, launches are now…

FEBRUARY 11, 2017 Waiting around for your next big break to just appear isn’t an option for most entrepreneurs, and it places too much emphasis on luck. Locking yourself in a room to dream up your next great business idea typically yields the same results as waiting, if not worse. Even if you have a…

JANUARY 18, 2017 If you can’t deliver the right product or service to the right customer in a way that is better, faster, or cheaper than your competitors—and in a way that is difficult to copy—then your business won’t be around long. Over the past few weeks I’ve been writing about the myths and misconceptions…

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 Your entrepreneurial story isn’t a timeline, it’s a culmination of key moments, lessons learned, pivots, motivation, frustrations, and successes. Humans have been telling stories since the beginning of time. One of the most important stories you will ever tell is your entrepreneurial story. Your ability to do this well will have a…

FEBRUARY 17, 2017 Throw out your assumptions about what success looks like and start instead by asking yourself the hard questions. Who are you? What challenges have you overcome? What special talents do you have? It’s nearly impossible to craft a universal definition of “happiness” because it varies so significantly from person to person. The…

OCTOBER 2, 2017 “Would you choose a job you love, for the rest of your life, that only pays you US$50K per year? Or a job you hate, for ten years, that pays you US$1M per year?” Last week, I asked a group of highly-motivated Acton prospects this exact question. My goal was to give…

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 As the CEO at the Acton School of Business, I talk to a lot of people who are thinking through whether an MBA is the right next move. For some, the pursuit of an MBA seems more of a sabbatical from the real world; for others, a deep dive in learning the…

OCTOBER 25, 2017 We often hear this question from entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who are trying to decide if getting an MBA or getting one from Acton is the right next step. Acton alumnus and guest writer Chase Pattillo (’12) comments on the question and explains the value that Acton presents beyond a simple degree…