VC Leader’s Top Ten survival list

John Doer, the legendary VC partner of Kleiner, Perkins recently offered his Top Ten list of how to survive during a struggling economy. There is a technology and start-up twist to it that may not be universally applicable, but the essence of it remains relevant.
Here are a few that John and I share in our advice to clients:

  1. Negotiate! Everything is up for grabs at this point, leases included. It can’t hurt to ask.
  2. Sell. Everyone in the company should be selling, an honorable profession, because revenue raising is just as important as cost reduction.
  3. Overcommunicate. You can’t spend enough time talking to employees and customers.
  4. Work against a 90 days plan. If the revenue isn’t there, reset the plan.

The list referenced above is a shorthand list. You can visit All Things Digital and find the full video of that discussion here.

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