Confessions of a Startup CEO: We Won!

There’s a lot of excitement around the office coming off a big win up in Boston!  The North Bridge Venture Partners venture competition featured a $75k prize but it also came with a hearty vote of confidence.

Confessions of a Startup CEO: Kick-off party tonight!

We’re kicking this project off right tonight at Profitably World HQ!  Team, advisors, significant others, and random passers by will be drinking a little champagne to celebrate the achievements to date and gear up for the road ahead. The launch party will be a bit more elaborate…when an actual launch comes together!   But for tonight, the team gets to put …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: True confessions

Today we launch a new format for Confessions.  The glossier “Disney” style is out, and I am speaking a bit more from the heart about our challenges as well as our successes.  It might take a few episodes to really get it right, but I think a more frank format will provide a much more honest and open window into …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: Start-up lessons learned…from Led Zeppelin

“We’re hope that we are Led Zeppelin’s first album…for small business analytics.” What else can I say about that?  Watch the video and pass along the link! Transcription: Hi! I am Adam Neary, and this is “Confessions of a Startup CEO.” Today’s episode is called “Startup lessons learned from Led Zeppelin,” and the episode is prompted by all the great …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: It’s all about boat speed.

In this episode, we talk through the importance of momentum, and how the metaphor of boat speed is so relevant to early stage start-ups. The post was triggered by a number of key milestones that have helped us build a ton of momentum and buzz around NYC (well, not ALL around NYC, but we’re working hard!), including: Identification of our …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: You’re not unique, and it’s a good thing.

In this episode, we talk through why being unique can be such a drain on a small business. Small businesses should be unique when it comes to their core offering and they way they address the marketplace, but when it comes to the non-core activities, they should be conforming to best practices and seeking out solutions other businesses have employed …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: Customer development

In this episode, we talk about the importance of thorough customer development in the form of research, surveys, and as much actual customer interaction as possible. We want to make sure we really understand the pain points and what we can do to help solve them. If you’re a small business owner, please click here to take the survey if …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: The pitch!

In this episode, we unveil the concept as we emerge from stealth mode. The video is basically a trial run for a pitch to investors later this week through the Founder Institute. Importantly, though, we aren’t raising money at this stage, just raising awareness. I would love to hear your thoughts. Comment away! Transcription: I am Adam Neary and this …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: It’s the design, stupid!

In this episode, we talk about how difficult the challenge will be for the poor soul who joins up with us in the role of Chief Creative Officer. We are currently hiring for a co-founder level role to help us with design. The hope is that if we find the right person we can give him/her the keys to the …

Confessions of a Startup CEO: New Year’s Resignations

In this episode, we introduce the new format and talk about my resignation from AlixPartners to launch a start-up. On a personal note, I cannot tell you how nice it is to speak candidly about this process. I feel like the last 6 months have been in “ultra-stealth” mode as I continued to hold my previous job. Now like are …