Top 10 Startup Leadership Posts of 2014

With the holidays in full swing, founders and executives often get the chance to step away from the day-to-day headaches of growing a business, spend time with family, and reflect on how they can improve their management and leadership skills in the New Year.
To help you facilitate that self-improvement, we’ve pulled together a list of our top 10 leadership posts from the past 12 months. Featuring insight from founders like Box’s Aaron Levie and Balihoo’s Pete Gombert, and advice on to make your organization a culture-focused powerhouse, these articles provide plenty of great reading material to get you through a much-needed holiday break.

10) Why Strong Company Culture is Cultivated, Not Created You might offer your employees flashy perks like unlimited vacation time or in-office yoga, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a strong company culture. Pete Gombert, founder and Chairman of Balihoo, breaks down the essence of cultivating company culture and reveals the four core values that have Balihoo regarded as one of the best places to work at in America. Read his story.

9) Customer Success Management and the Critical Path to SaaS Renewals Poor user adoption and the lack of perceived value by customers is the greatest challenge faced by SaaS vendors. Quite simply, a customer that is not using your software and not realizing measurable business value from their IT investment will not be your customer for long. Jason Whitehead, CEO of Tri Tuns shares the first steps to making customer success a top priority. photo by: katerha

8) Startup Summer Reading: Top 10 Business Books for Entrepreneurs Forget the latest bestselling thriller, building your business offers all the twists, turns, and cliff-hangers you can handle. Here are 10 must-read books for entrepreneurs to dive into this summer, instead. See the list. photo by: Bill Sutton

7) Thinking Outside the Box: Aaron Levie’s 4 Keys to Dominating Enterprise Software Whether you’re the founder of a software startup trying to compete against big competitors or a serial entrepreneur looking for the next great enterprise opportunity, Aaron Levie, the co-founder and CEO of Box, has some advice for you: Avoid doing the obvious.

6) The 12 Warning Signs of Startup Success Leadership and growth expert Kirk Dando sheds light on 12 signs your growing company is falling victim to the very thing you’ve been working so hard for — success. See the warning signs. photo by: SMcGarnigle

5) SaaS Metrics and Benchmarks Resource Guide An overview of the most critical SaaS metrics, along with tips and insights on how to measure and act on them to boost your revenue and fuel your growth. photo by: Saskia

4) Endangered Species? Management’s New Prime Directive Are managers soon to be an endangered species? As fast-moving, innovative companies do away with traditional hierarchies, Scrum co-creator Dr. Jeff Sutherland warns that the role of the manager needs to adapt to survive in today’s agile environment.

3) How to Set SMART Goals for 2014 What are SMART goals and why is setting them so important for growing companies? With this easy-to-follow process you’ll keep your business focused and on track to make a big impact this year.

2) 3 Steps to Creating a Smart SaaS Pricing Structure Is your SaaS business facing a pricing crisis and you don’t even know it? Software pricing expert Jim Geisman shares three tips for developing a tiered pricing structure that clearly communicates the value of your various product options or editions. Learn how to set your best price. photo by: kennymatic

1) Agile Done Right & Agile Done Wrong In this week’s Labcast, Co-Creator of Scrum Jeff Sutherland explains why Healthcare.gov was such a software development disaster, and why Spotify, on the other hand, is a terrific example of Agile done right.

Bonus Gift

Free Guide to Defining and Realizing Your Company’s Mission, Vision, and Values
For long-term success, focusing on company development may just be the most important step you can take next year. But to be truly effective, aspirations have to be more than just words on a page. Download our free guide to help you develop your priorities, align your efforts, and drive real impact in 2015.





Photo by: Todd Quackenbush