Exclusive Download: The Weekly Sync™ Format - Run Your Weekly Team Meetings Following This Structure Easy, Fast & Productive - http://bit.ly/2Xp9B6j

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I’ll never forget this one employee I had just hired at clarity.fm

His first few hours went super smooth.

But then at exactly 4:59pm… the guy BOLTED.

Laptop packed. Door shut. Making a beeline straight to the front door.

My jaw literally dropped. Here was this guy I had just hired… someone who was still getting onboarded to our team, our clients, and our company…

And he was more concerned about beating the afternoon traffic than getting up to speed and aligned with our mission. I mean… what the hell, dude!

I call this “Speed of Their Feet” syndrome. And if your company parking lot turns into a barren wasteland at 5:10pm…

Chances are you have at least ONE of the signs of a toxic work culture that I share in this week’s episode.

At a high level, the clear “signals’ that you have a toxic culture forming are:

1. Speed of their feet
2. Asking for raise/perks
3. Lack of empathy
4. Dissatisfaction and anxiety
5. High turnover
6. Failure to meet deadlines and goals
7. Lack of core values

The second item is where I get a lot of pushback.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with your team members asking for raises or demanding new perks.

In fact, I’m a HUGE believer in rewarding A-players above industry standard.

But if 20, 30, 50% of your team is banging at your door asking for more cash… not only will those rising costs eat you alive, but it’s probably indicative of a deeper problem in your reward structure.

“Asking for raises” can sometimes be a last resort that employees turn to when they’re NOT feeling appreciated or like they’re making progress in their career path… and they decide that they might as well get the most out of their crappy situation.

So always investigate more deeply. Especially if you notice a team-wide trend forming.

The sooner you catch these toxic signals, the sooner you can course correct and make your company an attractive place for A-players to do their best work.

Watch the full episode here, and then drop me a comment letting me know if any of these signals are present in your company, and what you’re actively doing to fix it.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: The Weekly Sync™ Format - Run Your Weekly Team Meetings Following This Structure Easy, Fast & Productive - http://bit.ly/2Xp9B6j

Exclusive Download: Fundraising Like a Pro – The 3 phases of fundraising – 7 week process for starting & closing your round - http://bit.ly/2SLbmeA

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Growing a tech company is hard.

Growing a tech company with lawsuits being thrown at you left and right is nearly impossible.

The good news is, most legal issues that startups face are HIGHLY preventable, and can be sidestepped with just a few simple measures.

In this week’s video, I share the 5 biggest legal issues that startups face… and more importantly,  how to avoid them so that you can grow your company with peace of mind.

(Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer and I don’t play one on the internet. Consult with an attorney before making any legal decisions)

At a high level, the 5 biggest startup legal issues are:

1. Wrong entity
2. IP Ownership
3. Not setting up vesting
4. Not complying with security laws
5. Not doing due diligence

Remember those twins from The Social Network?

The ones who walked away with over 100M of Zucks’ cash over IP infringement?

Well, Zucks probably could’ve avoided that one had he juuuuuust taken a few of the simple measures I mention in #2.

Even if you’re not building a billion dollar social network, chances are that IP assignments play a huge role in your tech company.

Making sure that ownership is properly assigned can save you from major headaches and lawsuits down the line… especially if you hope to raise capital or exit your company.

Take a few mins to watch the full episode, and then let me know of any hard-earned legal lessons you’ve learned in your own journey.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: Fundraising Like a Pro – The 3 phases of fundraising – 7 week process for starting & closing your round - http://bit.ly/2SLbmeA

Exclusive Download: The Weekly Sync™ Format - Run Your Weekly Team Meetings Following This Structure Easy, Fast & Productive - http://bit.ly/2HQxfVQ

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In over 20 years in business, I’ve never met a single founder who hasn’t had to fire at least one employee.

While the thought may create knots in your stomach, letting an employee go is actually a super valuable skill with further reaching implications than you might think.

Because done wrong, It could crush team morale, compromise data, and even cost you valuable customer accounts.

Breaking up isn’t fun… but it’s a skill that as a founder you need to get skilled at.

In this week’s video, I’ll share 5 steps for firmly (but respectfully) letting an employee go… while setting up all stakeholders for a smooth transition.

At a high level, here’s how to let an employee go the right way:

1. Prep accounts
2. Schedule the sit down
3. Not a discussion
4. Remove access
5. Communicate the reason

Of the five, the last one gets the most neglected.

Once they’ve been “let go”, it’s tempting to just move forward and drop it from your mental/emotional bandwidth.

But unless you take a quick 15 mins to inform the rest of your team about the decision, and more importantly, the reasons behind it… you may inadvertently be fueling the rumor mill while planting the seeds for a toxic culture.

At the end of the day, if it’s not working out with an employee you owe it to both THEM and the company to move on gracefully.

You might think that you’re doing them a favor with countless “extra chances’, but it’s likely just your own fear and resistance speaking.

If the writing’s already on the wall, you owe it to everyone involved to move on and let them find a career that they can be a total rockstar at.

Give the episode a full watch here, and then drop me a comment letting me know of any lessons you’ve learnt from letting an employee go.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: The Weekly Sync™ Format - Run Your Weekly Team Meetings Following This Structure Easy, Fast & Productive - http://bit.ly/2HQxfVQ