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Articles by Matt Ehrlichman
How to Use Partnerships as a Growth Strategy
Partnerships reduce costs and help companies operate more efficiently.
5 Reasons to Start a Business With Your Friends
Starting a business with your friends can be a risky proposition. If things don't go well, the relationships may not last or, at least, become incredibly strained. At the same time, starting a business is a challenge in its own right. Who better to have along for the ride than the people you trust? When things get tough, who else to have with you in the heat of battle than your friends? I started my first company out of my dorm room at Stanford University with my roommate and great friend Ronnie.
6 Essential Tips for Every Startup
By Matt Ehrlichman3 minute Read Over the past eight months our company has tripled in size, expanding from 25 employees to 125. During this time we transitioned from working in the basement of my home to a 17,000-square-foot office in Seattle, outgrowing two other temporary spaces in the process. Growing so rapidly in a short of period time isn’t easy, especially for a young startup, but it was a great experience and learning process.
Don't Go It Alone: How to Use Partnerships as a Growth Strategy
Partnerships reduce costs and help companies operate more efficiently. Image credit: Sarinya Pinngam | EyeEm | Getty Images December 7, 2018 6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. One of the most important things I've learned as the founder of multiple businesses is how to find partners that can enable growth and support your company vision.
Declaration of Independents: Thinking Beyond the Gig Economy
We live in a deeply entrepreneurial society. One of the quintessential elements of the American dream is the ability to bypass the traditional model of 9-to-5 employment and establish a business. Many Americans cherish the opportunity to be their own boss, which is why there are almost 30 million small businesses in the country. And over the past few years, this attitude has seen a resurgence in interest.
6 Signs Your Company’s Culture Stinks
Work-health index and industry surveys (like this and this ) that put ‘culture’ at the core of why talent is attracted to or repelled from organizations abound. But you can’t miss what you don’t have–and for most startups, the beliefs and behaviors that create “culture” are being formed on day one, often without conscious effort.
How the Face of Retail is Changing Through Services
In the early 1900s it was the emergence of local corner shops and general stores that dominated in rural America. Fast forward to the 1990s when the rise of the internet changed the way we absorb content, communicate and acquire goods. For all of the changes that have occurred over the last century, retail is being redefined once again, shifting the expectations of both retailers and shoppers. Nobody can deny that Amazon is one of the most important and innovative companies on the planet.
Why Porch joined Starbucks in the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative to Employ America’s Youth
This is an exciting week for Porch.com. Yesterday, along with more than a dozen leading, U.S.-based companies we announced the formation of the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, which has the goal of being the nation's largest employer-led coalition committed to creating pathways to meaningful employment for America's young people.
Before You Bring on Your Next Employee, Check These 3 Things Off Your List
Entrepreneur and CultureIQ are searching for the top high-performing cultures to be featured on our annual list. Think your company has what it takes? Click here to get started. Q: Excluding budget, what are two to three things you should be able to check off before adding a team member? -- Ryan Cox I’ve been building businesses and starting companies for years, and if you ask any of my current or past employees about what I value in an organization, speed would be at the very top of the list.
20 Quotes For Seizing the Opportunity
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world aren't the best coders or sales people, but instead, just really good at seizing great opportunities. In building my company Porch.com, we realized that the best opportunities are when you can truly help solve another's problem, in our case, helping improve your home. Below are a collection of quotes that emphasize the importance of seizing the moment for greatness. 1.
The 3 Key Elements to Make Your Business a Success
Entrepreneur and CultureIQ are searching for the top high-performing cultures to be featured on our annual list. Think your company has what it takes? Click here to get started. Q: What are the key elements of a successful business operation? -- PV A: Great question. I think another way to look it is once you’ve created a product or service that has market fit, what elements are essential for sustaining that success? A few come to mind.
Stopping Out and Starting Up: A Message to Entrepreneurial College Students
For university students across the country, now is an exciting time where they are either graduating or watching their peers move on to complete their degrees. But for some students, that day may have already been put off as they delay shaking hands with the dean and instead shake hands with venture capitalists and angel investors. When I was an undergrad at Stanford University, I was one of those students. I stopped out for a year to build my first technology company.
How to Keep Leaders Focused on a Company's Most Important Metrics
Entrepreneur and CultureIQ are searching for the top high-performing cultures to be featured on our annual list. Think your company has what it takes? Click here to get started. Q: How do you pick which metrics are the most important to drive towards and how do you keep leaders aligned on these goals? -- MD A: Picking out what truly is important to the growth of a business or team is a challenge for any leader.
4 Fundamental Tips for Setting Goals Like a Startup
Pretend for a moment you have two identical companies working on a problem. They have the same resources, the same levels of talent, and they are both competing to win a market. What will set them apart and ultimately define who will succeed is how they approach the problem--and that approach starts by setting the right goals. Goal setting is essential and starts at the leadership level. It varies wildly from case to case as everyone has their own unique style, pace, and expectations.
5 Steps for Getting Meaningful Employee Feedback
As an employee, not feeling like you have the ability to speak your mind about issues that are important to you can be stressful. Employees are the ones who are deeply in touch with customer needs as well as problems and opportunities within the company. That's why it's important that leaders create an environment that will elicit open and candid feedback. Feedback at every level is critical to the success of an organization. Here are five tips to help you create a transparent and open workspace. 1.
12 Motivational Quotes That Aren't for the Weak-Willed
Sometimes we need someone to give us the hard truth--a dose of pure, distilled honesty--to shake up normal patterns and give us fresh perspective. Here is a collection of quotes that have the same effect as jumping into cold water--they are crisp, to the point, and not always altogether pleasant, but they are also undeniably refreshing in their candor. Let this give you the burst of honesty and motivation you need to get things done and make progress. 1) "You have enemies? Good.
Taking the 'Business First' Approach to Scaling a Startup
For many young companies, the road to starting up typically involves prototyping a product or idea. You get some traction and go about raising money, iterating, and ultimately building a healthy business that scales over time. But what if you took the opposite approach? What if you focused on strengthening all aspects for a healthy business by building a platform for which to launch products that truly delight customers?
3 Things to Remember for Conquering Career Uncertainty
Think back to a time when you started a new business, new job, or took on a new role at your existing company. Did you feel at least an ounce of uncertainty before you took the leap? Chances are you felt a mix of nervous energy and excitement because you knew your comfort level would be tested. Many of life's greatest rewards are earned when we step outside of the status quo and experience something new and different.
3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Taking The Leap Into Starting Up
The pursuit of an entrepreneurial venture feels a lot like jumping off a high cliff into deep water. It's scary at first and there's no going back once you leap, but after you muster up the courage, it is one of life's most exhilarating experiences. Before you hastily rush into a triple backflip swan dive, it is best to do some homework and prepare. Is the water deep enough to attempt a safe dive? Has anyone jumped from this point before (and survived)?
5 Traps to Avoid When Raising Money
To bring a great idea to market you need a combination of many things. It takes a great team, the right market, a unique idea or approach, and ultimately capital. For many people the hardest part of the journey is raising capital. Getting investors to buy your vision and belief isn't easy. Many early stage entrepreneurs have found success in building a product that has performed well with early users, but have failed to make the right connection when communicating their story to investors.
3 Things You Grow to Appreciate in a Startup
A few weeks ago I was reminiscing with some early employees at my startup about how much we've grown and how far we've come in the last year and a half. In that time frame 15 employees working out of my basement has grown to more than 350. The three-room, low-ceiling basement has become a 27,000-square-foot Seattle office that gets fuller everyday as we expand and grow our business.
5 Ways to Unlock Your Team's Creative Powers
Any time you produce something new you are putting yourself and your reputation on the line. The creative qualities needed to craft beautiful works of art are no different than the ones needed build a business. It all starts with taking risks and finding new ways to disrupt old ways of thinking. At our company Porch.com, we have put creativity front and center for all our disciplines.
5 Travel Essentials for Startup Entrepreneurs
The startup philosophy is all about being as efficient and effective as possible, so why should travel be any different? When things are lean and traveling is a must you can't waste time or money. As a serial entrepreneur I have been on the road a lot over the years. From my earliest businesses to my latest endeavor, Porch.com, I have picked up quite a few habits that allow me to maximize my time out of the office. Establish a routine and keep it.
13 Quotes That Define Employee Engagement
I firmly believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to do work that they love. Unfortunately, we don't live in a world where that is always a reality. That's why it's up to employers to do their best to get the right people in the right roles at the right time with work that is truly engaging. At my company Porch.com, we prioritize employee happiness and engagement in order to build a company that people are enthusiastic and excited to work for.
How to Stay Consistent When You're Scaling Rapidly
In January 2014 Porch.com announced a strategic partnership with Lowe's home improvement that would ultimately place Porch in every Lowe's store in the country (over 1,700 all told) by May 2014. Coming out of that announcement, we knew that we would need to hire aggressively over the course of the year in order to scale our business so we could successfully deliver on our promise to delight customers, homeowners, and professionals alike, across the country.
My Startup Grew from 30 to 300 Employees in a Year: What I Learned Along the Way
Once you've figured out the math behind what it takes to grow your business and you are ready to hire world-class, how do you speed scale your startup so you can grow and thrive?In the calendar year of 2014, my startup Porch.com went from a startup of around 30 employees to well over 300. Scaling that fast wasn't easy, and with a steep growth curve requires an even steeper learning curve.Throughout the process we tried many things--some worked and some didn't.
5 Characteristics of Entrepreneurial Spirit
There are some characteristics in work and life that you just can't teach. They form from within and over time, they become part of who we are. One of those characteristics is the entrepreneurial spirit. It develops in the individuals who demonstrate a true passion for building something great from nothing and they are willing to push themselves to the limits to achieve big goals. As an entrepreneur, these are the people you want to hire and surround yourself with.
Entreprenuers overcome their fear of failure with different strategies
What's one piece of advice you have for other entrepreneurs struggling with the fear of failure? "Donald Trump famously filed for bankruptcy four separate times. By no means am I saying this should be part of your business plan, but as a worst-case scenario, it's affirming to know that you can bounce back.
Are You Engaged? 4 Traits of Truly Engaged Employees
When we are truly engaged in a task we block out any noise or distractions they may surround us. Hours melt away as we become intensely focused on an activity, hobby, or project, harnessing a passion that fuels us to produce something great. To be deeply engaged in anything is a rewarding and enjoyable experience--but what does it mean to be truly engaged as an employee in the workplace?
Why the Right Strategy Is Different than a 'Right Now' Strategy
As an entrepreneur, some of the most enjoyable (and challenging) decisions are made when you are figuring out your strategic roadmap. When you're starting up, the impact of these decisions is compounded. It's important to ask yourself: Are you are working on the "right" strategy, or are you executing against a "right now" strategy? For example, it can be exciting to spend time and money driving tons of traffic to your website.
7 Ways to Increase Productivity by Saying No
Two years ago, my wife and I were raising our two-year-old son, going through the process of building our first home, and building my company Porch.com out of the basement of our rental home. The word "busy" doesn't even begin to describe what life was like (and still is!). To be successful as a husband, father, and entrepreneur, I had to get great at saying one word: no.
23 Essential Quotes on Gratitude
For entrepreneurs, it's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind that is building a business. There are always problems to solve, new goals to achieve, and opportunities just within reach. But starting up is about more than just reaching a destination. It's about enjoying the journey and taking time to recognize and appreciate every moment along the way. Here are 23 quotes that remind us to not always look to the future, but to take time to appreciate and be grateful for the things we already have. 1.
6 Ways to Increase Your Company's Agility
With today's ever-accelerating flow of information, the organizations that succeed are the ones who have agility grafted into their DNA. At their very core, companies must now be structured in a way to encourage adaptability and iteration, both internally and externally, or risk falling into the pack.
3 Things Holding You Back From Getting Started
Ideas are a dime a dozen. It doesn't matter if you have the best idea in the world for a business or any other endeavor, if you can't turn it into a reality. The only thing that really matters for any project or business is execution--and it begins by simply getting started. I have always felt that you can accomplish just about anything through sheer will and perseverance, but a lot of entrepreneurs just can't seem to muster up the gumption to get past the idea stage.
The 8 Principles of Customer Delight
Delighting customers is about more than just meeting their needs in the moment.It's about building authentic relationships that stand the test of time.If a customer complains or is unhappy with your product or service, don't be discouraged.If they cared enough to share their feedback, you have been given a great opportunity to better understand what is needed to truly delight your customer base.Customer delight is a core value at Porch.com.
9 Essential Tools for Building Your Startup
Imagine trying to construct an entire home from the ground up all by yourself. Now imagine trying to do it with no tools. Could you do it? The chances are slim, and even if you did end up building something, the process would likely be slow and the results unimpressive. Building a startup is no different. You need powerful tools and people who know how to use them.
5 Mindsets of Highly Effective Sellers
Even the most basic sales training make an average seller out of a complete novice. But what truly sets the best sales people apart from the pack? The answer is in their mindset--how they fundamentally identify with their product and sales process. To help my startup build a culture of highly effective sellers, we hired sales industry veteran Rod Browning to lead our sales organization.
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