Author Archives: alexford

About alexford

Alex Ford is an accomplished entrepreneur, angel investor and executive and the founder of Praetorian Digital.

The Art of giving Negative Feedback: Part 3 – Hone Your Delivery

As I discussed in the first two parts of this series, it’s critical to set the right context for delivering negative feedback as a manager and leader as well as build a feedback process. But even if you’ve done a … Continue reading

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The Art of Giving Negative Feedback: Part 2 – Build a ‘Feedback Process’

If you’ve set the right context within your team – established objectives, focused on professional development and clarified expectations – the next step is to make feedback part of your company DNA and build a ‘feedback process’. For me, having … Continue reading

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The Art of Giving Negative Feedback: Part 1 – Set the Right Context

Learning to give negative feedback not only constructively, but gracefully, is one of the toughest and most important lessons of being an effective entrepreneur or business professional because it’s one of the skills that elevates you from being a manager … Continue reading

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Sleepless in Business: Tips for Managing Stress and Catching ZZZs

It’s to no one’s surprise that sleepless nights and stress go hand in hand with running a business, starting a company or working to advance your career. There is always something to worry about – an important sales meeting or … Continue reading

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Simple Rule: Don’t Give Negative Feedback in Email (or Via Text)

In my 15 years of being a CEO, there is one simple rule I follow: Never send negative feedback via email. That includes chat or text message and essentially anything electronic. Particularly for those of you in the workforce under … Continue reading

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Curate Your Company Culture – How to Build an Apolitical Company Environment

Politics and drama are often seen as unavoidable fixtures in business and corporate life. Is it possible to create a culture that spits out drama and minimizes the politics? I know a lot of accomplished business people who take a … Continue reading

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Tip: Hire people who can grow with your company.

There’s a lot of advice out there about how to hire. Clearly you need people who are smart, proactive, self-starters, team players and have the right skills. The list goes on and on. But if you’re running a small, growing company … Continue reading

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If you’re interested in startups, where do you fall?

Where do you fall? This is right on. If you’re in the middle, this clearly depicts both both the excitement and challenge that comes with being a CEO or entrepreneur.

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Answer these Four Questions to Raise Angel Investment

The other week, I received an email from a fellow entrepreneur asking that if I had just one piece of advice to offer someone who was looking raise angel investment for their business, what it would be. Here’s my response, … Continue reading

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Quote: Steve Jobs on Focus and Simplicity

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you … Continue reading

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