Zero to IPO: Over $1 Trillion of Actionable Advice from the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

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CRASHING AND BURNING

ln 2000, I was the first employee at a promising startup that wanted to help Fortune 500 companies deploy e-commerce platforms in Latin America. I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to set up the office there. It was a dream job. I was 23 years old, and I’d been given an enormous opportunity. The entire world needed to move to digital sales, but most companies helping industries make this shift were focused on the United States. This job was a chance to get in early and have massive impact across an entire region.

But it soon became apparent the startup had serious problems. First, we had no strategic plan. There was no sales team, so instead of methodically building up a pipeline of business, we lurched from contract ...