Start-ups

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Talent Chemistry: How to Identify Someone’s Zone of 10X— Fast!

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Talent Chemistry: How to Identify Someone’s Zone of 10X— Fast!

In the context of business, Talent Chemistry is the art of aligning diverse individual strengths, talents, and contributions, so that the output is greater than the sum of its parts (Talent Synergy). However, without undertaking a detailed, long-winded psychometric analysis, how can you quickly determine someone's natural talents even if you haven't worked with them before? In this post, we share exactly that.

  • A quick 2-question process to determine the zone of someone's natural talent.

  • What behaviors to look for to identify their natural talent footprint.

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The Flow of Capital: Human Value Systems & Capital Allocation

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The Flow of Capital: Human Value Systems & Capital Allocation

You have probably heard talk about values in terms of:

  • Partnering with the right people.

  • Building a company culture.

  • Living a congruent, self-aligned life.

We want to focus— in simple terms— on how value-systems and capital tells us a lot about changes in the market and ecosystem.

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Relationship-Building: The Downside of ‘Giving’

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Relationship-Building: The Downside of ‘Giving’

What happens when all you do is ask from a relationship without giving anything back? The other party won't feel there is any value in continuing to interact with you.

What happens if all someone does in a relationship is 'give' to you without taking anything you offer them? You won't feel you are contributing to the relationship, you won't feel valued for what you bring to the relationship, and the interaction will be discontinued.

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Strategic Productivity: How to Maximize Your Throughput Without Feeling Drained

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Strategic Productivity: How to Maximize Your Throughput Without Feeling Drained

There is a distinction between the habit of being productive and being busy — being busy is activity-based execution with no direction, and being productive means executing the activities that bring you closer to the experience of personal and professional fulfillment. Busy-ness diminishes your well-being, while true productivity enriches you from the inside out.

At Valence Advisory, we've put together a simple 5-point productivity cycle that will help you:

  • Focus on the work you find rewarding and enjoyable.

  • Lead, manage, and foster reports, helping them develop a stronger immune response to ‘productivity theater.’

  • Feel clearer, more confident, and in control.

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Founder WellBeing: Our Top 9 Ways to Recharge in 'No Time'

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Founder WellBeing: Our Top 9 Ways to Recharge in 'No Time'

To think that work-life ‘balance’ exists for founders during the formative and growth stages of a company is an illusion— the operating contexts is demanding, and appropriately so. However, that does not mean:

  1. Growing your startup needs to be net-negative to your wellbeing. 

  2. Caring for your wellbeing has to be time-consuming.

In this post, we share 9 simple activities we use to optimize our wellbeing without having to sacrifice large amounts of time. We have shared them with our professional networks informally— clients, colleagues, and partners. In codifying it in a post, we hope it inspires you to create your own rituals around wellbeing and happiness. 

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Values Fulfillment: A Simple Way to Determine Core Values, Grow Self-Awareness, and Connect with Others Effectively

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Values Fulfillment: A Simple Way to Determine Core Values, Grow Self-Awareness, and Connect with Others Effectively

One way to grow your self-awareness is to clarify and articulate your core values. Understanding your— and others'— core values can lead to several benefits:

  • Clearer and more confident decision-making. 

  • Inspired action-taking. 

  • Ease of identifying the right stakeholders you want to partner with— investors, employers, advisors.

  • Better trust and alignment with people in your life— colleagues, reports, partners, family, and friends.

  • Greater personal satisfaction and fulfillment. 

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How to Write a Great Email Request for Introduction: Investment, Hiring, Sales, and Anything Else.

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How to Write a Great Email Request for Introduction: Investment, Hiring, Sales, and Anything Else.

A friend of a friend happens to be looking to hire someone like you. 

Your ex-boss decides to be an angel investor just as you choose to found a startup. 

A relative happens to work for the key decision-maker at the very company you want to secure an enterprise contract with. 

You successfully raise a round of funding, and an employee happens to know a team of talented, tight-knit engineers looking for a new company to work for— 

— These serendipitous events can turn into great opportunities for everyone involved. However, unless someone activates their relationships and networks with clear intent, a lot of these brilliant opportunities can go by unrealized.

The opportunity: when you combine the right approach with modern-day technology, you can effectively activate your networks to reach people who would otherwise remain strangers.