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- Let your board help with “what” and “why” – but rarely “how.”
- Does your board give you good advice?
- Where’s your team playbook? Hmm?
- Can your team overcome messy problems?
- Hire for your core. Partner for the rest.
- Are you a remote manager? A good one?
- Can you name the two most powerful words for business?
- Do you take those loyal, key customers for granted?
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Category Archives: General
How much do you spend on R&D? Is it enough?
Why do profitable, mature businesses die away? One of the most obvious reasons mature businesses die away – when we look in the rear view mirror – is that they did not spend to renew their product or service when … Continue reading
Can you create a great customer case study?
Attention spans are growing shorter by the second Studies have shown that attention spans for engaging a reader or listener have fallen from eleven seconds to eight seconds on average. Eight seconds to reach someone in most any medium. Ouch! … Continue reading
Posted in General, Positioning
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Can we have fun while doing serious work?
Have you ever noticed how slow time passes when you are in a troubled environment? Conversely, sometimes you look up at the end of a great day and wonder where the time went. It’s driven from the top Over the … Continue reading
Another personal story: Timing is everything in a sale.
Almost anyone who has sold a company has a story to tell about their good deal, the problems with the buyer, a last-minute change of terms, or more. I have saved this next story until now because it is one … Continue reading
Posted in General
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Insurance is always too expensive – until it’s needed.
I expect that you have a story about how insurance saved you lots of money in your past. As usual, I have a story to make your hair stand on end. But first: here’s a fact. Business insurance is one … Continue reading
Posted in General, Protecting the business
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Where is the best source of early stage investment?
If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to … Continue reading
Posted in General, Raising money
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Fewer words, greater effect.
I have a good business friend, an experienced manager and teacher with a Harvard MBA, whose deep thinking creativity and intelligence are admired by many. But he dilutes his effectiveness with wordy PowerPoint presentations. It has become a long running … Continue reading
Posted in General
3 Comments
Can you pierce layers in supplier–customer partnerships?
I recently experienced an amazing effort of outreach by a vice president of a large national customer asking for a meeting with the product development team of a critical supplier, one of “my” companies. The goal, the VP stated, was … Continue reading
Channel partners can be golden for growth
Dave’s note: Here comes my favorite “tell-it-like-it-is” CEO, Kim Shepherd, with another of her pieces from her experience managing a completely virtual company with over one hundred employees located through the United States and beyond. By Kim Shepherd In 2006, … Continue reading
Is ‘servant leadership’ too soft for today’s workforce?
It’s a term rooted in ancient philosophy. Robert Greenleaf may have been the first to resurrect the concept in his book published in 1970. Not quite as bold as inverting the management triangle, the concept of servant leadership requires that … Continue reading
