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Category Archives: Hedging against downturns
Sell at the top? Avoid the race to zero!
When do you sell your company? Obviously, we all want to sell at the top. And there is the problem. How do you know when you are at or near that right point to sell for maximum value? Those of … Continue reading
About personal use of corporate assets
Here’s the IRS take on the issue: It is no secret that the IRS carefully looks below the surface for personal use of company assets (including cash) in its corporate income tax audits. This insight addresses more the impact of … Continue reading
Recurring revenues: Oil or glue?
Some types of businesses generate more and more recurring revenues over time, often growing to a size where recurring revenues pay all of the overhead of the company – an enviable position. The surprising recurring revenue trap There is a … Continue reading
My hard-earned lessons from negative exits.
In my life as an early-stage investor, I’ve been closely involved with so many businesses, there were bound to be numerous stories of actual and near failures, hopefully from which to learn lessons for all of us as we go … Continue reading
Is your CFO a bookkeeper or a strategist?
Here’s one that most small company founders and CEO’s miss until it may be too late. What is the role of a chief financial officer in growing and protecting the company? How about co-strategist? I recently coached a CFO in … Continue reading
Ready, fire, aim. Really?
You’ve surely heard the variations on this theme. “Ready, fire aim” was popular in the 1990’s, accredited to any of several authors. I used the term to describe my efforts in the artificial intelligence field, experimenting with new devices, the … Continue reading
Decoding and learning from a business failure
Have you experienced a business failure? Are you currently at risk due to events you cannot control? Not all companies are successful. Your end game could be a failure of the business. In fact, many angel investors or venture capitalists … Continue reading
Do you even know what questions to ask?
Great executives and managers seem to intuitively know what they don’t know. But it is not at all uncommon to not even know what questions to ask. Who would have thought about COVID 19 and public’s panic responses? One week … Continue reading
Let’s talk about your banking relationship
The warning is real You’ve heard the old one – that a banker always seems willing to offer a loan when you don’t need it. For small businesses, there is such truth in that statement that you can trust the … Continue reading
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
