Category: Business Financing & Funding
Most Companies Not Best Served by Silicon Valley Venture Capital
Most young companies are not well served by capital of the “Silicon Valley venture capital” variety. That has been a common theme of mine over the years, and is a founding hypothesis of my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship. Sometimes this is most obvious to the… Continue reading
Just Do It: Shoe Dog Shares Deep Stories of Business
Attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting this past weekend reminded me of Buffett’s book recommendation of “Shoe Dog” by Nike’s Phil Knight a couple of years ago. “Phil is a very wise, intelligent, and competitive fellow who is also a gifted storyteller,” said Buffett. That… Continue reading
Bootstrap Companies Succeed Without Big Venture Capital
Five out of six of the fastest growing companies in the US grow with capital from sources other than traditional venture capital. How about the banks? Talked to an entrepreneurial banker lately? Didn’t think so. Bootstrap companies are creative in finding capital, often out of simple… Continue reading
Founder-Led Companies Return Three Times S&P 500 Average
A study in 2016 from Bain & Company shows that over the past 15 years “founder-led companies deliver shareholder returns that are three times higher than those of other S&P 500 companies.” Therefore, we at Greybull Stewardship focus on those founder-led, or founder-involved, companies. We… Continue reading
Investment Asset Class Taking Shape: Smaller, Fast-Growing, Backed by Not-Traditional-VCs
Harvard Business School now catches up to a business trend my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, has been focusing on for years — the increasing frequency of great businesses that have gotten to nice levels of profitability ($1-3 million) by bootstrapping (i.e., no traditional institutional venture capital).… Continue reading
The Business Cycle Also Rises – Hard-Earned Wisdom of Business Cycles
A business cycle increase the degree of difficulty in managing a business. Watching (and experiencing) some unconnected sectors undergoing big cycles right now has me thinking about cycles. Here are some big ones currently: a) Silicon Valley start-up valuations declining after a 7-8 year boom,… Continue reading
Network of Experts to Support Greybull Companies
“There are always more smart people outside your company than inside your company.” We are utilizing this idea in our strategy to assist our portfolio companies in Greybull Stewardship. Network of Experts As we think about the future of Greybull, we have been thinking about… Continue reading
Evergreen Investment Capital Gains More Traction
This idea should be obvious: Most companies will not do their best work if forced to grow artificially fast (think growth hormones). If you aim everything toward fattening up for an exit time; if you force-feed unnatural energy like corn or capital, binge on antibiotics, and then… Continue reading