Tag Archives: Competitive Advantage

You Are What You Eat (or Where You Get Your Investment)

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” said French lawyer and epicure Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.  Similarly, tell me where you got the investment for your business and I will tell you what is in store for your business. Each… Continue reading

Business Management So You Can Surf

I love the story that the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Choinard, built Patagonia in a way that he could leave at any moment to surf.  He said that surfing was the best thing that ever happened to him because it motivated him to create systems… Continue reading

Company Culture Key to Growing A Business

Every day in a small business I know, 100,000 interactions happen among employees, customers, and external parties — the only way I know to align all of those interactions is through a strong company culture.  So, company culture is key to growing a business and… Continue reading

Long-term Investment Value the Clif Bar Way

On a plane last week, I read the book Raising the Bar by the founder of Clif Bar, Gary Erickson.  Great book — particularly good at ideas around long-term investment. Erickson wanted to manage his company in a way that was not aligned with traditional… Continue reading

Best Mobile Scheduling App From Appointment Plus

Manage your Appointment Schedule with an excellent Mobile Scheduling App Appointment Plus, a portfolio company of my investment partnership, released their latest native appointment scheduling apps for iPhone, iPad and Android and they are awesome.  The apps enable organizations to manage their customer appointment schedules… Continue reading

Honey, I Shrunk the Definition of “Long-Term Investing”

Defining Long Term Investing Three years is “long-term investing” according to a discussion I attended last week.  The discussion was among a handful of family office investors who help manage money for Haim Saban (participated in sale of Fox Family to Walt Disney), Eric Schmidt… Continue reading

50th Post Since April — How am I doing?

Today’s post marks my 50th blog post since I began the blog on April 22, 2012.  To me, it feels good to be writing posts and I hope it is helpful to some business owners and investors out there.  To make sure it is helpful,… Continue reading

Keep Pedaling When You Most Want to Coast

When cycling to the top of a big hill, it is tempting to coast down the other side.  However, I have found that in business it is important to keep pedaling when you most feel like coasting.  It is often those investments made in a… Continue reading

How much of a competitive advantage is employee longevity?

Labor Day Weekend Reading: On this Labor Day weekend, I read two articles that prompted me to think about employee longevity and how much of a competitive advantage it may be.  Interestingly, both were articles about Berkshire Hathaway companies, See’s Candies in Fortune and the Nebraska Furniture Mart… Continue reading

Chart of Most Profitable Industries — Increase Your Odds of Business Success

Profitability Differences Building a business is a lot of work.  Thus, it makes sense to build your business in an industry where the fundamental dynamics are a little more in your favor.  Or, evolve your business to improve its fundamental characteristics by studying the best.… Continue reading