Tag Archives: Financial Strategy

9 Lessons Learned About Selling A Business

September 14th, 2014

When selling your business, it pays to learn lessons from others.  Most business owners will not get a second chance to do it well, and it is such an important process for your employees, your customers, and your own bank account that you want to… Continue reading →

My Co-Owners Are Best Part of Investing

July 4th, 2014

The best part of Greybull Stewardship for me is working with the people at the portfolio companies once the investment is done.  The initial discovery process is fun — meeting the management for the first time, understanding what has made the company successful, and exploring… Continue reading →

Quality of Earnings in Due Diligence: What You Need to Know

June 14th, 2014

As many sellers do not sell businesses frequently, I like to write about various parts of the transaction process that may be helpful for sellers to understand.   One of the most important steps is when a buyer performs a “Quality of Earnings” review of… Continue reading →

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Notes for 2014

May 5th, 2014

For those you have not attended a Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, picture this scene at the 2014 meeting.  A stadium is filled to its capacity of 30,000 people with another 8,000 in overflow rooms at the adjacent conference center and hotel.  For nearly six hours,… Continue reading →

Berkshire Hathaway: If You Love the Management, Set Them Free

April 20th, 2014

Private equity investors often take the “father knows best” approach to working with their management teams.  To me, this is crazy — particularly when the management team has years of experience with the business, the investors are new to the business, and the track record… Continue reading →

We’re In Seed-Stage Boom, Not a Series A Crunch

April 6th, 2014

Two related trends in venture capital investing have been getting attention for the last few years. The first is the growth in angel investing, particularly after the crowd-funding provisions of the JOBS Act. The second is the “Series A crunch” where many companies that receive… Continue reading →

Perfect Business Financing — Maybe No Outside Equity

February 20th, 2014

Many of the businesses that I end up working with in my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, do not need outside equity capital — of the traditional sort.  They are growing and profitable and creating real value already. I learn about perfect business financing from them.… Continue reading →

Invest in Strength Rather Than Work on Weakness

February 18th, 2014

For your business, do you believe it is more important to spend more time on your challenges or your opportunities?  Similarly, do you believe that you should invest in your strengths or work on your weaknesses? The answer, of course, depends.  If the challenge in… Continue reading →

New $20 Million Investment Fund Looking for Profitable, Fast-growing Businesses

February 5th, 2014

Greybull Stewardship, L.P., an investment fund, completed in January 2014 its $20 million round two capital commitments. Since the fund’s January 2010 inception, annual returns have realized 23 percent after fees. As a result, existing Limited Partners (LPs) increased their commitments and new LPs were… Continue reading →

Align Your “Loss Ratio” Expectations with Your Investors

January 30th, 2014

In early stage venture capital, the best investors expect that 40% of their investments will become worthless.  Thus, they focus on companies that could be worth billions because the winners have to make up for all their losses.  They want every company to shoot for… Continue reading →