Tag Archives: Financing

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

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

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

Diverse Fundraising Market Requires More Filtering than Ever

Private company fundraising is becoming more diverse, robust, and complicated by the day.  This is good news for private companies, but not without some downsides. When unique (and often better) doesn’t fit traditional fundraising A core hypothesis of my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, is that there… Continue reading

Angel Investing Not As Prevalent nor Effective As You May Think

Angel investing has reached a new level of interest by the general public because start-ups are doing well and there are new ways to be an angel (AngelList, crowdfunding, etc.).  The New York Times recently published an article about the pros and cons of angel… Continue reading

Greybull Stewardship Makes Growth Investment in Onsource

My investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, has announced a growth investment in a unique platform that connects insurance companies with third-party vehicle and property photo inspections via smart phone apps.  The company, Onsource (www.onsourceonline.com), has a network of over 14,000 independent photo inspectors.  I am very excited to… Continue reading

Disparate Data Points: Entrepreneurship Exploding or Dying?

An explosion of young companies that are bootstrapped, or financed outside of traditional venture capital (i.e., Silicon Valley) or traditional bank financing, is what I see every day.  I see many companies finding their way to a point of lift-off, stability, and medium-sized revenue and profit… Continue reading

Companies and Founders Deserve Better Financing Options

Business financing and capital raising are full of contradictions.  The world is awash in capital, but the availability of capital to businesses is often binary.  For some, too much capital is stalking them.  For others, the switch to turn on capital flow remains hidden.  Size… Continue reading

Resilient Companies Balance Continuity with Shock Absorption

Time can be an overlooked element in business.  Time can be an enemy, and time can be a friend.  Understanding the impact of time on your business separates the best business minds from the rest.  Time affects the pace of change for components of your business, your… Continue reading

Investment in Allied Health Education Company

I am excited to announce that my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, has acquired an education company that helps health professionals maintain their licenses and certifications.  The company, Summit Professional Education (www.summit-education.com), offers seminars each year for over 75,000 physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, K-12… Continue reading