Tag Archives: Business Growth Strategy
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
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
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
Private Equity Trending Toward Longer Term Models Like Greybull Stewardship
Momentum is growing toward private equity structures with longer term time horizons and movement toward more “permanent capital” — structures that are more similar to Berkshire Hathaway and Greybull Stewardship (my private equity fund focused on companies with $1-3 million in profit). Blackstone private equity… 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
Wonderful Competitive Advantage Through A Unique Distribution Channel
Sustainable competitive advantage — a goal which will be always sought and ever elusive in business. It is difficult to define. Yet, we often know it when we see it. People attempt to draw-up lists in an effort to understand and remember the types of… Continue reading
Business Improvements in Marketing As Well As Factory
W. Edwards Deming went from the USA to Japan after World War II and his ideas about continuous business improvements came back to the USA from Japan as a business management tool — kaizen: daily small improvements building a better process over time. See Deming. … Continue reading
Evergreen venture fund structure offers new strategy
Heartening to read a blog at Axial about the Evergreen Venture Fund Structure that we use at my Greybull Stewardship: http://www.axial.net/blog/evergreen-fund-structure/ Thanks to Billy Fink and his M&A blog, I’m excited to have the conversation about how the traditional fund protocols are changing with new… Continue reading