Tag Archives: Business Strategy

Business Brokerage: Greybull Stewardship Makes Growth Investment in Murphy

My investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, has made a growth investment in Murphy Business Brokerage, the #1 business brokerage company in North America.  The press release about this investment can be found here at the Greybull Stewardship blog.  I am very enthusiastic about this investment for… Continue reading

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

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

6 Pitfalls Between Letter of Intent and Closing the Deal

When selling your business, it is so much work to find the right buyer and to get to a letter of intent.  That may feel like the hard part.  It is not.  It is just as hard to manage everything that comes next and get… Continue reading

Managing Business, Managing Time, and the Case for Doing Nothing

Balance is an elusive concept — and so relevant to so many business situations.  I have enjoyed adding to our series on Balance — last year, we identified more than 20 things a business owner must balance.  Should we focus inside or outside?  Should we… Continue reading

Perfect Business Financing — Maybe No Outside Equity

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

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

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

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

Investment Returns Are Not Greener by Changing Industries

It is easier to earn outsized investment returns in some industries over others — I agree with that conventional wisdom.  As an investor or entrepreneur, it often pays off to think hard about which industries to enter.  If you have a choice, why not increase… Continue reading

Business Owners Must Balance Math (Finance) and Soul (Company Culture)

Owning a business means balancing all sorts of things.  We have explored this idea in a few other posts: the Art of Balance that has a starter list of 20 things a business owner must balance such as strategy vs. execution and delegating vs. doing,… Continue reading