Tag Archives: Business

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

Great Business Partners Give You Keys to Success

Business grows through partnerships — sometimes just for a brief transaction and sometimes for life.  Despite the false cliche that “nice guys finish last,” my experience has been that being able to forge good partnerships forges keys to long-term success.  This is because very little… Continue reading

Venture Capital Myths — Not the Answer for Many Companies

Venture capital has been tremendously successful in the United States.  In some ways, it has almost been too successful in that many entrepreneurs think traditional venture capital is the only path to success.  That is not true.  This article in the Harvard Business Review by… Continue reading

Old School Myths About the Ideal Time for Raising Capital (of the Right Type)

Old school myths from last century have stuck around to this century — especially about when to raise capital.  Modern companies often have the freedom to make a decision about when to seek capital because they do not need capital at a certain point in… Continue reading

Great Tool for Business Decision Making in Uncertainty

In business decision making, we never have as much information or certainty as we would like.  The best business and investment minds know how to focus on the factors in a decision that are the most relevant and ignore extraneous factors.  It is a real… Continue reading

Like Warren Buffett, Best Investment Philosophy Balances Discipline with Flexibility

Warren Buffett is famous for his discipline in his early investing success.  Now, I think he is demonstrating his flexibility (some are critical of his recent flexibility) in investment philosophy.  Both are important skills for business owners and managers to master and to know when… Continue reading

Unique Businesses Are A Force For Good

The best businesses are not just about making money.  It is necessary to make money to stay in business, but it is not sufficient for the business to be worth your time.  That is why the strongest businesses, in my opinion, are the ones that… Continue reading