Thank you to all who have made the ultimate sacrifice
... and to those who have and continue to serve our country across the globe.
The Misleading Meandering of Multitasking!
Many of you have seen my earlier posts - the Stanford research or the NY Times summary about how multitasking fails to increase our productivity ... the very enemy it's sworn to eliminate.In an HBR blog, Peter Bregman reports what he found when he did NOT multitask for a week…
California still sharing space with whale pucky!
Like we need more bad news in or about California ... but the Chief Executive organization's survey of Best and Worst States for Business 2010 finds the Golden State's golden egg is actually something else that's been painted over ... if you catch my drift. We're not just last for…
Let the laymen set the deal!
Once in awhile, it’s nice to see your advice echoed in the halls from someone like Warren Buffett. Since my early investment and venture capital days, I have promoted the concept of a simple “terms sheet” to set down the deal terms between the companies involved, making sure that the businessmen understand the business issues first.
Your attorneys serve an valuable role but it’s invaluable for both sides to be very clear about the business objectives (more…)
CA seed money drying up
No surprise that California's continuing budget problems resulted in a significant drop in funds available through the California Small Business Loan Guarantee program. Why? Because a chunk of its trust fund was used last year to help plug the budget gap ... more gamesmanship by our elected reps in Sacramento.…
Have a Truth Teller onBoard?
I'm a relentless advocate for outside board members in family businesses, in large part to divorce the value of objective business discussions from subjective family dynamics. I've seen a family member derail an important conversation because his baby brother ... some 30 years ago ... wrecked his bicycle. Jeff Bussgang,…
Is anyone really independent?
I wish had the time to write about all that’s on my mind about the SEC charges vs. Goldman. The crux of my most recent post was that institutional investors – not individual investors – have few excuses for making unsuccessful investment decisions except their own lack of due diligence or the fact that what they thought was a good decision … wasn’t.
I’m happy to see that Warren Buffett agrees as he told his rapt audience in his comments at Berkshire Hathaway’s recent annual shareholder’s meeting. Of one firm, ABN Amro, Mr. Buffett said: “It’s hard for me to get terribly sympathetic when a bank makes a dumb credit bet.” (more…)
Email Overload. Really?
No news flash here ... except that many of us share the frustration over the relentless flood of email that washes ashore 24/7. There is a nugget somewhere in various ideas companies are trying to dam the waters, particularly with internal email. This Wall Street Journal article summarizes some of…