Business Week's recent article seems to think so. More than 100,000 companies—about one in every 270 American businesses—have landed in bankruptcy court since the downturn began 18 months ago, according to data compiled by Oklahoma City-based Jupiter eSources. One suggestion is that banks and creditors have little patience during this…
A recent WSJ article focused on a few small businesses who are finding that aggressive pricing, the death spiral that usually befalls struggling companies, can also be used to create new customers. It's not just about dropping prices ... it's being innovative about how to tailor your product and service…
The big New York law firms continue to amuse and titillate. Again, one of the firms, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, is offering $80,000 to incoming lawyers to defer their starting dates for a year. Cravath is also requiring current summer associates who are offered full-time jobs to accept $65,000 to…
I have written several posts lately about the value of business plans and the nature of the pitch to raise money.The MIT Sloan Management Review weighs in with a new article Why Business Plans Don't Deliver which offers some ideas about how to avoid the common pitfalls.In short, the article…
“Where are we” is a question I hear all the time.
Usually, the questioner is looking for some answers about the business landscape and where we might be in the trough between recession and recovery.
A challenging question but one that usually prompts a series of my questions:
Where are you, and how well are you and your company prepared for the rest of this journey?
Make sure that you have a foolproof system that holds your team accountable so that they know … that you know … what they need to get done, and that you’re measuring and tracking those initiatives to make sure they don’t slip through the cracks.
How have you gotten this far? (more…)
This month's issue of CFO magazine included an article, Tripped Up, about the many companies that are violating their loan covenants and offers some ideas about how to avoid those pitfalls.
In our CEO Round Table meetings, we have discussed on several occasions the Work Sharing Unemployment Insurance program available through the California Economic Development Dept., which provides a temporary and practical alternative to layoffs. In short, the program allows for the payment of benefits to individuals whose wages and hours…
Angels invested more than $19 Billion in 2008 according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. The NY Times published an article today reporting the resuls ... what many of us have been saying all along: THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PREPARATION! Authenticity is more…
One leaf does not a fall make ... but there is some glimmer of economic improvement in the Bay area. Too slow ... not enough ... but maybe a beginning?