On Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. PDT, we are hosting a FREE Live Webcast for CEO's and business leaders in the middle market.I believe middle market businesses need to do 2 things immediately:Evade the distractions of contradictory economic…
Wow! According to a NY Times report, a recent study at the University of Maryland found that business plans really don't matter! Their study found that VC's pay little attention to the business plan and rely upon their instincts, networks and other sources to vet business plans and assess the…
The Wall St. Journal reports today on growing tension at venture-backed companies over whether to save money to reduce risk or invest to take advantage of new opportunities. You can never gain enough perspective on this issue, which represents one of the most pervasive struggles faced by growing businesses, and…
The Obama administration has unveiled a program to help small businesses, including R&D and innovation credits, ELIMINATING capital gains on small business stock ... we really need to see those details because that will attract investment at an accelerated pace ... extending Net Operating Loss carryovers. A lot of this…
The New York Times carried an Op-Ed piece today extolling the more mundane interpretations of genius. It turns out according to several new books cited there, that the appearance of "genius" is really more a function of "deliberate practice" than a divine spark. So, don't wait for inspiration to strike.…
The New York Times feature, The Corner Office, generally provides practical advice from CEO’s. This week’s interview with Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, stresses the value of communication and his belief … correctly, I would say … that communication skills are more important than ever with the advent of the Internet and the myriad ways that communication takes place with our professional constituents. Not a PowerPoint slide deck either. Complete sentences.
He also offers his insights about recruiting and interviewing techniques (more…)
The Wall Street Journal recently published further anecdotal evidence of the mixed messages that companies are receiving ... and giving ... about the expected upturn. While some 25% of companies reportedly expect more layoffs, about the same percentage think further layoffs are unlikely. Many companies continue to look to salary…
The New York Times reported recently that some companies, like Xerox, are changing the bonus structure to eliminate revenue growth as one of the criteria.
While the point is that growth is not the only important criteria … and some companies are attempting to substitute cash flow as a criterion … the value of the revenue measure is also that it is the easiest to measure and the least susceptible to manipulation. How many stories have we all heard (more…)
Get More At Bats!
A good hitter knows he has to get more hits to be great. A great hitter knows she has to get more at bats to get to the Hall of Fame.
In the midst of a relentless focus on cost reduction, many executives have lost sight of an equally important part of the survival equation – revenue enhancement, a fancy term for “get more sales”. What better way to create a laser focus on that objective than to “get more at bats”? (more…)