WRITINGS
Return of the Strategic CFO
The era of low interest rates, and the free money environment it created, is over. Nowhere is the impact of this change more evident than within Venture Capital (VC) Funds. With higher input costs, exits limited and facing down rounds for fresh capital, VC Fund...
Time to Tax Corporate Share Buybacks
Not only are share buybacks by public companies the ultimate insult to the spirit of American innovation but an indirect form of share price manipulation that should be taxed to protect workers and taxpayers. From 2017-2019 companies in the S&P 500 bought back...
The Future of the Republican Party is Named Garcia
According to the US Census bureau Garcia is the sixth most popular surname in the US. In fact, of the top fifteen surnames in the US, six are of Hispanic origin. This anecdotal evidence confirms that Latinos are the fastest growing US population demographic. Given...
Ten Outcomes in a Post-COVID-19 Economy
COVID-19 is the economic equivalent of a wildfire. The US economic landscape has blighted overnight and it will take time for new growth to appear. So, I am stunned by the speculative timetables being put forth by politicians about when the US economy will get back...
Maximizing Shareholder Value is a Dumb Idea
With the recent passing of Jack Welch, GE’s iconic CEO, I wanted to highlight a moment in his career when he made a rare shift in his otherwise outspoken business philosophy. In March 12th 2009 interview with FT Jack denounced the business objective of “maximizing...
You Appeared in 67 Searches this Week & Other Flights of Fancy
Can we all agree that one of the more enticing notices from LinkedIn is the weekly alert about your profile appearing in nation-wide job searches. Based on an informal tally my profile averaged a whopping 43 job search appearances a week this year. But despite the...
Top Five Checklist for Business Conferences
We’ve all gotten these ubiquitous solicitations from business conference promoters and like me some of you click on the link to dig deeper into the promises. I have attended too many of these business conferences; initially as a participant and later a speaker. Based...
Strategic Planning for Small Business
What’s the Strategic Plan? This is one of the most over-used phases in business and implications of the answer can create anxiety in CEOs, boards and investors alike. The strategic plan has taken a lot of hits in the business conversations lately, mostly questioning...
BARRON”S Feb 19th Article on GE: How Did It Come to This?
In the Feb. 19 edition of Barron’s featured a story that dissected the valuation of General Electric but the article did not reference the question of “how did it come to this”? The fall of the GE Empire was driven by both exogenous events and self-inflicted wounds....
Early-stage Business Transition
The transition to becoming a profitable mid-stage enterprise is the most challenging period a business will face in its entire lifecycle. The maturation to a stable business can be particularly challenging for the CEO/Owner who faces new types of risks...