ShawnHessinger commented on the following stories on BizSugar
Corporate Boards: 14 Questions for You | Biz Money Matters |
"You know, Tony, I have a feeling this suggestion is going to be unpopular and I realize it comes from a much smaller business guy than the ones running some of the small to medium sized companies you're probably talking about, but if we're discussing publicly traded companies, I think there's a need to reintroduce some basic entrepreneurial ideas into upper level management. It's hard to imagine some of these same decisions being made if the people making them had less layers of separation between themselves, their investors and their customers."Corporate Boards: 14 Questions for You | Biz Money Matters |
"Steve, I think what I mean is that, despite all the ethical guidelines established to govern corporate behavior, there is a basic ingredient missing from this equation. Entrepreneurs and other small business people rarely require these kinds of guidelines not because they are fundamentally more honest but because the ramifications of ignoring the needs of customers and any investors are more immediate. Making decisions contrary to the interests of either group such as taking the company in a direction that is radically out of touch with its customers or taking imprudent steps in money management can quickly lead to insolvency without much way for the business owner/operator to benefit. Explaining to a single business associate who has been good enough to invest in your company that you need a five or six figure salary when your company is making only half that is different than making similar recommendations to a board of directors and it is impossible to pay yourself an inappropriate salary or bonuses or make imprudent purchases as a bootstrapping business if the only money available to you is cash flow. "Corporate Boards: 14 Questions for You | Biz Money Matters |
"Hi Steve, No definitely not coming at things from a Michael Moore direction and have no belief that all CEO's are evil. I'm an entrepreneur only at the moment who simply believes that the small and agile sometimes, but not always, have a surprising advantage over the large and well-funded in a rapidly changing marketplace. I've worked for much larger corporations in my career and, though not at the top management level, high enough to see some shockingly out of touch decisions being made sometimes for no other reason than that the organization was simply too large or too immersed in an entrenched company culture to realize until it was too late. I understand that the current method of large scale investment has to do with a large number of investors often with limited control and perhaps limited interest in what the company does beyond making money. Though there is certainly nothing wrong with making money, I am not sure this should be a company's only goal. Consider entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki's thoughts on "making meaning" with a company as an alternative. I think many small business owners and entrepreneurs, the lifeblood of this online community and of our economy, can appreciate this point of view, have a passion for what they do and in some cases could find another easier way of making a living if making money was their only goal. I have nothing against large companies or working for them. I have learned a lot from them about organization, professionalism and persistence of mission and have taken those lessons with me into the small business community. But I think the reverse is also true. I believe that larger businesses can sometimes learn from their smaller relatives too, important lessons about leanness, improvisation and taking the road less traveled. I believe most would be better for it. We have a great deal to learn from each other and I believe the result would be a better economy for us all. "You're Better Than You Think! - The Pipeline
"I think it's important to adopt the attitude that everyone can learn something and improve. If everyone's terrible, as some trainers suggest, what's the point in trying? On the other hand, if you're so perfect that you can't learn anything new and will never be better than you are now, what's the point in going on?"Subscribe
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Does Too Much Early-Stage Capital Hurt a Start-Up's Chances for Success?
"Hi Ken, Thanks again for the thought provoking post. I edited a blog on business bootstrapping for a little over two years so I suppose I have a bias here but I have really become skeptical of the value of huge start-up capital early on. (By the way, Twitter, which has no actual revenue of its own making it a completely venture funded company, may be the example you and your friend both seek of success with big funding...if Twitter proves a success, that is.) However, Twitter aside, it seems to me that often people want funding to start a new business without any clear idea of what they want it for. Another way of looking at it is that there is no better way to grow your company within the constraints of its cash flow than to resist large investment in the beginning to create overhead before knowing whether your business has the cash flow to support it."