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The Lex column in the FT recently reviewed the market capitalisation of Tesla and Fiat. Tesla is bigger at $17bn Vs. Fiat at $10bn. Now some of you may find that bizarre. Fiat sells 5m cars a year and Tesla sells 20,000 (and being a niche brand will never sell 5m). Read More

There has been an explosion of consultants who offer some form of Exit Planning advice. Most have some value to add to the process. However to guide you through the landscape of services available to you, I’ve highlighted the key roles to achieve success. Read More

Every public company has a formal Board of Directors with fiduciary duties to shareholders. However as the owner of a private company I'd like use this post to highlight some of the objectives, benefits and costs of various forms of Boards.
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Be careful, as you run your businesses, manage your departments, drive new marketing campaigns, launch products or acquire other companies. Are we being suckered into believing that knowing what to do is the same as how to do? Read More

A pessimistic strategy has actually been proven to work and is supported by research! Daniel Pink touched on it in his latest book, To Sell is Human. In it he highlights the work of Wellesley College’s Julie Norem and the concept of “defensive pessimism”. Read More

It could be a sales meeting, a VC meeting, a product innovation session but it’s a meeting where you need to influence the attendees in the room. How do you influence that audience? How do you pitch your idea? Read More

I love reading research studies that help me drive businesses forward. As a contract COO I’m always worrying how to optimize the performance of the team in a fun and productive way. Over the next few posts I’m going to dive into my favorite business authors who use research to make a point. Read More

You may have heard of the term zero-based budgeting. The basic thesis is to look at your business through the eyes of a start up. If you were starting today from scratch, what would you spend money on? Let's take that thinking into roles within yout business. Read More

Is there a difference between running a business to ensure you can exit and cashing out one day Vs. running it to keep it forever? Yes there is, the last 24 months. Every owner needs to run a business as if they wanted to cash out one day. Read More

It seems so obvious why wouldn’t you have done it already? Well, rolling out a services business on the back of your product business requires careful consideration. I’ve done it several times and I’m currently helping a client execute the strategy for 2014. Here are some pointers to consider. Read More