Resources Articles of Interest
| Use the EMBER Model to Help Your Company Break From the Pack
If you want to lead your organization to new heights of performance and competitive advantage, employ what I call the "EMBER" model. From now on, as you weigh the pros and cons of any important management decision or course of action, ask yourself five simple questions...... |
| What's your brand
Does your organization have a strong brand? It ought to, for a brand both identifies and differentiates you in the marketplace. It defines the unique value your company provides. It clarifies how your company is really different from competitors. It pinpoints how your company is better and more special, and why it is worthwhile for a prospective customer—or investor-- to form a lasting relationship with your company rather than with anyone else. Finally, a good brand tells the marketplace how….. |
| What's your B.I.Q.?
For competitive success in today’s knowledge economy, intelligence is power. I’m not talking about IQ, the notorious “Intelligence Quotient”. I’m talking about what I call BIQ, or “Business Intelligence Quotient”. Leaders who have a high BIQ have the ability to do two things: One, they can quickly seize new information that’s publicly available—information about new technologies, scientific breakthroughs, changes in customer needs and expectations, advances in management and systems, shifts in demographics and capital markets, emergence of new competitors with different business models, and such. Two, they can... |
| Stewards, Agents and the Founder Discount: Executive Compensation in New Ventures
Abstract Agency theory suggests that the interests of opportunistic, self-interested agents conflict with those of principals. Stewardship theory suggests instead that executives’ interests are aligned with company interests and that executives are thus more intrinsically motivated than agency theory implies. This study..... |
| What To Say About The Competition When Your Prospects Ask
Suppose you're bidding on some work, and the client says, "I might as well tell you, you have two competitors on this job: Widget Associates, and Smithtown Group." Do you then... |
| Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists’ Confidence Declines to Lowest Level in Five Years
Confidence among consumers, executives, and other constituents of our market economy has been closely monitored for years, as confidence is thought to be a necessary element for the proper functioning of our capitalist system. Over the last 18 months as the credit crisis has taken hold, confidence in our financial institutions clearly has been tested and continues to be questioned. While the sentiment of consumers and managers does play a significant role in our prosperity, confidence among the professional investors who advise and finance the high-potential new ventures that propel entrepreneurial growth is also critical to the long-run health and competitive advantage of the U.S. economy, as it is their investment decisions that determine, in large part, the pace of innovation in our nation. However... |
| The Equity Equation
An investor wants to give you money for a certain percentage of your startup. Should you take it? You're about to hire your first employee. How much stock should you give him? These are some of the hardest questions founders face. And yet both have the same answer........ |
| The Unified Theory of VC Suckage
A couple months ago I got an email from a recruiter asking if I was interested in being a "technologist in residence" at a new venture capital fund. I think the idea was to play Karl Rove to the VCs' George Bush. I considered it for about four seconds. Work for a VC fund? Ick.......... |
| Translating Private Equity-Speak
The business world is full of silly sounding or near-meaningless corporatespeak clichés. Even worse, everyone repeats ‘em until they become official. Like most industries, private equity has its own ridiculous language. |
| The Term Sheet glossary
I work as an attorney to a lot of company founders, and I know from experience that when the time comes to negotiate a round of funding, entrepreneurs often find themselves at a disadvantage. Much of it has to do with language. There is an array of terms and issues that investors and lawyers work with regularly and understand, but that entrepreneurs deal with only once in a while. It would take many posts to cover all of them, but here is a Crib Sheet of 10 Key Terms that clients most often ask me to explain when they receive term sheets from prospective investors. |