Financial Eyes & Ears

Your start-up may have crossed the threshold to viability. Now, the tough part begins. At the onset of 2012, many start-up executives around the world are sticking their copy of Lean Start-Up on the shelf, leaning back, and bemoaning the fact that they have a new set of challenges ahead of them. Although there is [...]

A group of advisors can be extraordinarily useful. Tricks to make sure yours is. The first of a three-part series. Although private companies have no legal obligation to create advisory boards, many of the most successful companies have them. Primarily this is because they’ve taken investment from individuals or firms for whom oversight and involvement [...]

Will anyone show up? What if people get bored? Check out these five ideas to set your next company event up for success. Throwing a company event is a fantastic way to meet new people, spread the word about your business and have some good old-fashioned fun. But if you’re the organizer, it can be [...]

Creative capital, like venture capital, can be valuable to any growing organization and often worthy of an equity stake in the outcome. I’ll ask that you, the busy reader, indulge a background setup about yours truly. Hopefully, if you continue reading future blogs, some of the following will assist you in understanding my point of [...]

How one retailer discovered the secret to expanding from three to 15 stores profitably. One retail client of ours had a small boutique business unit (selling upscale French clothing) that was a real puzzler. They were seeing great profitability in their New York boutique, significant losses from their Los Angeles boutique, and moderate profitability just [...]

What your employees won’t say could be what you most need to hear. Your employees have a lot of thoughts. Most of those thoughts they don’t share– especially with you. At times their silence is a good thing, especially where your ego or their employment status might be concerned, but their silence also may keep [...]

Ray Ozzie, who took over for Gates in 2006 as Microsoft’s chief software architect, drops a few hints about new tech company Cocomo. Ray Ozzie, aka Bill Gates’ handpicked successor as Microsoft’s chief software architect, has a new start-up. Ozzie, who took over for Gates in 2006 and left Microsoft in 2010, tweeted on Jan. [...]

Take client entertaining to a whole new level by creating a memorable experience. Your clients will thank you for it. Anyone can pick up a check–and if you spend much time with clients, you probably have. Breaking bread with clients is an important part of the relationship building process. The challenge is making those interactions [...]