Podcast & blog
For private company owners, managers, and investors.
Episodes and articles on valuation, capital, strategy, and the risks that quietly suppress what a private company is worth.
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Feb 9, 2021
Finding the Break-Even Point
While facilitating the Money and Metrics module of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program this week, I had a few business owners ask…
Jan 28, 2021
5 Ways To Package Your Service
If you’re a service provider, it can be difficult to separate the service from the provider. Your customers might demand you, which means you…
Jan 14, 2021
Thinking Vs. Doing: The Owner’s Dilemma
There’s a steady breeze from the northwest, which cools the warm Caribbean afternoon. Framed between a palm tree and the turquoise water, you notice…
Jan 1, 2021
Rock Your Way to 2021 Profits
2021. After a most unusual 2020, never in most of our lifetimes has humanity looked with such hope at the changing of a calendar…
Dec 31, 2020
Learning From Acquisitions That Fall Apart
John McCann sold The Bolt Supply House to Lawson Products (NASDAQ: LAWS) at the end of 2017. McCann’s strategy involved learning from the acquirers…
Dec 3, 2020
The Build vs. Buy Equation
If you’re wondering what your business might be worth to an acquirer, there is a simple calculation you can use. Let’s call it “The…
Nov 22, 2020
9 Warning Signs You’re a Hub-and-Spoke Owner
If you were to draw a picture that visually represents your role in your business, what would it look like? Are you at the…
Nov 8, 2020
Where to Start, When Your Growth Stops
Why would two companies in the same industry, with the same financial performance, command vastly different valuations? The answer often comes down to how…
Oct 11, 2020
How Much To Pay For The Company You Want to Buy (In Six Steps)
After about a decade of sky-high private company valuations, prices could be starting to come back in line with intrinsic values. The spike in…
Sep 13, 2020
The Almost Magical Benefits of a Weekly Business Rhythm
The Challenges of the Past Last year I was working with a company that was having a very bad year. Sales were declining and…
Aug 30, 2020
The Big Thing Holding Back Small Businesses
Small businesses stay small either by choice, or because they start chasing growth in the wrong places. When you strip away the layers, it…
Aug 10, 2020
Will the increase in money supply lead to a wave of business failures? (and what to do about it)
Many are familiar with Edward Altman’s Z-Score which can be used to predict the likelihood of a company entering bankruptcy. While it is an…