There’s an old joke. One most entrepreneurs clearly understand. I’ve called it the entrepreneurial curve.
Continue reading Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital
I met with some new ventures this week. OK. I met with some folks with ideas for new ventures.
One of the first things I reminded them about is that business is operational- not asperational. That means one starts a business- small or large- by making things work. Getting cash flow. Trying business models to see what works.
Continue reading Ready. Fire. Aim.
One of the things I learned at MIT was how universities can increase their ability to provide scholarships and maintain their educational excellence. It wasn’t from the conventional academic process. No, these funds didn’t come from government grants for research. Because even back then, there wasn’t much (or any) excess in the funding that was provided by NIH, DOD, NSF, and the variety of alphabet agencies that support our educational research programs.
Continue reading Innovation Practicalities
This is a problem that most small company leaders have. I fell prey to it once. And, I’ll share my personal experience, as well as this recent experience with a firm where I served as financial manager.
Continue reading Opportunity lost?
We are generally an optimistic people. We tend to believe that the best is yet to come. And, entrepreneurs- they are really optimistic. After all, if they didn’t expect things to work out- and work out well- why would they spend any time attempting to build a new venture?
Continue reading A commercial message?
I had a few of your readers complaining that my equation to figure out the chances of finding “the one” was too clinical and not romantic enough. (Yes, some folks don’t want their comments published on the web; I do keep them private.)
Continue reading Love and Marriage… and a prenup?
As I have recently written, the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) is not currently enforcing the rules about executive pay reporting. This, despite the fact that most public companies pay excessive salaries to their executives. And, the IRS rarely challenges the pay that these public companies afford their bloated executive ranks.
Continue reading Goldilocks makes decisions for the IRS now?
I said I would, from time to time, share the issues that arise with the growth firm I am advising. And, here is one of the biggest issues- what will it cost us to expand?
Continue reading Can we expand?
The entrepreneurial spirit. It is alive and well- even if the potential rewards are attenuated. And, I’m honored to be able to help those on their journey, their quest to prove a new concept, a new methodology, a new operational mode.
Continue reading Let’s grow a new one
What’s the value of a specific school education? I’ve talked about the elite (public) New York City high schools . But, many of the kids who go to those schools are not much different from the kids who went to Brooklyn Poly with me. They (and I) arose from the lower middle class; nowadays, this means they probably may lack a home computer or a home internet connection, both of which are the benefits that accrue when one is from the middle or upper classes. And, that doesn’t even include the ability to go to the college of their choice- where the price of tuition may be just one reach too far.
Continue reading Alma Mater Matters