The best advisors are those with real world experience-not just academic credentials-someone who has been there, done that. Also important, industry or company type experience (e.g., service company, software, manufacturing...). Look for someone who compliments your strengths and offsets your wea...
The best way is always through helping your people to grow. Think about the micro managers motivation - typically it is fear driven. Alleviate that fear. Give them the One Minute Manager book and talk about it... If they are tough to approach, hire an outside consultant to come in and talk w...
Nothing. Business transactions should be spoken about in the plainest possible way. People using terms like this come across as lacking credibility (at least to me). Besides, a deal is never crafted, it is always negotiated. Crafting evokes a singular emphasis whereas a deal always involves t...
Two main things: 1 - has been mentioned below, which is give feedback. Do it publicly (on their website, LinkedIn, etc.) and if possible give a brief case study. In other words state how you met and how they helped, how your life is better after acting on their advice. 2 - provide a further intr...
Great question! 1) You can use "pre-selling" to offer an upcoming service or product to existing customers which they will effectively fund by paying for it (while you create it) so that they are also buy it as your customer: https://thefoundation.com/podcast/episode21 https://thefoundation.c...
The best way is to begin with friends and colleagues, and then LinkedIn will suggest hundreds of people who you probably know or know of. LinkedIn is a place for people to interact, so don’t be afraid of shooting someone more experienced than you a message for some advice. It might help you more ...
Businesses are valued as a function of their cash flow. In a contract service business, the cash flow can be tied to the contracts that are in place. Here is the problem, if the contracts don't go very far into the future, then you won't get a very high multiple of cash flow as a business valuati...
I worked for a large outdoor product manufacturer that sold into stores such as Target, REI, Dick's Sporting Goods, Cabela's, etc. As you can imagine, if you are not one of their regular suppliers, getting even 5 minutes of the buyer's time will be no small feat. Depending on what market your...
Evaluating a prospective investment requires getting to know a company over time. There are four main stages of evaluation: a) The “first read” (which can be an instant reaction to determine whether the deal matches the firm’s strategy), b) The first meeting (in which the team can be evaluate...
Licensing allows you to give suppliers, competitors or complementary businesses certain rights over your patent, while receiving royalty income and still retaining ownership of your asset. To be successful, a licensing arrangement should benefit all the parties involved. By acquiring rights to a ...