I have been a board member of in more than 20 companies through three economic crises and very involved in 19 of them. 11 of the 19 were winners in terms of creating returns to investors and management, and 8 were pretty much busts from a financial point of view. Commonalities in the outcome for … Continue reading The few things that getting right can get your company though the Covid crisis
If you are a small business struggling to survive you may have leverage you can use to control your liabilities and stay in business. The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 is a change to Chapter 11 bankruptcy law and generally applies to business debtors with secured and unsecured debts less than $2,725,625. More on … Continue reading Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019; How it can save your company
Tesseract was a very small personnel software company (annualized revenues of $2M) was financed by a Silicon Valley VC but was on track to run out of money within two months of my joining the company as its CEO. The company’s survival depended on four things: My ability to raise additional capital. Making the company … Continue reading War Story– Tesseract Inc.
When the 2008 crisis hit I was in the middle of rolling up 13 European private universities into a public company I had acquired. The concept was to trade my public shares for the shares of the target schools and do a large secondary stock offering on the NYSE. The school owners would benefit from … Continue reading How I Turned a 2008 Business Disaster Into A Victory In Two Easy Steps
I am proud to announce that Smart Sparrow, Pty was recently sold to a large publisher. Over the recent two-year period I was Executive Chairman of this company that provides adaptive courseware development software and related services to the higher education market. My role was coaching the CEO and board in the areas of capital … Continue reading Smart Sparrow, Pty Became the Hawk in its Market
COVID-19 is the latest important negative influence on the health of our economy and, likely, your business. In downturns, revenue and cash levels always fall faster than expenses. In some ways, business mirrors biology. Darwin may have said it the best when he surmised, those who survive “are not the strongest or the most intelligent, … Continue reading COVID-19’s Influence on the Health of our Economy
Elon Musk says he is hard to work for. I have read that same point about Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many other company building super stars. I believe, to them, being hard to work for means challenging those around them to perform at a higher level. The hardness comes from having to get out … Continue reading Elon Musk Says He is Hard to Work For
“First of all, when Elon says something, you have to pause and not immediately blurt out, ‘Well, that’s impossible,’ or, ‘There’s no way we’re going to do that. I don’t know how.’ So you zip it, and you think about it, and you find ways to get that done,” Shotwell said. Max Hodak, CEO at Neuralink, … Continue reading When Elon Says Something
