Back in March, my friend Barry Campbell and his wife started investing in their own White Trash and Minor Vices Portfolio. As Barry explained: Everyone says “invest in what you know.” I’m about to put my money where my big mouth is. Carrie and I invest, mostly in index funds […]
Strategy and Direction
Venture capitalist Howard Morgan long spoke of the “Four P’s” of sizing up a business for potential investment: People, Product, Plans and Profits. Later, he added two more: Starting about 1996, when I was a lead investor in Idealab, I was inspired by Bill Gross to add a Fifth P. […]
Some of you will be going into business. For that you need two eyes. With one eye you have to check accounts receivable and accounts payable, overhead and profit margins, payroll and insurance costs. With the other you have to attend to your employees – are they receiving just reward […]
Many of my clients have “project-based” businesses like graphic design, conference planning, or even real estate development. I often remind these clients, “before you chase a piece of business, make sure it fits your criteria for a ‘good project’. Because if it isn’t a good project, why would you want […]