It’s not that money is not available. Or that you can’t raise it. Or that it’s a fairytale that come true for only a select few. Truth is a lot less absolute; there is no black and white, only shades of grey. Let’s take a look at how and why a 37 year old, father…
Category: Failure
Funding for dummies…one
You dream, you write, you pitch. If you put your heart in it and have an idea with merit you collect, build, sell, retire and live happily ever after. You never have to ask, borrow or steal another dime since the millions of dollars you have put aside as a result of your efforts are…
Things to do in a down market when you are not dead…
We were lucky that the downturn hit us early. In July 2008 we lost two of our largest clients; within a week of each other and on a week’s notice… It made for interesting internal conversations and a scramble to conserve cash. We were luckier still that between attrition (top heavy), expense management (read: extended…
Things they never taught me at Columbia Business School…
Despite my numerous comments about how much I owe Bruce Greenwald, Mark Broadie, Don Sexton and Ralph Biggadike on this blog, there are a few thing that they didn’t get around to covering in my all too short stay in school. Here is my list The link between dropping kids to school and closing deals…
Gary Travnicek
It was a Tampa, Florida type of a day. Hot and humid! I could also say bright and shiny but the thick air that hit you when you stepped out of your cool room didn’t leave space for any other reaction. Hot and humid, it was. Gary came to pick me up from the Holiday…
There goes your coolant; here comes your core…
Running a small business is difficult. No one ever said it would be easy. You sleep less and work harder and that is the part you actually enjoy. Everything else is a struggle. If your small business is a technology company it just upgrades your nightmares to a different class – your personal nuclear reactor…
A penny for your thoughts, pretty woman, or the myth about raising capital
“What follows may be considered as rated material in some parts of the world. If you are juvenile masquerading as an adult this is about the right time for you to move on to the other unrated posts.” There is no easy way to say what I am going to say. Please forgive me. It…
On Hamlet, Horatios and Shakespearean mythology…
Did Hamlet have a death wish? “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest” “Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage; For he was likely, had he been put on, To have proved most royally: And, for his…
The entrepreneurs’ prayer
Posted this long time back on the blogger blog. Here it is again. O God! Behold, I ask of Thee the good through Thy knowledge, and ability through Thy power and beg (Thy favours) out of Thine infinite bounty. For behold Thou hast power; I have none. Thou Knowest, I know not; and Thou…
The myth of a unique idea – one
How important is it to start off with an idea that no one has ever thought of before. Something absolutely unique, different and able to stand up on its own. A concept that would win you grudging respect from your friends, colleagues, class mates and neighbors. “That is one smart dude” they’d whisper as they…