Earl R. Smith II's Blog, page 70
November 17, 2014
Board of Directors: Cultural Evolution
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com As a board evolves from in-house through insurgent to collaborative status its culture also evolves. ((It is worth noting here that there is a class of corporations that never make the journey from adolescence to maturity. Many of these companies will achieve a stability which avoids the professionalization [...]
November 16, 2014
Walking Together Alone – Searching For the Self
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com • You Are What Eats You A friend recently suggested that people are defined by those things that bother them the most. And, although I’m not willing to accept the general proposition, I think there is something to be gained from this perspective. Here’s a suggestion; eavesdrop on [...]
November 15, 2014
Building Value That Survives the Closing Table
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Last year The Federal Circle presented a seminar titled ‘How to drive Value Before Value Drives Away’. The program focused on the process of preparing a company for sale. The core question on the table was ‘how do I as a CEO build value that will survive the [...]
Of Course … The Tragic Mistake – Part Five: To be What?
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had been some time since our last meeting. An e-mail showed up indicating that she was ready to sit down and talk. When we began the engagement neither of us was sure where things were going or where they might end up. Our last meeting – [...]
November 13, 2014
Conversations with Investors – Chapter Three
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jack Biddle, Co-Founder and General partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners In this series of articles, I describe interviews with investors in the Washington DC area. They range from angel investors to managing partners in well established funds. I have known most of them for many years. That [...]
Conversations with Investors – Chapter One
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jim Hunt of The MITA Group In this series of articles, I will describe several discussions that I had with investors in the Washington DC area. They range from angel investors to senior partners in well established funds. I have known most of them for many years. [...]
Conversations with Investors – Chapter Two
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. S. Gamble, Founder and CEO, Montis Group, LLC In this series of articles, I describe several discussions that I had with investors in the Washington DC area. They range from angel investors to senior partners in well established funds. I have known most of them for [...]
Angel Investing – Governance
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com More companies have been damaged or flat out destroyed by lack of governance than by poor governance. Why any board of directors would ignore its fiduciary obligations to the shareholders and leave the management team unsupervised is far beyond me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most angel investors, when funding a start-up, [...]
Turnaround Engagement – Part I
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com I recently completed a turnaround engagement with a mid-market company. The effort was successful and the story of the turnaround was typical of many. My initial foray into any company identifies those threats that are likely to bring it down. I refer to this as triage. In this [...]
Turnaround Management – Cash Flow
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com In business, as the old saying goes, in business cash is king. This is particularly true for companies in distressed situations. A cash flow statement is a snapshot of a company’s situation and a ‘reality check’ measure of its ability to meet its obligations to creditors and investors. [...]
