Earl R. Smith II's Blog, page 78
October 15, 2014
Consultants and Prudence
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Lately I have been remembering fondly an old friend who lived in Jacksonville, Florida. When I first met him he was at the end of a long and wildly successful career in the real estate and railroad businesses. He used to have breakfast every Sunday morning at the [...]
Charting the Course – Crossing the Boundary
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com A common weakness of almost all management theories is that they are an essentially static conception of a dynamic process. As such they cultivate ignorance rather than enlightenment and promote failure rather than success. A couple of years ago I began a coaching engagement with a CEO of [...]
Turbo-Charging Business Development
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com In the spirit of disclosure, I am a recidivist entrepreneur and a four-decade student of the process of starting and building a business. I have, over those years, developed a unique approach to turbo-charging business development. It involves: 1) a Board of Advisers, which is populated by very [...]
Advisory Boards as Business Development Engines – The Beginnings
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com A well constructed and professionally managed advisory board can bring amazing benefits to a company. A poorly designed and managed one is usually a colossal waste of resources. The difference often lies not so much in the idea of an advisory board, but in the execution of that [...]
The Money Chase: Oil and Water
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Very few entrepreneurs take the time to really study their company from the perspective of an investor. Those that do are often initially frustrated by what they see as a heartless and antiseptic assessment of the object of their passion and dedication. But, if they fight through [...]
Advisory Boards – Turbocharged Business Development
(From Business Development Turbo-Charged: Advisory Boards as Business Development) Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com When I set out to write a book about how to turbo-charge business development, I met lots of people very interested in getting an advance copy. It made me realize that making business development work is one of the [...]
October 13, 2014
Virtual Chairman
Dr. Earl R. Smith II Managing Partner, The Federal Circle DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Emerging companies face a challenge when it comes to attracting top-quality senior talent – particularly for the board of directors. Here is one way to meet that challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When asked what I do I sometimes reply that I am a Virtual Chairman. [...]
Lack of Accountability – The Core of Failure
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are lots of reason why a business fails – but one is particularly insidious. Failure that results from not being held accountable for your actions and their results is an unnecessary call to a futile end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recently, I was recently invited by three different investors [...]
The Cost of No Cost
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have you ever done a favor for someone only to find out that you did them no favor? What to they say about the road to hell? Oh yes – that it is paved with good intentions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About a quarter of my work is with companies [...]
Management Incentivization the Right Way
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Aligning executive compensation with desired results is a major challenge for any board of directors. Getting it right can mean reducing friction within the executive team, eliminating forays along tangential paths, reduction of self-serving gaming of the system and much better operating results. Getting it wrong can bring [...]
