Category: Interim Services

Why Start-Ups Need Mentors

I first “landed” in Silicon Valley in 1998, at the beginning of the first bubble. I use the word “landed” literally, as I had just completed nearly ten years of running media, information, and news companies overseas, across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, including four years on Mainland China. My colleagues, employees, and… Continue reading Why Start-Ups Need Mentors

The Joys of Working Overseas

I’ve been fairly lucky to have had a long, internationally-facing career, having resided in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Beijing, and having touched down on business in sixty countries. I’m sure I learned more than I “taught,” and that’s perfectly OK with me. My assignment with the largest and most challenging responsibilities included being… Continue reading The Joys of Working Overseas

The Mother of All Business Incubators/Accelerators

I’ve been involved in a lot of start-ups. No grand slams, but a few solid base hits and some spectacular strike-outs. My ex wife called me a “risk junkie,’ – I never agreed with that assessment, but I do enjoy the passion and energy of working with founders and employees of new ventures. I’ve also… Continue reading The Mother of All Business Incubators/Accelerators

Today I Fix Retail Stores

Today I Solve The Problems of Retailers Sears, Radio Shack, Best Buy…..going, going gone? Many analysts think so. Radio Shack used to be so cool, and still could be. It’s the only place to get things you didn’t know you needed. Capacitors, resistors, bits of wire and plugs. Hobbyists and home handymen are the market.… Continue reading Today I Fix Retail Stores

The Media Industry Needs a Swift Kick in the Keister

The Great Media Industry Fiasco There was a time when it seemed like every company wanted to evolve into a media company; whether it was the humble parking lot beginnings of Time-Warner, or liquor giant Seagram assimilating Universal, to Disney gobbling up ABC (I have a funny story about that). OK, I won’t go into… Continue reading The Media Industry Needs a Swift Kick in the Keister

The Trouble With Digiorno’s Twitter Move This Week

There were a couple of Twitter gaffes this week by companies that should know better. Both used the Ray Rice domestic violence story as the basis for a “humorous” tweet. Neither were funny, of course, there’s no humor in the issue. Domestic abuse, no matter the age or sex of the victim is one of… Continue reading The Trouble With Digiorno’s Twitter Move This Week

What’s Wrong with Crackle.com

Founded in the early 2000s as “Grouper” the company streams movies, television shows, and some original programming over a wide variety of hardware platforms. Grouper was purchased by Sony Entertainment in 2007 and rebranded as Crackle after the purchase. With Sony’s support, the ‘channel’ has access to a large library of video product from both… Continue reading What’s Wrong with Crackle.com

Company Operating Tenets

I like companies / owners / executives that have and operating under tenets that the entire roster of personnel at a company understand and embrace.   Of course, you won’t see the employees rallying around the mission if they don’t see executives “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk”. I saw this list… Continue reading Company Operating Tenets

What I’ve Been Up To Lately

The past months have been spent on site at a Pacific NW (US) industrial services company, in the B2B category.  My role was to analyze the company, recommend growth strategies, and identify outside financing sources. Within ninety days for starting to look for money, I was able to locate and bring to the table five… Continue reading What I’ve Been Up To Lately