Five Easy Steps to Grow Your Company

In a recent post at techcrunch.com, Sarah Lacy mused on whether execution is more important than vision.  The vast majority of comments testified to the fact that execution (getting things done) is more important than vision (having the idea).  In fact, the business world is littered with failed companies that had great ideas and successful [...]

Groucho Marx, CEO

“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”  Groucho Marx. I’ve loved the Marx Brothers since I was in seventh grade.  That was the year I switched from Catholic school to public school.  It was a year I felt I could breathe again, [...]

Of Sofas, Living Rooms and Arm Chairs

I’m in my living room, looking at my sofa and I’m not happy. The sofa is beat — torn up and god knows what else from the animals. In addition, since I took up the last wall of the living room with another bookcase, it’s slung kitty-corner in the room, making a goal-line stand in [...]

Be Yourself

Companies spend a lot of time talking about their products and how they stack up to the competition. They strategize about the need to reduce their cost or add a bell or whistle to set them apart. Now, I don’t want to discount the need to have a strong product offer. But at the end [...]

Management Communication and its Disconnects

One summer during college, I worked with my uncle’s firm building microwave towers out West.  It was one of those great jobs that pay you more in experiences than dollars that I will always remember.  During that time, my uncle noticed that I a book in my backpack. “What are you reading?” he asked.   “‘The [...]