Corporate & Securities Law

10 Steps to Buy a Business

Posted on October 06, 2009
This is the first of three articles in which I describe the processes involved in buying and selling a business. This post is from the Buyer's perspective. The second post and the third post focus on the Seller. 1. ASSEMBLE A TEAM. Buying a business can be a confusing and time-consuming process, particularly for the uninitiated...

Startup Legal Docs

Posted on September 29, 2009
The Fort Worth Startup Blog provides the entrepreneurial community with access to a set of founder-friendly startup documents from theFunded.com. Please note that these documents are most useful as a starting point and will likely require modification and negotiation to fit particular circumstances.

Characteristics of Great Companies

Posted on September 27, 2009
Great companies:1) are constantly innovating and delighting their customers/users with new products and services.2) are built to last and be independent and sustainable. Great companies don't sell out.3) make lots of money but leave even more money on the table for their users and partners...

101 Tips from 50 Small Business Bloggers

Posted on August 26, 2009
This article from American Express OPEN Forum waxes rhapsodic with pithy quotes and comments from top business bloggers, like Seth Godin. Somehow, I was included as well. Enjoy.

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New Family Leave Policy - Have Family? Please Leave

Posted on August 06, 2009
"Our health insurer, after receiving our most recent check for premiums, has asked us to expand our Family Leave program. If you have a family, please leave."from a phony layoff memo, the latest by "Jeremy Blachman, the founder of the Anonymous Lawyer blog, author of a (very funny) novel of the same name, and a past contributor to the [WSJ] Law Blog (here, here), [who] gives his humorous take today on the past 18 months or so in the world of BigLaw...

Leadership Lessons for Hard Times

Posted on August 04, 2009
"During the current global recession, much attention has been devoted to the mistakes that sparked the financial and economic crisis, in hopes of not repeating them. Less has been given to what?s been done well amid the turmoil?to learn, for example, how best to lead a company through these tough times...

Mind-Mapping Tools for College Students & Others

Posted on July 30, 2009
As a hardworking student, you have a lot to organize, including essays, exams, deadlines, and class schedules, not to mention your social and personal life ? plus any part-time jobs you may have taken on. For help, see this list of mind-mapping tools that are designed to help you see your ideas more clearly, analyze and outline research papers, become more efficient when you study, and get inspired to be more creative in your work...

The New Rules for Rock Stars

Posted on July 27, 2009
"Here are the new rules to make it in the [music] business:"The future is DIY. Learn how to use affordable tools, but remember... software won't solve all of your problems... create awareness... don't underestimate the power of giving away your music for free...

Series AA Equity Financing Documents

Posted on July 24, 2009
"Y Combinator and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are happy to announce the Series AA Equity Financing Documents. Their goal is to make angel funding rounds for startups easier for both sides."These documents were originally created for YC-funded startups to use when raising angel rounds...

Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship for College Students

Posted on July 20, 2009
"Becoming an entrepreneur can be one of the most rewarding decisions of your life. Understanding how to separate yourself from the rest of the rat race and put yourself in control of your own life is incredibly empowering. By choosing this path, you are giving yourself the ability to control your own destiny rather than simply choosing to work for someone else...

Bocce : Everything You Always Wanted to Know

Posted on July 13, 2009
My friend and classmate, Matt Flournoy and wife Joanne host the Annual Marietta Kiwanis Club Bocce Party at their home in Marietta, Georgia. Here are their rules and related instructional videos for all you bocce enthusiasts or curiousts out there. Bocce Rules and Definitions/ Non Uniform Local Rules of Flournoy Bocce , and Bocce Instructional Videos by Joanne Flournoy (Joanne R...

What I Wish I Knew When I Was Twenty

Posted on July 08, 2009
Stanford Technology Ventures Program's Executive Director Tina Seelig shares rich insights in creative thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset. Her talk, based on her 2009 book, What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20, cites numerous classroom successes of applied problem-solving and the lessons of failure...

Sample Board Meeting Minutes

Posted on July 02, 2009
This Brad Feld post provides a good template for a sample set of board meeting minutes following the wise lawyer's advice to keep it light, stating:"I go to a lot of board meetings. As a result, I?ve reviewed a lot of board meeting minutes. In general, the philosophy among most VC-backed companies ? promulgated by the law firms for these companies ? is to keep the board minutes ?light...

Trade-marks guide updated | eLegal Canton

Posted on June 30, 2009
David Canton has updated and split into 2 his trade-marks guide. trade-marks-guide-part-1-registering-a-trade-mark summarizes what one should know before selecting and registering a trade-mark, and the advantages of registering. trade-marks-guide-part-2-after-registration summarizes how to properly use and care for a trade-mark after it is registered...

Findlaw's Small Business Center

Posted on June 29, 2009
FindLaw's Small Business Center provides information and resources for small business owners, and help for entrepreneurs seeking to get a business idea off the ground. Here you can get information on choosing and forming the right legal structure for your business, legal tips on day-to-day business operations, an overview of employment law issues, and much more.

100 Awesome Blogs for Your Business Education

Posted on June 29, 2009
I am happy to report that my blog was included in this list of 100 Awesome Blogs for Your Business Education. Thanks to Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends for the link.

Twitter Guide Book

Posted on June 27, 2009
"Twitter is a social network used by millions of people, and thousands more are signing up every day to send short messages to groups of friends. But where's the user manual for Twitter? Where do new Twitter users go to learn about Tweeting, retweets, hashtags and customizing your Twitter profile? Where do you go if you want to know all about building a community on Twitter, or using Twitter for business? How can you find advanced tools for using Twitter on your phone or your desktop? To answer all these questions and more...

Pursue M&A Stages in Parallel

Posted on June 27, 2009
"Many companies diminish their effectiveness by managing M&A as a linear process. They treat each stage of a deal as if they were handing off the baton in a relay race, switching from the boardroom team, to the negotiating team, to the integration planning program leaders, to line management...

More on Risk Management

Posted on June 26, 2009
"First, remember that risk ? the probability of an outcome significantly different from the expected ? can produce both surprisingly good as well as surprisingly bad results. Be as ready to seize the wondrously good as you are to shield yourself and others from the horrendously bad...

Risk Management in a Nutshell

Posted on June 24, 2009
"'Risk Management' is the art and science of thinking about what could go wrong, and what should be done to mitigate those risks in a cost-effective manner."In order to identify risks and figure out how best to mitigate them, we first need a framework for classifying risks...

Widow of Murdered Fly Sues

Posted on June 22, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The widow of the housefly murdered by Barack Obama during a recent CNBC television interview announced this morning that she would be filing a wrongful death suit against the President in federal district court. The plaintiff brief -- citing pain, suffering and loss of income -- seeks a formal apology and compensatory damages, including an unspecified quantity of shit...

Zombies are People Too

Posted on June 17, 2009
I borrowed from the local library and have been watching this Course on Understanding the Brain taught by Jeanette Norden. Doctor Norden is a wonderful lecturer and makes a fascinating and complex subject easier to understand. Stephanie West Allen suggests perhaps a more fun and very novel way to learn about your brain:What a sense of humor! Dr...

New Yorkers now at liberty to shoot wild fowl in their own state

Posted on June 16, 2009
.New Yorkers now at liberty The Library of CongressThis delightful headline is courtesy of the October 10, 1909 edition of the New York Tribune recently posted to Flickr by the Library of Congress. The image is part of the Chronicling America project...

Iconic Depression Era Photographs Released

Posted on May 22, 2009
"Migrant Mother"The Library of CongressThe Library of Congress has created a remarkable set, FSA/OWI Favorites, which includes the ?Migrant Mother,? by Dorothea Lange, the original film negative of which is housed at the Library of Congress. The Library preserves Lange?s original, and makes the digitized photo freely available...

Don Lansberry de la Pittsburgha

Posted on April 03, 2009
"In the early 1970s Bob Lansberry began protesting on the streets of Pittsburgh, wearing signs accusing specific government officials of withholding or censoring his mail and subliminally controlling his mind. His signs and fliers proclaiming messages such as WHY CAN'T LANSBERRY GET MAIL? and ARE YOU MIND CONTROLLED? became icons of downtown Pittsburgh life...

Soften Your Heart at the Tenement Museum

Posted on March 26, 2009
No need to close your eyes and imagine what it might have been like for immigrants in turn-of-the-20th-century America to struggle mightily for a piece of the promise of the American dream. Visit the Tenement Museum and see it and feel it for yourself, as I did on Tuesday...

Change Management Toolbook

Posted on March 05, 2009

50 Common Interview Questions

Posted on February 25, 2009
Bhuvana Sundaramoorthy shares a great list of typical questions you are likely to be asked in your next job interview together with suggestions on how to answer them. This is an excellent list also for those conducting such interviews. Notably absent from the list is the cliche question "What is your greatest weakness?" although it is noted in the comments that interviewers who ask this question do not know what they are doing.

Leadership in a Nutshell

Posted on February 25, 2009
Gill Corkindale shares this summary of what it takes to be a good leader:1. Be aware. Understand yourself and your context. Know your own strengths, limitations, and development needs. If you don't have time to build your skills, bring people into your team who will complement you...

25 Random Things About Me

Posted on February 13, 2009
1. I?ve been a pauper, a poet, a paper boy, car wash attendant, commercial bakery worker, cemetery grass cutter, book warehouseman, hod carrier, construction laborer, television delivery man, jet refueler, lavatory cleaner, ditch digger, law clerk, attorney, actor and professor2...

Weasels & Other Super Bowl Ad Critters

Posted on February 11, 2009
In this essay, Jeffrey Schrank gives a list of the techniques advertisers employ to make claims for their products. I have reprinted selections from the article and used Super Bowl ads that I believe illustrate the concepts Professor Schrank stresses:"The 'claim' is the verbal or print part of an ad that makes some claim of superiority for the product being advertised...

Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong

Posted on February 10, 2009
"Every Communist must grasp the truth, 'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.'?Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.??In waking a tiger, use a long stick.?"A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous...

Jump in my Oscars Pool

Posted on February 09, 2009
You are invited to my free fun Frog Soda The Oscars - 81st Annual Academy Awards Pool: Anthony's Oscar Pool.- go to the league page, http://www.frogsoda.com/awards_ceremony.php?Action=viewleague&lid=1014&aid=21- if clicking on the link doesn't work, copy and paste it into your browser- if you are a Frog Soda member, click "log in", if not click "Sign Up"- Once you have created an account and are signed in, click "Join League"- This is a private league, you will need the password to join: oscar

Your Mission: Improved Mission Statements

Posted on February 08, 2009
"Most corporate mission statements are worthless. They consist largely of pious platitudes...A mission statement should not commit a firm to what it must do to survive but to what it chooses to do in order to thrive. Nor should it be filled with operationally meaningless superlatives such as biggest, best, optimum, and maximum...

Why Rumors Spread

Posted on February 03, 2009
"Rumors have a way of slipping under our mental defenses before we think to question them. The best ones sidestep common sense entirely...Most of us don't like to think of ourselves as gullible. But we're especially likely to accept as true?and do our best to spread?tales that have several specific characteristics that take aim at our best defenses...

A Story of Strength, Triumph and Oats

Posted on February 02, 2009
Defense wins championships, but the offenses stepped up when it counted in last night's Super Bowl. When Fitzgerald scored the go-ahead touchdown, I was drained, deflated, yet hopeful. Somehow, the Steelers have become a team that can mount a charge from behind in the final minutes of a game and win...

Reverend Lowery Wows Me

Posted on January 20, 2009
Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon and a pastor known to speak his mind to power, opened his inauguration benediction with the first words of what is called the Negro National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and SingGod of our weary years,God of our silent tears...

It's Polamalu

Posted on January 19, 2009

Updated Steelers Polka Fight Song

Posted on January 13, 2009
Time to take a shot at updating the Steelers polka fight song (sung to the tune of the Pennsylvania polka):Da-Da-Da-Da-Ta-Da - Charge!We're from the town with that great football team, We cheer the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Mike and all his friends are all on the field...

How to Run a Meeting Like Google

Posted on January 13, 2009
This article from BusinessWeek offers the following cure for the ubiquitous, unproductive meetings, drawing on lessons learned from Marissa Mayer, Google's vice-president of search products. "Mayer holds an average of 70 meetings a week and serves as the last stop before engineers and project managers get the opportunity to pitch their ideas to Google's co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page...

The Land of Hatchy Milatchy

Posted on January 07, 2009
There's a wonderful place that you really should see called the Land of Hatchy Milatchy. These are the opening lines to an infectious theme song whirling in a childhood memory.According to CoalSpeak: a Dictionary of the Coal Region, Hatchy Milatchy was a popular children's show on WNEP-TV (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) in the 1960's and 70's...

Personal SWOT Analysis

Posted on January 07, 2009
SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for identifying Strengths and Weaknesses, and for examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. Used in a personal context, it helps you develop your career in a way that takes best advantage of your talents, abilities and opportunities...

Christmas across the Commons

Posted on December 31, 2008
A&P, COFFEE, SANTA CLAUSfrom George Eastman HouseOn Flickr, you can check out public domain photos tagged with "christmas" from the collections of George Eastman House, State Library of New South Wales, Nationaal Archief, and The Library of Congress...

Classic Christmas Blend

Posted on December 18, 2008
I was thinking the other day that a wonderful epitaph might be, "He loved Christmas music." So here is a link to my Imeem collection of holiday music, a a href="http://www.imeem.com/people/-tlHW7O/playlist/Ck6U4g7n/classic_christmas_blend_music_playlist/"Classic Christmas Blend/a.

Why Not GM, Ford Chrysler?

Posted on December 17, 2008
Gibson Dunn Crutcher provides a section-by-section analysis of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as passed by the Senate on October 2, 2008. Before anything else, the authors focus on the all important definition of "financial institution" and troubled assets, from which all else in EESA flows...

Bing and Bowie Sing Little Drummer Boy

Posted on December 13, 2008
"Christmas variety shows were an inescapable part of Christmas for about 30 years, hosted by Perry Como (who did no less than 39 Christmas specials), John Denver, Bob Hope, The Carpenters and many others. One of the more serious, without the usual comedy sketches and ?surprise? appearances by Santa, was Johnny Cash?s 1977 Christmas special, including an all-star tribute to Cash?s friend Elvis Presley, who had died a few months earlier...

Christmas Day in the Morning

Posted on December 12, 2008
by Pearl Buck Pearl-Buck Originally uploaded by TigerTigerTiger. He woke suddenly and completely. It was four o'clock, the hour at which his father had always called him to get up and help with the milking. Strange how the habits of his youth clung to him still! Fifty years ago, and his father had been dead for thirty years, and yet he waked at four o'clock in the morning...

The Man and the Birds

Posted on December 12, 2008
as told by Paul HarveyThe man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time...

happy christmakwaanzakkuh

Posted on December 11, 2008
jpeg Originally uploaded by TigerTigerTiger. "U.S. Patent No. 5,379,202'Partially overlapping display elements have light string sets mounted thereon and sequentially illuminated to simulate animation of a decorative part of an outdoor light display...

Hannukah Christmas Merger Announced

Posted on December 11, 2008
Continuing the current trend of large-scale mergers and acquisitions, it was announced today at a press conference that Christmas and Hannukah will merge. An industry source said that the deal had been in the works for about 1300 years.While details were not available at press time, it is believed that the overhead cost of having twelve days of Christmas and eight days of Hannukah was becoming prohibitive for both sides...

A Christmas Carol

Posted on December 11, 2008
by Charles Dickens"..Once upon a time -- of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve -- old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house...The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank was copying letters...

Choice of Entity Comparison Chart

Posted on December 03, 2008
For many small business owners choosing a C corp, S Corp, or Limited Liability Company (LLC) is the first step in starting a small business. This entity comparison table from themoneyalert.com was designed as a helpful reference.Found via this Ask The VC post.

LearnVC - Your guide to raising capital

Posted on November 03, 2008
These guides from LearnVC include content from the LearnVC site and on external sites from leading experts in the startup community. Topics well covered include:New Entrepreneurs Experienced Entrepreneurs (refresher) Future Investors (Angels or Venture Capitalists) Students (Venture Capital Investment Competition participants and others)

University Entrepreneurs Portal Launches

Posted on November 01, 2008
"At a time when graduates from leading universities face an increasingly challenging job market, Campus Venture Network, Inc. is launching StudentBusinesses.com, a free online platform that connects young entrepreneurs with business partners, mentors and investors who can help them launch successful startups...

Free Business and Entrepreneurship College Courses

Posted on October 24, 2008
Through open courseware programs, you can access course materials from a wide range of top universities. Whether you decide to take these courses on your own time or just skim through the information, www.bschool.com compiled a list of 100 business and entrepreneurship courses you can take for free...

Savoring a Moment

Posted on October 14, 2008
I was among three hundred or so Pittsburgh Pirate fans that made a pilgrimage to the site of old Forbes Field yesterday afternoon. This is a quintessential 'Burgh thing - a ritual sprung spontaneously from the act of one Saul Finkelstein who decided during his lunch hour in 1985 to sit on a bench and listen to a tape of his favorite baseball game...

New Orleans Business Plan Competition

Posted on October 02, 2008
Calling ENTREPRENEURS WITH IDEAS TO retain YOUNG TALENT in New Orleans! The Idea Village has announced 504ward's $100,000 Business Competition for entrepreneurs with ideas to retain young talent in New Orleans. Check out an inspired YouTube video to get your creative juices flowing...

Yankee Stadium Memories

Posted on September 26, 2008
I remember Grandpa ? his silhouette in the dusky evening light beside the weathered workbench in the upper backyard. Firmly, yet gently, he struck hammer to chisel and chipped away bits of rock along a scored line in a flagstone destined to become a stepping stone...

Impact of Yankee Stadium Bat Day on Blunt Trauma Injuries

Posted on September 23, 2008
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of blunt trauma in northern New York City before and after the distribution of 25,000 baseball bats at Yankee Stadium. DESIGN: Prospective multicenter study, including ten days before and ten days after Bat Day (June 3, 1990)...

Free Online Entrepreneurship Courses

Posted on September 01, 2008
"Approximately 10 million entrepreneurs think about starting a business in the U.S. every year. Only 3 million of them actually do it. Be one of the 3 million with these free online business entrepreneurship courses.1. MIT- Sloan School of Management (mit...

I Have a Dream Today

Posted on August 28, 2008
"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...

Your Inner Yinzer 'n'at

Posted on August 25, 2008
Yinz gotta learn Picksburghese, especially yinz not from aron here, like doze of ya in Ahia, other parts of Pensivania, and even yunz up 'ere on da Sahside slopes, or ov'ere in Sliberrty, Sharteers Crick, da Mon or da Yock or dahntahn or in da Strip or near da carline in da Sout hills or in Oaklan near where Jaynell used ta be...

Olympic Medals? Let Me Count the Ways

Posted on August 22, 2008
The Washington Post reports that every day since the games began, the Olympics medal chart has dominated the front page of China's main state-run newspapers. China is always ranked first based on the number of gold medals won. The U.S. media trumpets the total medals tally...

Expand the Pie Before Dividing It Up

Posted on August 21, 2008
"Many managers who view themselves as the heroic guardians of shareholder interests?the no-nonsense, tough-as-nails guys who run their businesses by the numbers, who pride themselves on their hypercompetitiveness, and who think that "organizational culture" and "shared values" are irrelevant fantasies concocted by out-of-touch academics?may be inadvertently running their companies into the ground and systematically destroying the wealth of their investors...

Who's Winning in Your Workplace?

Posted on August 21, 2008
"Are competition and cooperation at play in your work environment? The Olympic Games are a great example of how dynamic forces balance and reinforce each other in large systems. At the same time that national pride pushes countries to compete aggressively from sport to sport, so too is a spirit of cooperation in evidence as individual athletes demonstrate sportsmanship and countries agree on standards regarding everything from scoring practices to drug testing...

In The Mountain

Posted on August 17, 2008
Chilled in Old Tingri, we awake after restlessly tossing the night in the ramshackle motel ruled by a green-haired Tibetan princess. Darling daughter and I fondly recall the proprietor?s response to my earlier inquiry about the availability of showers...

So You Want to Take Your Company Public?

Posted on August 08, 2008
"The following are among the most important matters to be addressed by IPO candidates in the six-to-twelve months before an IPO. "Pricing Option Grants: For a venture-backed company that grants employee stock options (as almost all do), the SEC will review during the IPO registration process the company's determination of fair market value...

How Do You Define Success?

Posted on July 30, 2008
Today's quotation from livinglifefully.com:"It takes courage to buck the tide, but once you start to experience the freedom that comes from actively creating your own interpretation of success, you?ll find it easy to move on from people who haven?t yet figured out that having it all or spending long hours at an unsatisfying job will never define who they truly are, no matter how high the pay...

Consider Garden Leave Employment Termination Clauses

Posted on June 05, 2008
"'Garden leave' has become a common tool in English employment contracts for curtailing a departing employee's ability to work for the competition. Anecdotal evidence suggests that American employers, primarily on the East Coast, have begun inserting garden leave clauses into employment agreements...

Templates for Small Business Owners

Posted on May 18, 2008
Templates from Microsoft for Small Business OwnersBusiness plan for startup businessBank loan request for small businessProjected balance sheetPersonal financial statementFour-year profit projectionStart-up expensesOpening day balance sheetFinancial history and ratios12 month profit and loss projection12 month sales forecastCompetitive analysis

You Go Girl - Women Boxing in the Early 1900's

Posted on May 05, 2008
The Library of Congress posted this 1910 photo on Flickr recently of the Bennett sisters boxing. "What is this?" I wondered. I searched around and found that women's boxing is much older than I thought. The site, womenboxing.com explains:"While women's boxing can loosely trace it beginnings to London in the 1720's, throughout the ensuing decades, there were various exhibitions and scattered bouts until the 1950's when several fighters, most notably Barbara Buttrick, JoAnn Hagen (Verhaegen), and Phyllis Kugler staged professional fights...

Rhino Party Rah Rah Rah

Posted on May 01, 2008
The Parti Rhinocéros, AKA the Rhinoceros Party, was registered in Canada for more than 30 years. They issued ?A promise to keep none of our promises.? Members of the party claimed to be the ?spiritual descendants? of Cacareco, a Brazilian rhino that was elected to São Paulo?s city council in the 1950s...

Where Does Creativity Come From?

Posted on April 27, 2008
Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, journeying through her childhood and family history and into the worlds of physics and chance, looking for hints of where her own creativity comes from. It's a wild ride with a surprise ending.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Posted on April 27, 2008
Want to start a business or make some other personal change? Something holding you back? Perhaps you will recognize yourself in this list from How to Save the World. It is a top ten list of obstacles to making changes and ideas for how to overcome them:"1...

an Entrepreneur State of Mind

Posted on April 25, 2008
Being an entrepreneur is more than just starting a business, says Shutterfly CEO and dot-com veteran Jeff Housenbold. Entrepreneurial thinking involves an innovative mindset to create new products, new markets, and new ideas within any set of circumstances - from an existing Fortune 500 to a mom-and-pop shop...

Checklist for Forming a Partnership

Posted on April 04, 2008
From Findlaw:If you are thinking of starting a partnership, below is a checklist of steps to take before you open for business. Keep in mind that your partnership's startup requirements might vary from the list below, depending on the specific type of business you are in, and where your business is located...

Systems Thinking Applies to Software Development

Posted on April 02, 2008
"The Systems Thinking Laws from Peter Senge?s book ?The Fifth Discipline? applied to Software Development.1. Today?s problems come from yesterday?s solutions...2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back...3. Behavior grows better before it grows worse...

Sharpen Your Skills

Posted on March 28, 2008
Sharpening Your Skills (from HBS Working Knowledge) brings together articles on ways to improve your business skills.Questions to be answered:Should I keep control of my company?How do I turn potential into profit?How can a resource-challenged start-up grow?What legal mistakes should I watch out for in starting a new company?Should I keep control of my company?Rich or Royal: What Do Founders Want? It's a fundamental tension many entrepreneurs face, the conflict between wanting to become rich and wanting to keep control of their new company...

St. Francis Hospital Implosion

Posted on March 24, 2008
To make say for the new Pittsburgh Penguins arena, old St. Francis Hospital bit the dust on Saturday. Here is a video of the implosion from StartPoint Media

Overconfidence in Sheep's Clothing

Posted on March 05, 2008
"What else can psychology tell us about running a business? "One example... [is] 'the illusion of validity.' This is the sense that you have that you understand somebody and you can predict how they will behave. The reason I call this the illusion of validity is that we knew from the statistics that we were actually not able to predict how people would behave...

Myron Cope: Rest in Peace

Posted on February 27, 2008
"Myron Cope, the screechy-voiced announcer whose colorful catch phrases and twirling Terrible Towel became symbols of the Pittsburgh Steelers during an unrivaled 35 seasons in the broadcast booth, has died. He was 79... Cope's tenure from 1970 to 2004 as the color analyst on the Steelers' radio network is the longest in NFL history for a broadcaster with a single team...

Rosie the Riveter

Posted on February 26, 2008
"Rosie the Riveter is the female icon of World War II. She is the home-front equivalent of G.I. Joe. She represents any woman defense worker. And for many women, she's an example of a strong, competent foremother...the woman in the bandanna rolling up the sleeve on her raised bent arm...

Hope for Strummers

Posted on February 25, 2008
I still strum my guitar after all these years, mostly Beatles tunes. I never learned to play lead. Judging by the gaping hole in his worn guitar on display during last night's performance of the Oscar winning song "Falling Slowly" Glen Hansard is a strummer too, from way back...

Strategic Decision Making Traps

Posted on February 25, 2008
"There are a series of traps that people fall into [in making decisions], that lead to incorrect judgements being reached, whatever the quality of the preceding analysis. The incidence of this is high. The cost, given that these are strategic decisions, is commensurately large...

Just Do It

Posted on February 20, 2008
Message to me:"Most of us have had the experience of tackling some dreaded task only to come out the other side feeling invigorated, filled with a new sense of confidence and strength. The funny thing is, most of the time when we do them, we come out on the other side changed and often wondering what we were so worried about or why it took us so long...

Who are You When No One is Looking?

Posted on February 19, 2008
"Any nuts-and-bolts leadership primer will explain that one of the key leadership competencies is holding others accountable...While this is an important dimension of leadership, it is easy to slip, when it comes to accountability for our own behavior...

What Investors Want

Posted on February 13, 2008
From Educators Corner come new podcasts well worth a listen:Podcast: Angel Investing Revealed Ron Conway, Angel Investors LP Mike Maples Jr., Maples Investments 60 min. 13 sec. Experienced angel investors, Ron Conway, Founder of Angel Investors LP, and Mike Maples, Founder of Maples Investments, provide a rare look into the ins and outs of angel investing...

So Want to Be Acquired by Google?

Posted on February 06, 2008
This article from Fenwick & West is written for the directors and executives of emerging technology companies (referred to as TechCos) who are considering selling their company to a larger, more sophisticated company (referred to as LargeCo). TechCos are privately held companies that exploit something new (technology, products or niche markets), experience rapid change (growth, market, profitability or cash flow) and typically are short on infrastructure and capital resources...

My Favorite SuperBowl Ad

Posted on February 04, 2008
The screaming grasshopper rocks even though you can barely hear it.

Tyree-fic Catch of the Century

Posted on February 04, 2008

No Decision is Perfect

Posted on February 01, 2008
"People usually make decisions in one of two ways: They analyze the pros and cons, or they go with their gut instincts. In psychology and business journals, writers who you'd think have better things to do use up gallons of ink arguing about which approach is better...

the Fine Art of Schmoozing

Posted on February 01, 2008
This article by Bruce L. Katcher offers valuable tips for making the most of your networking meeting opportunities, including the following:"Your professional network is one of your most valuable assets. Professional networking meetings are one of the best ways to continually revitalize and grow your network...

Power Use Drops During Super Bowl

Posted on January 31, 2008
"Is there a drop in demand for electricity when the Super Bowl kicks off, as people stop what they?re doing and gather around the TV? Ted Borer, [Princeton] University?s energy plant manager, was curious. 'I?d always heard of this, as an urban legend,' Borer says, ?and I thought, ?I have the tools to confirm this...

How Do You Measure Up as a CEO?

Posted on January 24, 2008
"(rate performance on a 1-5 scale, 1 being least favorable and 5 being most favorabl...): "Vision: Creates vision and strategy. Communicates vision and strategy both internally and externally. "Leadership: Ensures the support and execution of the vision and strategy by: "Establishment and communication of priorities; Driving change for improvement throughout the organization; Team-building; and Creation of high performance environment...

the Open Source Infection Myth

Posted on January 23, 2008
"Most people now recognize that it is indeed safe to build commercial products on open source platforms. Regardless of the license, open source software doesn?t reach out to ?infect? other software or hardware in ways that destroy the commercial viability of those commercial products, despite early FUD to that effect...

a Tax Disclaimer for My Next Life

Posted on January 04, 2008
Please note hereby that, in accordance with archaic and arcane federal and state standards, policies, procedures and regulations, which may or may not be applicable, as the case may be, or not to be, Anthony Cerminaro does not offer any advice on personal or impersonal tax questions, requirements or issues...

Why does Toyota Encourage Insurance Fraud?

Posted on January 02, 2008
I am heartened to find that I am not the only person confused by the most recent Toyota ad campaign that encourages consumers to commit insurance fraud by destroying their current rides and using the proceeds of bogus insurance claims to purchase new vehicles...

Come Alive in the New Year

Posted on January 01, 2008
Join forces with the dynamic flow of life. The African-American theologian Howard Thurman said: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive." And so, as the old year changes into the New Year, ask what makes you come alive, and then go do it--for your own sake, and in service of the greater good...

Press On with Persistence

Posted on December 30, 2007
"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent...

Guide to Building a Website

Posted on December 29, 2007
Want to join the business boomtown on the Web but don?t know where to start or how to get it done? This guide from startupNation.com takes you from concept to completion. 1 Plan Your Web Presence2 Choose DIY or Go with a Pro3 Select the Tools for Making Your Home on the Web 4 Make Key Design Decisions 5 Learn the Code (But Only What You Must)6 Identify the Best Software for Words & Images7 Take Control Over the Look, Feel and Function 8 Optimize Your Site for Search Engines9 Put All the Parts Together10 Take your Website Live!11 Constantly Tend to Your Web Site

Wanted: Courageous Followers

Posted on December 28, 2007
?Followership is a discipline of supporting leaders and helping them to lead well. It is not submission, but the wise and good care of leaders, done out of a sense of gratitude for their willingness to take on the responsibilities of leadership, and a sense of hope and faith in their abilities and potential...

Got Venture?

Posted on December 28, 2007
"Mark Davis - a member of the DFJ Gotham - has written a very extensive series of posts on his blog titled Get Venture. Mark describes his goal as to "create the entrepreneur's manual for raising venture capital." He's covered a lot of ground that is a good read for any entrepreneur looking to raise venture capital...

Passion, Commitment, Persistence

Posted on December 26, 2007
Ingrid Vanderveldt is an expert in entrepreneurship. Through her Entrepreneurial Blueprint, she's helped many businesspeople network and find their strategy. She's also been the host of CNBC's "American Made," an interview series with business icons. Here Vanderfelt talks [to BNET...

The Science of Santa's Long Strange Trip

Posted on December 24, 2007
"It's a question that has puzzled kids and grown-ups for centuries: How does Santa Claus get all those gifts to millions of homes worldwide in just one night?...Santa expert Larry Silverberg, a noted U.S. engineer and...professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh...

Never Answer the Valuation Question with a Specific Number

Posted on December 20, 2007
"Never answer the classic VC question "so, what valuation are you looking for?" with a specific number. "Got that? Never!..."Find out why not at this post from Soaring on Ridgelift found via this Ask The VC post.

Startup Marketing

Posted on December 19, 2007
"Donna Novitsky talks about developing a marketing strategy for a start-up. She addresses key issues about segmenting customer priorities and their pain-points; and building a competitive strategy. Novitsky notes that customers are the biggest marketers for an organization...

Six Stages of a Project

Posted on December 16, 2007
ENTHUSIASMDISILLUSIONMENTPANICSEARCH FOR THE GUILTYPUNISHMENT OF THE INNOCENTPRAISE & HONORS FOR THE NON-PARTICIPANTS

Scared of Santa

Posted on December 16, 2007
Nothing says Happy Holidays like a photo of sweet little toddlers screaming at Santa. A couple of years ago, the Chicago Tribune asked readers to send in their "Scared of Santa" photos. Those photos are included here, as well as additional photos sent in by SouthFlorida...

Wonderfulest Christmas in the USA

Posted on December 15, 2007
"The gifted storyteller and former radio broadcaster John Henry Faulk recorded his Christmas story in 1974 for the program Voices in the Wind..."Before the John Henry Faulk Show debut in 1951 on WCBS Radio, Faulk hosted numerous radio programs in New York and New Jersey...

Project Management Handbook

Posted on December 14, 2007
This ePMbook by Simon Wallace "is an ebook about eProject Management as well as conventional Program and Project Management. Its aim is to examine issues, needs and approaches in a variety of situations and environments. It should give you the ability to understand what is needed and why, plus how you can best address those needs...

Intro to Business Plans

Posted on December 14, 2007
"A good business plan follows generally accepted guidelines for both form and content. There are three primary parts to a business plan:The first is the business concept, where you discuss the industry, your business structure, your particular product or service, and how you plan to make your business a success...

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Posted on December 14, 2007
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in The Sun it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? VIRGINIA O'HANLON New York, N.Y. Note: Virginia O'Hanlon wrote this to the editor of the New York Sun in September 1897...

White Christmas by the Drifters

Posted on December 14, 2007
You may have heard it before, but its a treat every holiday season - the Drifters? classic version of White Christmas, with the on-its-way-to-being-a-classic flash animation featuring Santa and his reindeer. For an active link to the peformance, see this post from Neatorama...

Online Resources for Entrepreneurs

Posted on December 11, 2007
"The New York Times published a nice introductory article on how to get started with a small business. Author Barbara Whitaker notes that about ten percent of small businesses fail each year:Success comes with education, careful planning and adequate cash flow, specialists say...

Harrassment Complaint Process Must be Clear

Posted on December 10, 2007
"One important way your company can avoid liability in harassment lawsuits is to show that you maintain ?a reasonable mechanism by which the victim of the harassment can complain to the company and get relief? and then prove that the victim failed to use that procedure...

How to Really Use the 80/20 Rule

Posted on December 07, 2007
"Pick an area of your life where you feel there is an imbalance of effects. This won?t be true of all areas, but many situations are out of balance (money, time, health and possibly even relationships). "Try to identify the key 10, 20 or 40 percent of inputs that are creating most your results...

the Option Pool Shuffle

Posted on December 07, 2007
"If you don?t keep your eyes on the option pool while you?re negotiating valuation, your investors will have you playing (and losing) a game that we like to call:Option Pool ShuffleYou have successfully negotiated a $2M investment on a $8M pre-money valuation by pitting the famous Blue Shirt Capital against Herd Mentality Management...

China's Science and Technology Plan

Posted on December 05, 2007
"As China implements its plan to improve scientific innovation, it will need to solve such political and economic problems as finding the proper balance between indigenous efforts and engagement with the global community."In January 2006, China initiated a 15-year 'Medium- to Long-Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology...

MindMap Toolbox

Posted on December 01, 2007
"Sometimes the difference between a successful project and one that spirals out of control is getting all your thoughts and ideas laid out before you even get started. One of the best ways to do this is with mind maps, which act as a visual representation of all that stuff you?ve got floating around in your head...

Changes to Change Management Toolbook

Posted on November 26, 2007
The Change Management Toolbook website has been updated and is well worth a look for useful information and resources on change management. As the site explains:"Change Management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people-side of change processes, to achieve the required outcomes, and to realize the change effectively within the individual change agent, the inner team, and the wider system...