Executive and Team Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Mentoring - Strategic Planning - Board Service

 
The CEO's Handbook - Volume One
Notes for a Thinking Chief Executive
Available on Amazon Kindle - Click Here

Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

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Prior articles in the series:

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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 – some weeks back – had started with some tension in the air. My coaching client had made a successful career as an entrepreneur. She sold her companies and made a lot of money. After a brief ‘vacation’ from business, she began to cast around for her ‘next life’. After some reflection she had decided to become an angel investor. Continue reading “Of Course … The Tragic Mistake – Part Five: To be What?” »

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The CEO's Handbook - Volume One
Notes for a Thinking Chief Executive
Available on Amazon Kindle - Click Here

Benefits for Teams Working With The Federal Circle


Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

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Driving a Broken Wheel

One of the most frustrating things about getting a business off the ground, up and running, is the money chase. There seems to be no end to the meetings without tangible results or the polite ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ responses to a polished and passionate presentation. I regularly encounter founders who are at the end of their rope and absolutely certain that potential investors have simply been toying with them in some perverse game of cat and mouse. Their teams are disintegrating, creditors are knocking then pounding on the door and the future looks bleaker each day. Worse, the time spent in the money chase has bled effort and resources away from building out the team and refining the business plan. It is sad that this is such a frequently occurring experience. It is even sadder that it does not have to be that way at all. Continue reading “An Alternative to the Money Chase” »

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The CEO's Handbook - Volume One
Notes for a Thinking Chief Executive
Available on Amazon Kindle - Click Here

Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most entrepreneurs dream of the day that the investor’s check clears and they have the funding to grow their business. It is a day that they struggle to achieve. Most put in long hours of preparation. They polish and re-polish their elevator speech and dog-and-pony show. The slide stack is revised and re-revised. The diligent ones even look to their own performance and appearance during the presentations to find ways to improve results and finally greet that sunrise on funding day. Continue reading “Fred Got Funded – And He Hasn’t Had a Good Day Since” »

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The CEO's Handbook - Volume One
Notes for a Thinking Chief Executive
Available on Amazon Kindle - Click Here

Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recently sat in on a gab fest of entrepreneurs and wannabee entrepreneurs. The subject of investors and how best to approach them came up and I was taken aback by what I heard. If you listened to these guys investors were stupid, arrogant, greedy, short-sighted, overbearing, intrusive, difficult to deal with and distinctly neither a recognized nor welcomed part of the human race. Investors were the scourge of the business world and responsible for most of the failures in it. Continue reading “Investors Are Human Too” »

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The CEO's Handbook - Volume One
Notes for a Thinking Chief Executive
Available on Amazon Kindle - Click Here

Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

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When I first started this series of articles I had no idea that it would extend to seven. I also did not anticipate the level of interest in the topic. Many who read the opening article had not thought of the question ‘how does my company stack up against a professional definition of investment grade’. Others had thought about it but not in any systematic fashion. It is always gratifying to write about something that readers care deeply about. It is even more gratifying to engage them in discussions that result from that writing. Continue reading “The Money Chase: What Does Investment Grade Mean? Part 7” »

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Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53236

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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 those self-justifying tendencies and come to understand the investors perspective, they can substantially improve their chances of fathoming the process and, perhaps, of getting funded. The investor’s world is quite different from the entrepreneurs in many ways. But there are also similarities. Continue reading “The Money Chase: Oil and Water” »

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Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

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I am sometimes asked by investors to ‘parachute’ into a company and give them a quick assessment of conditions and possibilities. Most of the time, the company has been under-performing. Frequently the money that the investors provided has been spent and they are facing the need for follow-on funding. The investors want to know if additional investment is prudent. Generally I am asked to opine on four options: 1) shut it down, 2) sell or merge the company, 3) overhaul the team and value proposition and re-launch, or 4) make an additional investment and stay the course. My first steps are to prioritize those options and present a quick summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each. I also focus on the threats and opportunities that will most likely present themselves. Continue reading “Protecting Investor Interests: Quick Assessment, the Short List” »

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Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

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Most M&A transactions fail to close for reasons that do not relate to the structure, timing or fairness of the deal. In fact, the emotional state of the principal seller is a far more potent factor than any thing that the lawyers or accountant might focus on. Increasing the chances of an actual closing involves helping the seller come to terms with the implications of the decision to sell.

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One of the most difficult decisions that a founder faces is when and to whom to sell his interest in a business – a business that he might have spent a considerable part of his adult life building. It is a decision that is often made and unmade many times along the way. Frequently and after much work and discussion, a founder will end up deciding not to sell. The result is lost time, resources and reputation. Continue reading “Mergers & Acquisitions: Thinking About Selling – Part I: Confronting the Reasons” »

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Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

In the first part of this series, I described the initial triage steps that I took after analyzing the data provided by the assessments had. At the same time that we were working with the CEO and senior team, we began to develop a plan for the first stage of the turnaround effort. Here is the list of challenges that we had identified: Continue reading “Turnaround Engagement – Part II” »

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Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
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 case there were a range of threats. The first that needed attention was the management style of the CEO. She was imperious and aloof. That approach had permeated the entire senior team. It was clear from the beginning that there was a divide between senior management and the rest of the company – that was causing both conflict and inefficiency. I chose to begin the engagement by working closely with the CEO. Continue reading “Turnaround Engagement – Part I” »

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