Private Equity Lessons from the Subway
So I've been riding the New York subways pretty frequently lately. Between annual meetings, conferences, and the entrepreneurial scene, there's been a lot to do in The Big Apple this fall. And every...
View ArticleStrategy 101
Let's talk about strategy for a second. Now, strategy is a topic near to my heart since, you see, I was a young strategy consultant -- one of the "Kids in the Conference Room" during the mid and late...
View ArticleHey, Hotshot
Remember that epic “Get the Feeling” ad campaign that Sports Illustrated ran during the mid-1980s? I seem to recall some print advertisements and perhaps a television spot or two, but it’s the...
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Cindy Crawford in a Bar
So Cindy Crawford walks into a bar and a swarm of dudes approach her, brandishing their best pick-up lines: "Was your father a thief? Was your uncle a robber? Well if not, who stole the sparkle from...
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Indiana Jones, Investor
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while; it’s been a hectic stretch. And I also have to admit that I’ve been watching a lot of Indiana Jones movies with LittleLP lately. Every now and again, I’ll wonder...
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Dispatches from the Disruption, Part 1
[Apologies for the self-indulgent post, back to investment soapboxing next time!] Three years ago, I moved to California to open a new office in Palo Alto for my firm. (You'll notice I never name my...
View ArticleDispatches from the Disruption, Part 2
Here's the second half of last week's post: Now, let's get back to one of my favorite topics: disregard for convention. A wise man once told me that most investors follow a set of rules that typically...
View ArticleAn Investor's Prayer
An Investor's Prayer Grant me the courage to mitigate the risks that are mitigable The serenity to accept appropriate compensation for those that aren't And the wisdom to know the difference
View ArticleFor my friend Bill . . .
My friend Bill Dietrich passed away the other day and I've been broken up ever since I heard . . . There's so much to say right now, but I can't quite find the words -- other than to say that my life...
View ArticleHerodotus, Investor
It’s been a bit slow on the blogging front, but after a bit of a hiatus, I’m back. As you know, I’d been wandering around Silicon Valley for the past few months, meeting with people and learning about...
View ArticleA Dollar and a Dream -- Redux
So it's been a bit slow on the blogging front, but I'm getting back in the saddle. My latest is over on Forbes.com (link). Chickity-check it out . . . (As an aside, it was a big win to get Forbes to...
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Midas, Son of Gordias
People think of the Midas Touch as a good thing . . . So did King Midas of Phrygia -- for a while. After all, what could be better than having everything you touch turn to gold. Forget quantitative...
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Scents in the Air
The economist Herbert Stein famously said, “trends that can’t continue, won’t.” That admonition is often ignored, however, in the sunny and magical precincts of Silicon Valley. After all, it can be...
View ArticleAll About the Benjamins
It’s said that the most meaningless number in sports is the score at the end of the first quarter of a football game; so much will happen before the final whistle sounds, that the first quarter score...
View ArticleSpeak Like the Locals, Redux
[I don't love reposting stuff, but this riff from 2010 seemed appropriate since I spent part of last week talking to folks about the the sources of indifference towards private equity in institutional...
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The Paradox of Choice and the Saccharine in Your Diet Coke
Anyone who knows me knows that I drink a freakish amount of Diet Coke. I mean we’re talking ten to twelve can-equivalents per day. Usually in the form of a Double Big Gulp purchased at Palo Alto’s own...
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Annex Shenanigans
The word “annex” is a loaded one for me. You see, junior year in college my buddies and I had a terrible room draw and the seven of us got sent to our dorm’s annex space on the freshman quad. While...
View ArticleTradecraft, AE (After Ellen)
Almost exactly twenty years ago, my buddies and I skulked out of our client-presentable East Cambridge office to watch the OJ Simpson verdict at Lechmere.(For New Englanders of a certain era, Lechmere...
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Syndrome Syndrome
You know you’ve watched too much Pixar when your 10-year old can quote lines from Cars the way we all used to quote Caddyshack in college. (Don’t get me started: I once decided it would be cheaper to...
View ArticleThe Circle of Life and the Exit Sphincter
An old saying goes: “in Silicon Valley, you’re never on your way up or down, you’re always coming around . . . “It’s a great phrase because it captures the energetic movement of people around this...
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