Buy low and sell high. Sounds simple—and attractive. The buy low/sell high mantra is particularly enticing when applied to purchasing a minority stake in a private company, which has enormous growth prospects and the promise of huge potential returns. The pursuit of these high returns, however, comes with steep risk factors as these are often high risk—high reward investments. In the absence of crystal ball to guide investment decisions, investors need to be wary and conduct extensive due diligence. This Post addresses some of the red flags that may arise in the due diligence process and signal that the proposed investment is one to avoid.
Continue Reading Successful Private Company Investing: Paying Attention to Danger Signs
Due Diligence
Making Your Business Prosper, Not Just Survive: Hiring All-Stars and Avoiding Bad Apples on Your Team
By Winstead on
Hiring the wrong people can quickly push a company off course, especially a growing private company. This seems obvious, yet statistics show that companies do a remarkably poor job of hiring. Gallup reports that, companies hire employees 82% of the time who have the wrong qualifications or who are not a good fit for the business. This report is even more troubling in light of research by the Harvard Business School, which determined that it costs an average of $12,489 to replace a poorly performing employee, and that figure does not include the legal risks that are involved in terminating employees.
Continue Reading Making Your Business Prosper, Not Just Survive: Hiring All-Stars and Avoiding Bad Apples on Your Team