The Antidote to Crappy Investment Banking Advice

With all deference to even the most talented among them, investment bankers are often… bad storytellers. No need to take my word for it. Just look at their pitch decks: those laborious, data-laden exercises in branding futility. Here’s the (sometimes very costly) irony. Growth companies of all shapes and sizes often abdicate responsibility to investment […]

A Critical Metric Board Members Never Request

Most public company executives [insert stronger word than “hate”] quarterly earnings calls. On the one hand, it’s understandable. On the other hand, that mindset and approach are a lot worse for business than most people think. The disdain, lack of preparation, and lack of imagination come through loud and clear to… the people you’re trying […]

Wait, a Soaring Stock Price Can Be… Bad?

I’ve lived through quite a few periods of market dislocation. I’m not sure what’s more interesting about them: why they happen, or how people tend to view them after the fact. We innately tend to have buoyant recollections of the runups and melancholy perceptions of the selloffs. What’s not to like about the rooftop parties […]

Enduring Lessons From Madoff’s Treachery (Courtesy of Netflix)

Sometimes, even otherwise fascinating subject matter just gets beat to death and you feel you can’t possibly learn anything more about it. Or, more commonly, you just have no interest in trying. A good example is the Beatles. I love the Beatles. But when the Get Back documentary aired in 2021, I thought: “Good grief, […]

There’s One Thing Board Members Should Do A Lot More Often: Resign

One of the most shocking boardroom data points every year comes courtesy of PwC. Their annual board survey of large public company directors asks a terrific question: “Are there directors on your board who you think shouldn’t be? If so, how many?” Here’s the answer in 2022. Almost half of directors (48%) think one or […]

The Problem Isn’t Storytelling

There’s been a lot of talk about the impact on entrepreneurship of well-chronicled flameouts like Theranos and WeWork. More specifically, there are female founders who believe Elizabeth Holmes’ otherworldly hyperbole has subjected them to more intense scrutiny (if that’s even possible). There are also foreign nationals trying to raise money who feel like WeWork’s Israeli-born […]

When It Comes To IPOs/M&A, Many Bios Devolve Into Fiction

When I was a fund manager, we used to say that we invested in jockeys more than horses. And when it comes to “jockeys,” we learned that it’s amazing how much you can tell about them from their professional bios. After 100s of multimillion-dollar bets on high-growth, publicly traded companies, here are some candid takeaways […]

The Pinto, the MAX, and JP Morgan’s Audit Chair

The similarities between the Ford Pinto and the Boeing 737 MAX are striking. The Pinto was rushed through production in 25 months instead of the normal 43 months so that it could be included in the 1971 model year to stem the erosion of Ford’s subcompact market share due to fierce Asian and European competition. […]

The Boards No One Wants to Talk About

Most board failures are ascribed to two fact patterns; for ease, we’ll refer to them as Theranos and Boeing. In the former, you don’t have any board members with relevant expertise, in the latter you have a basic dereliction of duty.  OK, Theranos was probably both. There’s a third fact pattern that people rarely discuss: […]

For every Elon and Sara, there are way more Adams and Elizabeths

I don’t do it often, but I’ve occasionally commented in the WSJ, WaPo, and elsewhere about particular companies and CEOs. I typically decline to speak on the record when I don’t know the CEOs personally, since I reckon my perspective has limited (read: not much) value. But I do discuss these CEOs and companies regularly with officers […]