Ian Smith | The Portfolio Partnership

The One Thing – My Take on the WSJ Best Seller

by Ian Smith | May 10, 2019 | Leadership

The One Thing by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan was first published in 2013 and is on its 11th print run. It stimulated a powerful set of thoughts I’ve been blogging about for a while. Simplicity. The book’s thesis is amazingly simple! No matter how many...

Why Are We So Bad At Acquisitions?

by Ian Smith | Apr 23, 2019 | Acquisitions

Campbell Soup acquired Bolthouse for $1.55 billion in 2012 to enter the fresh food category and earlier this week announced it was divesting of the company for $510m to Butterfly Equity, an LA based PE group. PWC conducted a survey in 2013 of 106 executives at Fortune...

How Do You Decide Which Businesses (or Products) Are Core?

by Ian Smith | Apr 17, 2019 | Strategy

I’m always reading a business book whether I’m traveling or not. It’s been out for a few years now, but I’m enjoying Essentialism – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. It sets out a strong case for believing “Less is More”. I’m not reviewing the book...

Big Banks Compete For Small Deals – Essential Conclusions for Entrepreneurs

by Ian Smith | Apr 3, 2019 | Scaling

There was a fascinating article in the WSJ today which is worth summarizing for business owners. The article was valuable for entrepreneurs because it brought together some key statistics you should be aware of, and I’ve added a few more to add value and...

Operational Excellence the Key to Successful M&A

by Ian Smith | Mar 18, 2019 | Acquisitions, Exiting your business, Operational Tips

Buying Companies Most acquirers embarking on an acquisition are ill prepared to successfully buy another company and integrate it. Research consistently tells us we are weak at this common corporate tactic – buying other companies. Acquisitions are for...