Ian Smith | The Portfolio Partnership

Acquisitions – Buying the Right Target

by Ian Smith | Feb 20, 2014 | Acquisitions

Last week the WSJ published an article – Startups Scope Out Suitors – which highlighted the trend of start-ups running out of money and throwing themselves at bigger brothers. “We have seen a tremendous amount of incoming deals, said Sean Aggarwai,...

New Report – M&A Activity – Summary

by Ian Smith | Feb 16, 2014 | Acquisitions, Exiting your business

A new M&A report was issued last week from the International Business Broker Association (IBBA), Pepperdine Private Capital Market Project and M&A Source highlighting the latest US activity. Thanks to Rose Stabler for the heads up. The report interviews...

Scaling Your Business – Operational Playbooks Workshop

by Ian Smith | Feb 13, 2014 | Events, Workshops

Come and join me at Danversport Yacht Club for breakfast on Feb 26th. BOOK HERE. Let me give you some value around: Real benchmarks Better business models Practical tips to execute Reducing the risk in your business Motivating your staff Mastering leadership Think of...

Scaling Businesses & The Allocation of Captal

by Ian Smith | Feb 9, 2014 | Basic Finance, Leadership, Operational Blueprints

I was recommended a great book to read by my friend Loren Carlson (Chairman of the Boston based CEO Roundtable) – The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike, Jr. subtitled, Eight Unconvential CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success. So you thought...

Purpose – The Way to Motivate Staff? – Some Clarification

by Ian Smith | Feb 6, 2014 | Performance Profiles. Execution, Recruitment, Talent

Andrew Hill at the FT wrote an interesting column last week about “Purpose”. As he pointed out, it has become quite a buzzword in CEO circles. Ellen Kullman, CEO at Dupont wasn’t the only CEO to use it at the recent World Economic Forum. It seems it is a word...