The Portfolio Partnership – Relaunch

The Portfolio Partnership – Relaunch

by | Jun 28, 2015 | The Portfolio Partnership

Times change and markets change. Over the last few months I’ve been busy recalibrating the TPP practice to better serve the needs of the market. Rarely do I use the blog platform – The Smith Report – to explain The Portfolio Partnership, but I thought this was a...
A New M&A Cycle, An Old Problem

A New M&A Cycle, An Old Problem

by | Apr 28, 2015 | Acquisitions

The evidence is pouring in. M&A activity is bouncing along again. Just in the last three days I read these stories in the WSJ and Boston Globe. Health-care companies undertook $321 billion of acquisitions last year, more than double the $115 billion in 2013...
The Catch 22 of Scaling

The Catch 22 of Scaling

by | Apr 14, 2015 | Scaling

Scaling is Growth with CAPS – Control, Alignment, Predictability and Safety. Or in order of importance: Alignment, Control, Predictability and therefore Safety. But that doesn’t make a great mnemonic! But here is the problem. Most private businesses can’t scale...
Zero-Based Budgeting – An Old Trick For Today?

Zero-Based Budgeting – An Old Trick For Today?

by | Mar 30, 2015 | budgets

  Last week the WSJ highlighted an old technique called zero-based budgeting, first pioneered by Peter Pyhrr, a 35 year old Texas Instruments accountant, around the mid 70s. It’s back in the spotlight again because of 3G Capital Partners’ acquisition of...
Overcoming Entrepreneurial Doubt

Overcoming Entrepreneurial Doubt

by | Mar 24, 2015 | Entrepreneurship

  Entrepreneurs are often paralyzed with doubt, with negative thoughts. They have lost belief in themselves. As my friend Jim Bouchard will reveal in his new book, The Sensei Leader.  “Confidence is one of the most attractive characteristics of a leader. Genuine...