by Ian Smith | May 17, 2016 | Execution Tips
I founded The Portfolio Partnership in 2009 after 25 years of building businesses to solve one problem – better execution. I was fortunate to work in many industries including publishing, software, investment banking, and private equity. I fulfilled leadership roles...
by Ian Smith | Sep 30, 2014 | Scaling, VC industry
Scaling a private company without an injection of capital is tough. Waiting for each new sale to generate cash, to allow the business to invest in new hires, new systems, and new technology is tough. So if you’ve successfully raised $1m or $20m or more, you can...
by Ian Smith | May 30, 2013 | Execution Tips
Successful execution requires a contrarian mindset, otherwise we would all be great at it! What do I mean? To successfully complete difficult tasks requires a different approach, a unique perspective, a contrarian mindset: Talent development – Container Store...
by Ian Smith | Feb 24, 2013 | Execution Tips, Leadership, Losing & Winning, Management, Operational Tips
If you only employ people that do what you tell them they will fail to execute. As CEO you need to see a little piece of yourself in them. They need to solve problems on the ground, to get stuff done. The solutions that will be needed will require curiosity, grit,...
by Ian Smith | Sep 2, 2011 | Positioning drives growth
In March this year Time published a smart article called – E-Books: Why Barnes & Noble Avoided Borders’ Fate by Josh Sanburn. With the announcement of Barnes & Nobles’ (B&N) latest results for Q1 ending July showing the Nook business soaring 140%...
