Coronavirus: Remember the Urubamba
As we navigate coronavirus, I’m reminded of the Urubamba. ‘Authorities’ let us brave class five rapids with no experience but this didn’t mean it was safe.
Fox vs Snail
With the impacts of COVID-19 rippling through financial markets, it looks like Foxes (strong growth and profit) do fare better in downturns than Snails. The median decline for our Snails...
Secrets of WFH Success
I’ve read lots of “how to,” and “best practices” articles on WFH, but none of them capture my experience. Working from home has distinct advantages, some significant challenges, and requires...
Tortoise vs. Hare
When we first published our Rule of 50 piece in 2017, we had a lot of people ask us if Growth and EBITDA Margin were equally valuable in the R-Score equation. “R-Score” is our shorthand for Rule of 50...
I’m no Peyton Manning
Several years ago, we acquired a company for one of our clients. We had just finished a day of onsite due diligence to finalize our bid, and over dinner, one of the owners suggested the valuation in our IOI was...
Theory of the Firm
In August I wrote about how the nature of work is changing. Firms exist when transaction costs between actors are too high to be efficiently directed by market forces. The gig economy has reset transaction...
Gig Economy
The nature of work is changing rapidly. Everyone by now has heard the term “gig economy,” but few understand what it really means. The contract between people, and between firms is changing...
The Rule of 50
In software and SaaS, it’s well understood that growth is rewarded with high valuations, and high profile exits. However, too often, this results in a “growth at any cost” mentality. For the best software...