Year: 2013

15 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Gratitude… It’s more than simply being thankful for what one has. It is, I believe a core attribute for success…a necessary ingredient if you will. One of the great advantages to actively investing directly into private businesses, is that over the years I’ve managed to obtain insight into hundreds of businesses, and

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Leadership In Business; How Do YOU Rate?

By: Chris Steely The word “leadership” is practically an overused cliché these days. Some people believe that America’s politicians are leaders (mostly NOT), and the definition of REAL leadership has grown fuzzy and illusive. Corporate leadership has especially become an ambiguous term. My experience with many “leaders” in today’s corporate

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More Pain for the Yen?

In late 2011 I started shorting the Japanese Yen. I spoke about it here, here and again here. I even tried to employ my skills in evaluating private equity deals to evaluating Japan. I was coming up empty. I’ve employed a basic position of long the USD/JPY cross, long XAU/JPY

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Drag-Along Rights – Why Investors Use Such Agreements

Frankly I am often puzzled as to why investors simply buy common stock, all too often taking what the market offers them. It’s no secret that the majority of what we do right now is investing in private equity. Today I’m going to provide yet another reason why getting involved in

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Working In the Business and Not On the Business

By: Gordon McWilliam There are consequences… In 1986 Michael Gerber wrote about the need for business owners to “Work on their business, not in their business” if they wanted to be successful. How right he was. Over the years Chris Steely and I have worked with hundreds of businesses and

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Beer… It’s Not Just for Breakfast!

It’s one of the world’s oldest beverages. Brewed by the average man to stave off waterborne disease in the Dark Ages and peddled by European monasteries, today beer is a $104 Billion dollar industry comprised of many thousands of breweries, ranging from commercial to backyard. We know beer is a

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“James Bond’s” Predictions for 2014…and Beyond

I first met Joe in Mongolia last year. He is one of the most fascinating men I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. A spook from the cold war with stories that would not be out of place in any spy novel. Truth truly is stranger than fiction. This is not

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Low Growth in the Developed World… Increasing Capital Flight to Asia!

The first wave of modern globalization took place during 1870-1913, when both capital and labour moved freely across international borders. Things have changed a lot since then as ever increasing  restrictions have emerged for capital mobility, due in part to a surge in nationalism and increasing levels of government interference

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