On Wednesday of last week, Cubs starter Jake Arrieta was awarded the 2015 National League Cy Young Award. In one of the tightest races in recent memory, Arrieta won the award over two of the Dodgers’ aces: Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. Arrieta turned in one of the most dominating 2nd half performances by a starter in MLB history, posting …
Breaking Free of No Man’s Land
I met this week with partners from the Newport Board – an organization of former CEOs and senior executives that “guides companies through No Man’s LandTM” – that unfortunate place where the vast majority of businesses eventually settle… …doing well enough to press on but not even close to being either a) a source of significant cash flow for its …
Sports Metric of the Week: NFL Extra Point No Longer a ‘Gimme’
This past offseason the NFL implemented a rule change that required extra points following touchdowns to be snapped from the 15-yard line rather than the 2-yard line. Over time, NFL kickers became so accurate that an extra point was considered a ‘gimme’ – with kickers converting over 99% of the time. This new modification has made the historically dull extra …
What Happens when Big Data Meets a Little Strategy?
Last week, in Las Vegas we had the opportunity to participate in a 2 – day “Mastermind-type” strategic session with a gathering of technology and Internet entrepreneurs and executives from around the globe. It was an impressive group – leaders of companies with average sales of $8 million and competing and prospering in industries than run the gamut – from consumer …
Why NOT Manage by Data?
For the first time, with the power of business intelligence dashboards, smaller businesses can harness the power of big data to more efficiently and profitably manage their companies. Some readers expressed skepticism that this “stuff” actually works. That it is just more “noise” that causes entrepreneurs to get “lost in the weeds” versus long-term thinking and planning. There is some …
Sports Metric of the Week: Did the Golden State Warriors Get Lucky?
The Golden State Warriors have emerged from Western Conference bottom-dweller to NBA champions in a rapid ascension to the top of the sport. With the new season underway, the Warriors are off to a blistering 7-0 start by outscoring their opponents by 20+ points per game, including a victory over their in-state rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, this past Wednesday …
Big Data, Dashboards, and Exits
The confluence of Big Data and high quality, low cost software-as- service (SaaS) programs and applications for virtually every business purpose has made the path clearer than ever as to what entrepreneurs and executives must do to build real equity value in their companies. It looks like this: First, utilizing great tools like John Warrilow’s Sellability Score or Dave Lavinsky’s …
Sports Metric of the Week: Thursday Night NFL Point Differentials
You might recall that in 2014 there were many complaints that Thursday Night NFL games were not competitive enough, with a huge point differential between the winning and losing teams. In fact, during the first five weeks of the 2014/2015 season, the point differential averaged a massive 29 points.By the end of Week 8, the average for the 2014/2015 season …
Sports Metric of the Week: World Series Championships
The winner of Game 1 of the World Series title has a HUGE likelihood of winning it all. As you can see below, Game 1 winners have won 70 of the 110 World Series titles overall or 63.6%. Recently, the results have been even more convincing. In the last 18 World Series, the winner of Game 1, has won the …
Here’s Why NOT to Trust Your Business Gut
According to statistics from BizBuySell, less than 1 out of 5 of businesses marketed for sale are able to find a buyer and to consummate a successful transaction. Even this depressing statistic vastly under-estimates how few companies are able to attain a successful exit, as the great majority of the over 6 million U.S. business owners are never able to even consider listing their …