The Unapologetic Capitalist

Building Value in Your Venture

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TheUC 022: Building Market Share Effectively

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Building market share and engaging in your marketplace is pivotal for long term success in your business. One of the most effective and valuable ways to build market share is attending conferences and trade shows where your market share is captive and IN PERSON. Don’t think you can hide behind your electronics just be active in your social media to establish relationships to build meaningful market share. You need to get your brand and yourself out there in the real world to be competitive and … [Read more...]

TheUC 021: Cutting the Fat, Making the Tough Decisions, and Adding Value to Your Venture

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Terminating a relationship of any kind really sucks. There’s just no getting around that. However, so often we find ourselves in situation where we need to cut the fat in our organizations. Sometimes we need to get rid of a toxin. So whether you are cutting the fat or creating addition by subtraction, there are many times when you will have to terminate relationships in your company. You may do it in the form of a layoff, a firing for cause, or a resignation. Ideally you will be able to open the … [Read more...]

TheUC 020: Think Like a Venture Capital Investor

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Learn the three key venture capital investment fallacies and how to avoid them so that you can be successful in fund raising for your venture. Understand the venture capital investor perspective and priorities so you can get in front of the right investor at the right time with the right opportunity. So what do venture capital investors want? Fundamentally they want to make money. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will always have that priority. Venture capital investors will tell … [Read more...]

TheUC 019: The View from the Venture Capital Investor’s Chair

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Venture capital investing and entrepreneurship one of the riskiest business paths to take. The great irony is that most of the folks involved in venture capital investing are perversely risk adverse. When raising money from venture capital investors, it helps to know what the view is like from their side of the table and what ultimately drives their decision making process. … [Read more...]

TheUC 018: Raising Money the Right Way for the Right Reasons

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Raising money takes time, but sometimes you need to see results NOW. But you still need to raise money the right way for the right reasons. Some companies have the luxury to wait out a rough market or a long funding road, but the ‘wait and see’ folks aren’t the innovators and aren’t the long-term winners. This episode discusses viable options for raising money in the near term that still builds long term value. … [Read more...]

TheUC 017: Take the Risks Worth Taking

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Making money means taking risks. Venture capital is some of the riskiest dollars to invest, yet venture capitalists are some of the most risk averse people on the planet. Most of us fear losing our jobs or fear being wrong, and sadly too many find comfort in dangerous group think so that if they are wrong, they can point to all the other people who were also wrong. However, fear based or passion driven decisions rarely work out well. Through understanding how the world of venture capital, … [Read more...]

TheUC 016: Sell to the RIGHT Customers at the RIGHT Price at the RIGHT Time

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Making money depends on getting your product sold to the RIGHT customer at the RIGHT price at the RIGHT time. Business development means developing a pipeline of business so that you can ultimately sell to them. Many business development and sales people think they are good at their jobs, but the proof is found in actual and profitable transactions. Building the most valuable, long-term customer base that generates tangible revenues takes time, persistence, and availability at the right time … [Read more...]

TheUC 015: New Leadership and Paying for the Sins of Previous Management

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As a new leader, you might be tempted to come into your new position and make a big splash to establish your mark and prove your worth to everyone by making some sweeping new measure. However, that’s a lot like going into another country and demanding everything be done the way of your native land. You aren’t being bold. You are just revealing how insecure you are in your leadership. It is important to practice patience in your leadership and management, even if you don’t think you have the … [Read more...]

TheUC 014: Company Culture, Is it Strategy’s Friend or Execution’s Foe?

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Company culture drives more success and failure of a company than most CEO’s are willing admit. It is important to have an understanding of your company and its culture to be an effective leader. Culture is cultivated not contrived so you can’t simply forge a culture out of thin air, nor can you insert yourself into a culture and feign understanding. Leveraging your company culture is how you can execute effective strategy to keep things productively moving in the right direction to build value … [Read more...]

TheUC 013: Keeping it Together When it All Falls Apart

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You can do everything right, and your business may still kick you in the ass. Marketplaces go down. Customers can screw you. Employees can leave you in the lurch.  There are a lot of injustices in the business world, and a lot of moving parts in the marketplace that you can't control.  When you are running the show and things aren't going well, you will find yourself painfully alone. This episode discusses how to find the appropriate resources, garner support, and keep it all together when … [Read more...]