About Paul Wildrick
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Entries by Paul Wildrick
One Counterintuitive Strategy Led to This $380 Million Payday
When David Perry started his video game company, he filled a dartboard in his office with the names of companies he thought would want to buy his company, Gaikai, one day. Why would a startup business with no revenue or employees be thinking about potential acquirers so early? For Perry, it comes down to something […]
One Personality Trait Most Successful Entrepreneurs Share
Survey a group of founders about the personality traits that made them successful, and they will be quick to use words like determination, sacrifice, and hard work. Others will show more humility and chalk their success up to personality traits like curiosity. Still others will credit dumb luck. However, there is another personality trait that […]
Run Your Business Like You’re Going on Maternity (or Paternity) Leave
How well does your company run when you don’t show up for work? The answer to this question has a significant impact on the value of your business. Suppose your company could survive your absence for a while. In that case, you will score well on something referred to as “Hub & Spoke,” a driver […]
The Downside of Being a “One-Stop-Shop”
Before Jeff Bezos & Co. blew up traditional distribution channels, there was some value in being the local guy or gal. Being the local product retailer was a good business and being a regional distributor of a popular line could make you a mint. Those days are almost over. In a world where anything is […]
How Your Greatest Strength Becomes Your Weakness
What’s your greatest strength as a CEO? Sales? Marketing? Operations? Whatever you do well, know that it might become your Achilles’ heel. As owners, we tend to invest in areas where we know we’re weak. We know we have limited resources, so we spend what we have on backstopping the places where we’re most vulnerable. […]
5 “Strategic” Ways to Sell Your Company
Did you know that Facebook acquired Internet messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion? It represents the largest-ever acquisition of an Internet company in history. WhatsApp is a pearl for sure. The messaging service allows users to avoid text-messaging charges by moving texts across the Internet instead of the mobile phone carrier networks. This can save […]
How to Avoid the Switzerland Valuation Discount
The Swiss are known to value their independence. They don’t use the Euro currency despite being sandwiched between France and Germany, and they never officially picked sides in the World Wars for fear of tying their wagon too closely to one geopolitical regime over the other. That’s why we give the name the Switzerland Structure […]
Stop Selling Your Time
If your goal is to build a more valuable company, stop selling your time. Billing by the hour or day means customers are renting your time rather than buying a result, which means that your business model lacks leverage. To grow, you need to either work harder or hire more people. Since it can take […]
Protecting Against the End Run
A football defensive coordinator needs to protect against an “end run,” a tactical play where your opponent sends the running back wide around the offensive line to try to evade the oncoming tackle. Just like in football, you have to defend against an end run coming from a supplier that chooses to go around you […]
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