Blogs - Dangletech

Feb 27, 2009

Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem

Mix it up, already!

I’ve decided to change the tone of this blog; at least for a while. We’ll call it blogger’s prerogative. I’m going to make this blog more personal. For those who are unaware, I’ve changed my employment status recently. No, I wasn’t laid off like so many other Marketers in this economy. I went from employee to employer. I no longer work for a high tech software company. Instead, I intentionally chose to finally start my own strategic marketing agency. I figured it would never get better than the current market…

Is “Dilution” a 4 letter word? - Ross E. Finlay

Anyone thinking about bringing in equity capital to their business has to look the bogeyman named “Dilution” in the eyes and decide if they are prepared to accept it. Dilution is a reduction in the percentage ownership of a given shareholder in a company caused by the issuance of new shares. If you own one hundred percent of your company and you want to raise money by selling shares, you can either sell some of your own or issue new shares from treasury. If you sell half of the issued (your) shares you now only own fifty percent of the company. If you issue new shares from treasury it will still dilute your ownership but with a different result. For example, if there are 100 shares in your company and you issue 50 new shares to an equity investor, you still own 100 shares but now that’s represents 66% of the 150 issued shares of the company. The good news is you’re still the majority shareholder. But what if you need more? What if, to be successful, you need to issue 300 new shares? Now you own only 25% of the company.

“You are a Lying Pig” and Other Business Lessons from Spain- Eric Shefler

To say the least, it was unexpected. The Chairman and owner of one of our Southern European resellers leaned across the desk and told our Country Manager, “You are a lying pig!” And with that, my first meeting in Spain as the newly minted head of Europe West sales for a global technology company was turned upside down.

Plastic Trophies

Have you ever felt frustrated with an employee who continually comments that they’d like more feedback - when you feel that you’ve given the person just about as much feedback as is humanly possible or remotely sane? What more is there to say?

Tweetering on the edge of Distraction

As I sit in my office and determine how I’m going to complete the next project, of many projects, on my to-do list, I find myself constantly distracted with the beep of Tweetdeck as another Twitter post arrives for me to read. It’s painful. How does one manage the opportunity social media gives you to reach out to new prospects, establish yourself as a thought leader, and be exposed to new concepts or new ideas, all within 140 characters per post, while still actually getting work done.

Develop a Compensation Strategy and Take Your Programs off “Auto-pilot” - David Neilly

If compensation is one of your largest single costs of doing business and has a significant impact on your ability to attract, retain and engage an increasingly mobile and fickle talent pool, you ought to be very thoughtful and deliberate about your compensation processes and programs. Yet, too few organizations take the opportunity to utilize compensation as a purposeful expression of workplace design and talent strategy.

The Quality of Money Matters - Steve Kaminski, Colonnade Investments

The Quality of Money Matters

by Steve Kaminski, Colonnade Investments

Many businesses spend time determining the quality of their money, but my belief is that they mostly do so unconsciously. Have you ever had a conversation in your office concerning a possible client and determined that doing business with them was too risky or not worth your effort? What you decided is that obtaining their money was not worth the effort. In other words, you decided that the quality of their money was too low.

Software M & A Market Update

I recently attended a seminar put on by Corum, one of the leading software M & A advisers. Here’s what they had to say about the state of the software / Internet M & A market…

What happens when there’s a new CEO

It was big news in tech circles last month when we learned about the appointment of Carol Bartz as the new CEO of Yahoo!. With 13,000 employees and a languishing stock, she’s got her work cut out for her. Her appointment got me thinking about what happens to companies of all shapes and sizes when a new (outside) CEO shows up…

The Board Meeting

In over 9 years of attending board meetings, I’ve seen my share of good and bad ones. The worst ones just go through the motions: management presents an update while board members check their blackberrys and tune out. The best meetings really tap into the deep experience and insights that board members, by virtue of the seniority that qualifies them to be on your board, can bring. Here’s my recipe for a good board meeting…

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