I first encountered Lowell Busenitz while serving as Entrepreneur in Residence at Oklahoma Christian University. Each year I would mentor student teams competing in the statewide business plan competition. Our teams were blessed with success in the small schools division, but the teams from the University of Oklahoma dominated the large schools divisions. Busenitz was co-founder and director of OU’s entrepreneurship program. At that time, I didn’t realize that we shared our faith in Christ.

Before earning his PhD and becoming a college professor at a research-focused university, Busenitz spent six years in christian college ministry followed by several years running his own construction business. He brings all of these experiences to Soul Work. The book takes scriptural truths and applies them in practical ways to real life just as a campus minister would with the students under his care. Busenitz uses stories from his own business and those of others he’s mentored to show what the lessons he’s teaching look like in real work situations. The book also relies on research to support some of his conclusions.

Although written by a recently retired academic, Soul Work is not an academic treatise filled with big technical terms and dozens of references to scholarly papers published in vaunted academic journals. Rather it is a practical and accessible guide for anyone seeking to integrate their faith with their work.

Read the full review here.

Gaia Bernstein is a law professor who has experienced the addictive dangers of technology and has feared the impacts on herself and her children. After many years of battling this monster, she has reached the conclusion that the solution does not lie in self regulation (either individuals mastering their habits, or the tech industry implementing prominent but ineffective solutions) but rather in forcing the tech industry to stop abusing its users. 

In her new book, Unwired, she teaches about these abuses, the impacts they have on individuals and families, and how the battle to stop them will likely play out.

Read my full review of Unwired here.

One of the great things about being a consultant is that I’m always learning. What I learn from working with one client often becomes a blessing to another client. 

Recently I’ve been working with a fabless semiconductor company and learning much about the industry. Last week, The Lion’s Den DFW invited me to share some of what I’ve learned. You can watch a video of my presentation at their website (look under Practice Pitch under Events) or you can click on the link below to read what I said and see the slides I presented.

In the article linked below (and the presentation I gave), I quickly fly through the fascinating 70+ year history of the industry leading up to the Covid era, talk about the real causes of the semiconductor supply chain chaos we saw during the pandemic, and then talk about what has happened on the backside of that chaos to try to correct (and at least in some cases overcorrect). The entire talk is meant to be a basic layman’s introduction to the industry. Experts will undoubtedly chuckle at some of my oversimplifications and may wonder why I left some things out. Feel free to provide your perspectives and corrections in the comments below (I do love to learn).

By the way, the annual Lion’s Den DFW pitch competition is coming up in a few weeks. If you haven’t already made plans, I recommend you consider registering to attend either in person at Dallas Baptist University or virtually online. The Lion’s Den DFW provides Christian investors and entrepreneurs an environment to connect and collaborate that results ​in the creation of wealth while having a meaningful kingdom impact. Hopefully I’ll see you “there” (I’ll be online).

Read the full article here.

The Ecosystem Economy makes the case that the entire structure of the global economy is changing from one defined by clearly delineated industry sectors to one of sector-crossing ecosystems. Thisis an ambitious book. It begins with bold claims and then proposes major changes that large corporations should make to every aspect of how they operate. Clearly, such changes will be challenging without the help of a consulting firm like McKinsey, the firm that the authors represent. 

As a strategy executive for Fortune 500 companies, I have worked with all of the top-tier consulting firms. Every few years, these firms like to come up with a big idea that their brightest thought leaders can then write a book about. This book becomes a very effective marketing tool. When a partner gives the book to a client (or potential client), it provides something meaningful to talk about and another opportunity to propose an engagement related to the topic of the book.

In the review linked below, I describe how 20 years ago, when I led strategy at a F500 company, we built our entire strategy around the hypotheses in a similar book. I describe the positives and challenges of doing so. I also share specifically what The Ecosystem Economy is about and why you might want to read it.

Read the full review here.

I’ve written previously about the importance of product and market categories. Our brains need categories to help them make sense of increasing complexity in the world. Most companies and their products can and do fit into existing categories. These companies can spend their time and energy making sure that customers think of them when that category comes to mind and that the right customers understand what makes them better. Sometimes, however, a company and its products don’t fit well into any existing category.

So, if you find your company and its products in that same position — not fitting well in existing categories — how do you go about creating a new category? There are three major phases to category creation: define the category, establish the category, and own the category. In the article linked below, I focus on what it takes to define a new category.

Defining a new category requires answering three types of questions:- Why?- How?- What?

Read the full article here to see the eight critical questions and how to go about answering them.

Let me know if you need help defining your new category!

Just over a year ago I began a series of articles titled “Founder to CEO”. I identified eight key roles that a business leader, whether a startup founder, a scaling business president, or a mature enterprise CEO, must play. 

Those roles are:

• Chief Visionary
• Chief Strategist
• Chief Culture Officer
• Chief Communicator
• Chief People Officer
• Chief Integrator
• Chief Growth Officer
• Chief Cash Officer

For each of the eight roles I spent several weeks writing articles describing the general concepts surrounding those roles, reviewing books related to the roles, and finally describing how the roles change as the business matures.

The article linked below provides a recap of all of that content, including links to 60 relevant articles. 

Read the full article here.

As I’ve maintained over the past couple of articles, cash is the lifeblood of any business. If you run out of cash, your business will probably die. Wisely managing cash can fuel profitable growth. But, a company’s demands for cash will change as it matures from a small, early stage startup into a large and stable enterprise. Even if you’ve hired a Chief Financial Officer, as founder or CEO, you ultimately are responsible for ensuring that your company has the cash it needs. Understanding these needs as your business grows, and managing the business appropriately is critical for your business to survive and thrive.

In the article linked below I look at the cash management needs of a business as it moves from pure startup to scaling business to a stable enterprise and finally to a mature business. I use the timely example of OpenAI and ChatGPT to demonstrate how cash needs can quickly change.

Read the full article here.

Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution by Waze co-founder Uri Levine is full of insights and advice for entrepreneurs based on his experience with some very successful startups. There’s a lot in it that I agree with and would probably give the same advice to companies I was advising. There are some things I disagree with and I would give counter-advice. As long as the reader takes the content for what it is — one man’s opinion — this can be a very valuable book for entrepreneurs. Especially compared to the cost of a highly qualified advisor, this book is well worth the price and time investment.

Read the full review here.

Cash is the rocket fuel that powers growth for all kinds of businesses. Leaders must understand where their cash goes and where it’s going to come from. They need to plan for those negative and positive cash flows and they especially need to plan ahead if they will need external funding.

There are two broad types of sources of cash for a business — inside funding and outside funding. Inside funding can include cash provided personally by the management team, but more sustainably a healthy business will generate cash through sales that will more than cover operational costs. Outside funding includes cash borrowed from lenders (debt), cash provided by investors in exchange for equity (ownership) in the business, and sometimes government or private grants.

Cash flows out of the business in three types of activities. The most consistent and significant are the expenses of operating the business. The most strategic outflows are investments made in the business. Finally, the company may use cash to pay back loans or to distribute dividends to investors.

Read the full article here.

Cash is the lifeblood of any business. One of the most common reasons businesses fail is because they run out of cash. A company can consistently report a profit and yet still go out of business because it runs out of cash. So, it’s important to carefully manage the cash coming into the business and the cash flowing out.

There are three standard financial statements that businesses use to understand and explain the health of the business. These are the cash flow statement, the income statement, and the balance sheet. None of these statements, on their own, can give you a complete picture of the health of the business. Especially in smaller businesses, cash is critical so I find the cash flow statement the most important to watch to understand the immediate health of the business, but neither the balance sheet nor the income statement can be ignored.

By the time I earned my MBA, I had spent a couple of decades looking at and analyzing these three types of financial statements. Since my undergraduate degree was in engineering, I had to take basic accounting pre-requisite classes before starting the MBA program. I found it fascinating to learn how these three financial statements work so seamlessly together. 

In the article linked below I provide a brief guided tour of these three financial statements and what they tell you about the health of your business.

Read the full article here.