California still sharing space with whale pucky!
Like we need more bad news in or about California ... but the Chief Executive organization's survey of Best and Worst States for Business 2010 finds the Golden State's golden…
Let the laymen set the deal!
Once in awhile, it’s nice to see your advice echoed in the halls from someone like Warren Buffett. Since my early investment and venture capital days, I have promoted the concept of a simple “terms sheet” to set down the deal terms between the companies involved, making sure that the businessmen understand the business issues first.
Your attorneys serve an valuable role but it’s invaluable for both sides to be very clear about the business objectives (more…)
CA seed money drying up
No surprise that California's continuing budget problems resulted in a significant drop in funds available through the California Small Business Loan Guarantee program. Why? Because a chunk of its trust…
He saw it coming ….
When someone tells you no one saw it coming ... you can usually assume they mean "I" didn't see it coming. By now, many of you are familiar with the…
Goldman Sachs -Not so fast!
Will Rogers was fond of saying, “Buy low, sell high … and if it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it!”
That’s a whimsical sentiment, but I wonder what’s in the air when I read about the alleged fraud by Goldman Sachs described in the civil complaint filed by the SEC, referenced in the recent article here. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions too quickly. In too many ways, this episode is reminiscent of earlier 1980s battles with Michael Milken. Notwithstanding Milken’s misdeeds, my vivid memory is that there were accredited investors and savvy buyers on both sides of those transactions perfectly capable of making independent decisions. Some of them were wrong and they lost money, but in virtually every case, they were well-equipped to make sound decisions … if they did their homework.
These challenges typically arise when people lose money … and there’s no question a lot has been lost. But, to assume that people who lose on one side of a transaction, are incapable of making prudent independent decisions and were sold a bill of goods , is the flawed argument that often pervade these matters. (more…)