Posts by Kelly:
How much would it take to sell your company?
A question I’ve been asking myself since Google bought YouTube for $1.65B. Now make no mistake – that is a LOT of money, and it’s hard for me to envision a time when I’d turn that down. But it begs the question: if you GET that offer, how can your company not be WORTH that much – and therefore MORE in the long term?
At my last job, the owner and founder made a HUGE mistake when he took the company public for absolutely the wrong reason – he needed money to pay the bills. It wasn’t a good business model, and it really COULDN’T make money at that point. If he had any idea how lucky he was to have the management team he had, maybe he’d still be leading he company today.
But what happens when I get an offer for someone to buy my software company when it is really profitable?
I think the answer is this: the money I’m potentially going to make pales in comparison to the legacy I can build, the people i can employ, and the businesses I can help to become successful. I picture user group meetings where people bring product improvement ideas to us by the boatload, and we work to implement them all. Making goo-gobs of money will be a lovely side effect of all of those things.
So would i sell? Maybe – but it sure would have to involve more than just money.
General ranting
Ok – so the flight to Sedona was awesome, the trip was awesome, the flight home was perhaps the best I have ever had, and the US got absolutely stomped in the Ryder Cup. Now I need to get a few items off my chest: Raising a child is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, […]
More flying!
This turns out to be a big week for flying. On Thursday, I flew out to Chino to chech out the immaculate RV-7 of Dan Checkoway. Wow. We spent some time talking about spcifics of his plan, avionics, performance, fuel economy, etc. Then he took me up. When out over the nearby lake and did […]
Flying Adventure
Been a while since I had a real flying adventure. Given that I’m flying to Sedona, Az this weekend, figured I might as well PACK some real flying in. Mom’s friend Patti needed to pick up a car from LA – said she’d be dricing down with Jim to pick it up in Palmdale, then […]
Fitness Logging
OK – accountability is good, so I’m going to make my fitness data public. If you look at my Fitness Log, you can see what I eat, what exercise I do, and trends for my weight. It’s very cool, and allows me to track my progress – which has been slow lately. I’m certainly at […]
Tiger is the MAN!
As I write this, Tiger is leading the Deutsche Bank Championship by one – after just the first day. If he wins on Monday, it will be his 5th win IN A ROW. For those of you who golf, you understand just how amazing this is. For those who don’t let me explain. Individual sports […]
The power of friends
After having lunch with Abhilash today, it occurs to me just how import friends are. I’m not talking about “networking” – where you pretend to be friends with someone because you think they’ll be valuable to you at some point (and stop all contact when they realize you won’t be – a’la Matt Cutts and all […]
Live from Maui
It always astounds me how gorgeous Hawaii is. You think you recall the beauty, the weather, etc – but your memories just don’t do it justice. Came on Monday with Sydney, and Pam came down from Seattle (after doing well with sister Angie in a mini-triathalon in Seattle) and we’ve just been doing all kinds […]
Thoughts on running your own business
As I sit here on the verge of creating something truly great (and not just for money – to to build something that will truly last), it occurs to me that the reason most people don’t start their own business is pure fear. Afraid of the risk, afraid of failing, afraid of the lack of […]
New Trainer
It reminds me of my flight training – the first flight instructor I got yelled at me in the plane, having explained nothing to me in advance. There hasn’t been much yelling with Steve, but he’s also not giving me a lot of data to start with. Diet, milestones, future plans – all a mystery […]