Advice for CEOs

Few if any attributes of an emerging growth or middle market company are more important than the credentials and capabilities of its founder or CEO. For example, imagine an investment banker considering whether to take on an early stage company as a client he will try to raise capital for. Or a venture capital or private equity professional considering whether to invest in such a company. To be sure these transaction and investment professionals will look closely at the company’s positioning, its strategy to win market share, the attractiveness of its products and services, the skills of its organization. But it is their assessment of the CEO’s track record and abilities and the management team he or she has assembled that may lead them to take a chance on the company. As one partner in a private equity fund that was considering an investment put it: “If it’s a “B” plan but an “A” team, I’ll take that deal every time.”

The Enterprise Center at Salem State University in Peabody,MA (near Boston) will be the setting for a distinctive, high impact executive learning event on March 26th from 11:00 – 2:30. This event will be taking place at the Peabody Marriott, which is located at 8A Enterprise Drive in Peabody.

CEO’s and Boards are usually inclined to think that changes in accounting rules are matters that only their CFO needs to worry about. Not true at all in the case of the new revenue recognition standards recently promulgated under the converged authority of the (U.S.) Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board.

Newport Board Group Chairman Doug Tatum was recently interviewed on UNC TV, the PBS affiliate in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.