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Niche Retailer TrollAndToad.Com Makes Inc. 5000 Again
Clicks and mortar retailer TrollAndToad.com came in at #1063 in the Inc. 5000 fastest growing private companies in America for the second year with 285% revenue growth over the last three years. TrollAndToad.com is a the world’s largest retailer of collectible games. That is the very definition of niche. So these guys are successful retailers.…
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Google Analytics Track Adsense
Bottom line up front: Create a new Google Analytics account for every website domain, unless you want to track your Adsense clicks in Analytics. After attending Affili@SYD 2011 last week, I decided to review all my web properties. I don’t consider myself an affiliate marketer, I’m more an e-commerce and traffic guy. But I’ve had…
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Business Model for News
Rupert Murdoch has created a stir with his intent to charge for content. Dave Earley wrote a great piece at Earley Edition explaining how it won’t save news media’s business model. What is the core business of news media? They are not in the business of “reporting the news”. News media’s business is to aggregate…
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Strategic Mergers and Acquisitions for Fast Growth Firms
I’m working on a “How To” series on Strategic Mergers and Acquisitions for Fast Growth Firms. It covers the tools, skills and processes needed by firms pursuing acquisitions as a tempting path to growth. This is an audio presentation accompanied by detailed notes, checklists and templates. Strategic Mergers and Acquisitions for Fast Growth Firms, Series…
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Telstra and the National Broadband Network
IF you believe mainstream media, Sol Trujillo is the most unpopular man in Australia and Telstra is the most unpopular company [full disclosure: I am the beneficiary of a Telstra shareholding]. I don’t think I’ve ever forgiven Telstra for its monopolistic behaviour back when it was Telecom and I didn’t have a choice of carriers.…
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Culture of Secrecy
How can companies still think what they do is top secret. Note I’m not talking about intelligence, research or military organizations here. I mean general competitive businesses in a competitive marketplace. How many of the projects we’ve been sworn to keep secret really needed or benefited from that? How many top secret projects failed to…
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Credit Crisis Explained
A number of people have asked me if there is a simple explanation of the financial crisis. It is difficult to give a simple explanation that doesn’t paint the exclusive cause as naive greed. The credit crisis is one contributing factor to the financial crisis (I see these as two different issues). I see four…
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Moving on from Oldfields
I’ve moved on from my role as Divisional Manager – Treco Garden Sheds at Oldfields Holdings Limited. At the end of my two year contract and am very happy with the results we achieved. The Directors’ Operations Review in the Preliminary Final Report to the Australian Stock Exchange for the year ended 30 June 2008…
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Private Company Valuations
An unreal valuation is a price that a strategic investor pays because they have non financial objectives. – Fred Wilson A VC via twitter That really puts the concept of the Strategic Sale succinctly. When the fit of the vendor’s business to the acquirer is so compelling, that traditional accounting based measures are not sufficient.