HERDING GAZELLES  

Karl Stark and Bill Stewart


Move Your Client Conversation Forward: 3 Tips

The key to cross-selling is understanding the client's needs.  Read story

Want to Grow in 2013? Use This Checklist

Here are ten things that you should do before the end of the year to put your company on the right track for growth in 2013.  Read story

Be Irresistible to Investors: 3 Steps

Don't overcomplicate your pitch to investors. You'll have more success with a business case that can be clearly stated in under a minute.  Read story

How to Grow? Don't Gun the Accelerator

Growth is not a race. Instead, think strategically about how to create a sustainable growth trajectory.  Read story

Want to Grow Fast? Then Slow Down

There's an art to maintaining a rapid growth trajectory. Ironically, you may have more success by taking things slowly.  Read story

A Better Way to Finance a Start-up? Venture Debt

Growing companies can get much-needed capital without giving up equity or control through venture debt.  Read story

Keep Your Team Together Through Tough Times

Every business has setbacks. These three steps can help you create an atmosphere of trust and collaboration to navigate past the rough patches.  Read story

Is It Time to Sell Your Company?

You've built a valuable company that's attractive to potential buyers. How do you cash in without selling out?  Read story

Living and Working in South Africa

What challenges does a businessperson face living in South Africa? Avondale's Bill Stewart shares his story of a year abroad in Johannesburg.  Read story

How to Scale Your Start-up

You've identified a problem worth solving and created a viable product that meets customers' needs, but how do you accelerate growth with limited resources?  Read story

Brightbox: Turning an Idea Into a Start-up

A start-up that has developed a venue-based charging station for mobile devices offers some valuable lessons in defining and building a business model around...  Read story

3 Signs It's Time to Quit Your Day Job

You can't choose a path to entrepreneurship - it chooses you. Here are three signs that it's time to leave your corporate job and start chasing your dream.  Read story

How to Restart Your Business's Engine

A growing business will eventually hit a growth plateau. Here are four steps to power through the plateau and put your business on a new growth trajectory.  Read story

Dealing with a Midlife Crisis - for Your Business

Ask yourself these seven questions to determine if your business has reach a plateau and you don't know what to do next.  Read story

3 Ways to Prep Your Business for Sale

Selling your business is a rigorous process, so the more you can do in advance, the more likely you are to realize a successful transaction when the time is ...  Read story

What's Your Unfair Advantage?

Anything that is worth copying will be copied, so how do you establish an advantage? By building something that cannot easily be copied or bought.  Read story

Do the Numbers Add Up for Your New Venture?

Any new business model must include sources of revenue, costs, as well as key metrics for measuring success. Here's how we modeled our potential new venture.  Read story

Expenses (& Perks) of Working Abroad

Expanding your business internationally may create new opportunities for employees to work abroad. Here's how to make the experience a positive one.  Read story

4 Tips to Stay on the High-Growth Track

Getting off the ground is only the first challenge. As your business grows, your role must change to keep that growth going.  Read story

4 Dysfunctions That Will Eat Away at a Growing Business

Small problems can grow quickly as a company grows. Here a several that are known to plague even the best teams.  Read story

Ditch Your Strategy, Keep Your Vision

Winning strategies are not set in concrete, but your long-term vision should remain rooted.  Read story

Why Is VC Hot About Underwear?

Premium underwear retailer Flint and Tinder just raised $850,000 of venture funding. Find out why venture capitalists are dropping their drawers over this st...  Read story

Why Private Equity Is Not All Bad

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has turned a negative spotlight on private equity. But PE is a much needed solution to a void in the marketplace.  Read story

3 Questions to Ask Before You Go Global

You've built a strong U.S. business and are considering overseas expansion. How should you approach that decision? Here's how one company did it.  Read story

3 Ways Your Friends Can Help Your Business

It takes a leap of faith, but you can do more for your business by spending time with your friends than meeting strangers.  Read story

Double Your Salary & Double Company Growth

When compensation is based on pure profit sharing, every team member's pay is directly proportional to the compensation of the group as a whole.  Read story

3 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Business

These three avenues will help you focus on the core while capturing new growth opportunities.  Read story

Build a Path to Your Customers

Your start-up needs customers to succeed. Which channels will you use to reach them?  Read story

Business Lessons From Arnold Schwarzenegger

A Schwarzenegger level of clarity in vision can provide a motivating force for you and your team.  Read story

Be Worthy of Your Customers' Attention

Make sure that your product or service is worthy of receiving your customers' attention. Here's how to do it.  Read story

Grab Your Customer's Attention (& Keep It)

Before you can help customers solve their problems, you have to prove that you deserve their attention. Here's how to craft a compelling unique value proposi...  Read story

Private Equity 101: New Platforms vs. Add-Ons

Understanding the difference between a new "platform" and "add-on" investments is key to any business owners talking to private equity groups (PEGs).  Read story

The Best Place to Find Venture Investment

Inc. 5000 companies are better suited than VCs or angel investors to provide money and the skill necessary for establishing your start-up.  Read story

Create a Scalable Brand

Your brand is the core of your marketing strategy. Jackie Yeaney of Red Hat shares her thoughts on how the brand fuels marketing investments that drive reven...  Read story

We All Scream for Customer Insights

Nothing drives home the importance of customer feedback like standing on a street corner handing out ice cream samples. Here are the lessons we learned.  Read story

When to Grow and When to Cut

Companies need to be strategic about growth investments as well as strategic expense reductions. The timing of each is not always obvious.  Read story

Why Good Products Don't Equal Success

Andrew Strube, inventor of Strube Stink Bug Traps, is an example of why you need a sound business model, not just a well-designed product, to create growth.  Read story

3 Rules of a Compelling Value Proposition

To create a compelling value proposition, you have to know your three C's: competencies, customers, and competitors.  Read story

3 Habits of Highly Unsuccessful Businesses

We mostly hear about what great businesses do well. But there are lessons to be learned from the traits that keep many businesses from reaching their potential.  Read story

How to Find and Leverage an Investment Banker

A good investment banker is more than just a deal-maker; they can also provide important insights about your business and industry.  Read story