HERDING GAZELLES  

Karl Stark and Bill Stewart


How to Identify Your Target Customers

The clock is ticking on our 20-minute business model. Today's task: Describing potential customers for the new business - in five minutes or less.  Read story

The 20-Minute Business Model

Can you put your entire business model down on paper in 20 minutes? Author Ash Maurya shows us how.  Read story

4 Things to Consider Before Selling to a Private Equity Group

Private equity groups have money to spend. But would they be a good buyer for your business? Here are four things to consider if a PEG comes knocking.  Read story

Why You're Not Entitled to Your Idea

These tips will help you convince an investor that you're the one unique individual or team to turn your idea into a full-fledged business.  Read story

What's the ROI on Your Company?

Before you approach an investor to fund your growth strategy, make sure you are able to articulate what they will receive in return.  Read story

2 Reasons to Avoid Venture Capital

Many growth company CEOs believe they need to raise venture capital to achieve success. Here are two reasons to reconsider.  Read story

Choosing the Right VC is More Important Than Any Hire You'll Ever Make

Puretech Ventures' David Steinberg talks about building a successful partnership with a VC firm.  Read story

Keep Your Friends Close & Your Customers Closer

Letting customer relationships stagnate is dangerous for your long-term health. Here are three ways to let your customers know you care.  Read story

6 Steps to Getting More Stuff Done

Technology's great, but it can distract us to the point where productivity suffers. Here's how to minimize the disruptions.  Read story

How Do You Create an Entrepreneurial Mind-set?

Creating a nimble culture begins with good communication about your core values and encouraging entrepreneurialism at every turn.  Read story

Financing Tricks from Inc. 500 Companies

Most of the rapidly growing private companies in this year's Inc. 500 funded their growth through personal savings and cash flow. Here's how.  Read story

Why Your Idea Isn't Worth Anything

Seasoned investors say that nine times out of 10, an entrepreneur is too busy focusing on the "idea" to think through the business model.  Read story

5 Ways to Become an Invaluable Business Partner

Building strong business relationships is vital to the success of your business. Here's how to become the person your customers or partners can't do without.  Read story

Global Expansion Do's & Don'ts

Global expansion is not for the faint of heart. But there's a way to improve your chances of building successful international operations.  Read story

How We Made the Inc. 500 List - Again

Avondale Strategic Partners was named to the Inc. 500 list for the second year in a row. Here's the story of how we managed our growth.  Read story

6 Signs Your Market is Maturing

Every growth market must eventually mature. When that happens, will you know how to evolve your strategy to succeed?  Read story

5 Steps to a Successful Start-up

David Klein, CEO of CommonBond, is building his new company with an eye for value creation and growth. Here are five things he's doing that others should emu...  Read story

3 Ways to Win the RFP Rat Race

If your sales force is spending a lot of time on RFPs, but not bringing in a lot of new business, then you might need to consider new investments in your bus...  Read story

5 Steps for Building an Innovation Pipeline

If your business has problems turning ideas into business growth, you may need to create an internal team charged with bringing new products to new markets.  Read story

Don't Make That Investment Yet. Here's Why

About to enter a new market or make a major investment in an existing one? A mistake could be costly. You may need to adopt a test-and-learn strategy first.  Read story

3 Steps to More Insightful Thinking

It's easy to fall back on 'group think' to address business challenges. But if you really want to generate game-changing ideas, you need a different approach.  Read story

5 Actions of Power Networkers

You can make the most out of meet-and-greet opportunities if you balance a little advance planning with the flexibility required to forge new and unexpected ...  Read story

4 Ways to Successfully Mix Business & Pleasure

There's nothing wrong with pitching business to your friends as long as you follow these unwritten rules of engagement.  Read story

5 Signs That You're an Entrepreneur at Heart

You might be surprised how many "entrepreneurs" are not at the helm of a growing business but rather are among the employees helping to build it.  Read story

3 Non-Financial "Gifts" for Your Sales Team

Growing sales is not about motivational efforts or higher commissions for your sales force. The best incentive is to invest in your business model and your b...  Read story

3 Ways Hunger Drives Success

Is your team hungry enough to help you build and grow your business? Here are three areas where no one should ever be satisfied with the status quo.  Read story

Don't Ignore These 4 Start-up Lessons

A start-up can spring from an innovative idea, but founders often overlook key elements that can turn an idea into at nightmare.  Read story

Why You Don't Need Salespeople

Imagine a world in which you were able to fire all of your salespeople and still achieve consistent revenue growth. How would you pull it off?  Read story

One CEO's Quest for VC Funding

Jeff Gordy, CEO of Z2 Systems, learned two important lessons while looking for growth capital.  Read story

3 Ways to Get More Time Out of Less

You can achieve more in a constrained market without running your employees into the ground. These three steps will get your team focused on the work that re...  Read story

6 Questions to Tune Up Your Growth Engine

Is your business model firing on all cylinders? These questions will help you determine if your business needs a few tweaks to keep humming along smoothly.  Read story

How Fast Should You Try to Grow?

Does your business need a tune-up before you put the pedal to the metal? Answering three key questions can help you to decide how aggressively you should pur...  Read story

5 Steps to Scaling Beyond the Founder

Most entrepreneurs are directly involved in nurturing customer relationships. But once the business grows beyond a few key clients you'll need new growth tac...  Read story

Build a Winning Private Equity Partnership

If you're seeking outside funding to fuel growth, make sure you find an investor that's in sync with your business objectives - and brings more than just mon...  Read story

What You Need to Know About Private Equity

If you're a growing company looking for funding from angel, venture, or other private equity investors, understanding their objectives will help you find the...  Read story

3 Steps to Innovate Like Google

By leveraging the Alchemy of Growth 's Three Horizons Model, companies of any size can begin driving innovation throughout their organization.  Read story

Knowing When It's Time to Pivot

If your growth has slowed it may be time to pivot to a new business model.  Read story

Become the Next McDonald's: 3 Steps

Can you scale your business like McDonald's did? Here are three steps to take during the journey.  Read story

Grow Bigger, Better, Faster: 6 Lessons

In rereading Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, it's surprising how many great lessons the book has for CEOs of growing companies.  Read story

'Why' Is the Magic Word

To solve your biggest business problems use The Lean Startup philosophy of asking five "whys" to reveal the root cause.  Read story