tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:28:49 +0000Business development tips, advice, and observations including mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, and strategic partnerships. © <a href="http://andrewgreta.com">Andrew Greta</a> 2008http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/blog.htmnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)Blogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-8960477038064803376Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:25:00 +00002009-07-23T11:28:49.321-05:00It’s time to bring financial reporting out of the Middle Ages to help head off the next boom-bust valuation cycle.Estimating the fair market value of a company using an annual SEC-required 10k form and public financial reports is a bit like trying to maintain a modern aircraft using blueprints from Orville and Wilbur Wright’s workshop. Although the founders of aviation understood the basic http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2009/07/sneak-peek-new-standards-for-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-5420456651742810477Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:34:00 +00002009-01-22T07:42:56.218-06:00Get a sneak peek at an upcoming article in the February issue of Stocks, Futures & Options (SFO) Magazine on the present and futre of international market access.www.sfomag.comhttp://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2009/01/sneak-peek-hung-up-in-red-tape.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-7995392239752125347Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:39:00 +00002009-01-22T07:46:46.385-06:00FinanceValuationHere's another piece from the archives providing a basic primer on EVA (a performance metric that calculates the creation of shareholder wealth as opposed to accounting income). While the translation from GAAP accounting to the language of value creation can be tricky, EVA targets the heart of fundamental value creation which is the key to successful long-term sustainable business development http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/12/economic-value-added-eva-primer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-3879696379383500515Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:26:00 +00002008-12-19T16:42:31.881-06:00InvestmentsI recently came across the "farewell" piece I wrote for TheStreet.com as I gave up my Contributing Editorship to pursue the finance side of the business as a full-time career in 1999. During the height of the Dot-Boom I rang the warning bells of a bad storm a-rising as a parting shot to the market "geniuses" who couldn't go wrong -- then spent and leveraged accordingly. Now at the end of what http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/12/retrospective-death-of-value.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-3321451606954542634Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:50:00 +00002008-09-06T08:12:13.830-05:00Valuation<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/09/beware-dcf.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-7215911684980627640Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:14:00 +00002008-08-18T16:22:57.284-05:00Business Development BasicsValuationValuation Overview: One of the central questions of business development is “how much should I pay” for a business acquisition, partnership, asset, or piece of intellectual property. The answer isn’t something you can boil down to a one-size-fits-all computer model (a fact which keeps us BD professionals gainfully employed). But what’s always true is you’ll need to pay more than the stand-alonehttp://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/08/5-step-valuation-process.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-2923358578516875330Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:46:00 +00002008-07-24T10:19:21.203-05:00Structuring<!--[if !mso]> v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/07/anatomy-of-lbo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-1406790821427356757Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:13:00 +00002008-07-10T16:15:46.505-05:00StrategyTarget IDOnce corporate strategy identifies a new industry or market with attractive fundamentals for the business, M&A jocks often mount up the I-Banker safari wagon, lock & load the elephant gun, and roll off into the Serengeti in a cloud of dust to bag the next big acquisition. While M&A is often the cornerstone of a good business development function, outright acquisitions aren’t always the best path http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/07/entry-paths-buy-build-partner-decision.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-613662471667781877Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:04:00 +00002008-07-09T11:07:13.977-05:00Business Development BasicsStrategyAccording to Reuters, merger activity in the United States dropped 29 percent in the second quarter as financial deals driven by leveraged private equity shops dried up from lack of lender liquidity. Meanwhile, strategic investors are seeing opportunities to snap up cheap assets, bidding for stalwart consumer staples like Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD) and Wm. Wrigley Jr Co (WWY). But what’s this http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/07/deal-rationale-strategic-vs-financial.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-5112473474913415340Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:04:00 +00002008-07-08T10:45:19.765-05:00PitchesStrategyA former divisional CEO at GE liked to tell a story about the time he sat next to a dot-com entrepreneur on a commercial flight during the height of the internet bubble. After listening to the budding cyber king babble excitedly for ten minutes about his site’s explosive growth trajectory of “eyeballs”, hits, and click-throughs funded by an incineration of adventure-capital, my boss finally askedhttp://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/07/drawing-your-business-model-on-napkin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-5384154787776143774Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:02:00 +00002008-07-01T10:11:05.953-05:00Business Development BasicsSome business development departments are no better than a troop of enthusiastic Boy Scouts tromping through the woods firing slingshots at whatever hapless critter crosses their path. From the self-styled wheeler-dealer who gets a suspender-slapping kick out of playing company big shot, to the incompetent functionary who think M&A is sexy but lack the skills, knowledge, and training to deal http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/07/business-development-process.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-5745297211981818394Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:01:00 +00002008-06-30T13:03:08.214-05:00Business Development BasicsImagine taking a fine summer walk in the rolling countryside and coming across a landscaper digging trenches with a hammer while a nearby carpenter drives nails into two-by-fours with a shovel. Sweaty brows reveal each worker’s struggle to produce results and monetize their core talent while severely handicapped by the tools each has at their disposal. Output is low in our little micro-economy http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/06/why-do-deals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998611179140340175.post-3266745948162857936Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:31:00 +00002008-06-29T11:39:51.048-05:00Business Development BasicsThe term business development (or “BD”) means different things to different organizations. For human resource departments reluctant to saddle their highly compensated rainmakers with the same moniker employed by encyclopedia peddlers and car lot attendants, BD means “sales” – landing new business from new customers. For others, BD is synonymous with “account management” – generating new and http://andrewgreta.com/Blog/2008/06/what-is-business-development.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Andrew Greta)0