Monthly Archives: December 2014

Early hustling #160

        -“Put the rest in my small pocket I start clockin…”  Jay Z     

-“Six in the morning, police at my door” Ice-T

-“Early, early, Sunday morning….” Eeek-A-Mouse

 Takeaway #160:  It’s  been the same for decades.  We start the Game first thing in the morning while  fat or lazy cats sleep.  That’s when the good stuff is left on the printer. That’s when first news breaks on WSJ and Bloomberg.  That’s when we get the competitive advantage – the jump on the next guy.  If you are an FX trader operating on different time zones, or working the graveyard shift you know the drill.  If you need to switch to a 24-hour Gym to get to work at 4am – do it.  You need to get hustling in the a.m. today…..

 Read about those who do it every day:  here

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Keep it simple + keep the competition lazy @ takeaway #41

        You listen to it, the concept might break you

‘Cause almost anyone can relate to…

Whoever’s out of hand, I’m give him handles

Light ’em up, blow ’em out like candles

Or should I just let him melt?

Then give him a hand so they can see how it felt…

Rakim (of Eric B. & Rakim);   ( I Know You Got Soul ♦ Paid in Full)

  The greatest complement to the conceptually innovative idea, process or product is that in its complexity it is easily consumable by the mass market.  You can have the brightest concepts, but if you cannot make it easy enough for a six year old to understand, how brilliant is the concept?  This is the BPM manager’s mission.  The results of six sigma analysis and market comparisons must be boiled down to an executable plan that can be achieved by all levels of the organization.  Keeping in the mind that the strength depends on that weakest link, the communication must penetrate all skill levels.

 The other BPM gem in this note is recognition of the competition.  Acknowledge and compliment the competition’s strengths.  It makes them lazy and causes them to rest on those laurels.  Praise stalls innovation, and BPM says that leaves you time to arbitrage that competition lag by developing your alternative course and making sure your team can execute this plan.

 BPM TAKEAWAY#41: 

  • GIVE THEM THE ROPE TO HANG THEMSELVES

  • MASTER THE ELEGANCE OF SIMPLICITY

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Is your Fixed Cost Path Determining? Takeaway#170 ask Raekwon

“Your heart get tested, and gunplay is only an investment“

Raekwon     (Butter Knives ♦  Shaolin vs. Wu Tang)

Takeaway#170:  Let’s get disciplined today.  CAPEX can be a deceptively large and protracted commitment. Is this machinery with short lifespan and negligible residual value? Is this intellectual property with amortization impacts that shield EBITDA and ATCF for increase total enterprise value? BPM says: Fully understand the impact before stepping into the arena.

EBITDA:  Earning Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation & Amortization

ATCF: After Tax Cash Flow

CAPEX: Capital Expenditures

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Takeaway #15: Walking the Talk

       “Cause we are strictly business and we also got our pride

And if you don’t like it, I suggest you break wide

Suckers steady looking for the m-o-n-e-y and

Thinking that illegal is the best way, so they dying

I ain’t got time to see a fiend fiend out

To give up all his money, and he giving what he got

That’s the way I am, MC Breed cannot be different

Never change my ways for the world or the government“

 MC Breed & DFC  Ain’t No Future In Yo’ Frontin’ (1995)

Over a decade before we heralded the return of the Motor-City (and its  how-we-do culture), Breed and DFC put Michigan on the Hip-Hop map, but also provided touchstones for walking-the-talk.  You have to be able to walk away from a deal and keep your “pride.”  This ability is critical to make sure that you stay on mission statement and within the organization’s core competency.  You have to let people “break wide if they do not fit in your game plan.  It is synonymous with the old maxim that you have to stand for something or else you will fall for anything.

 Recognize, however, that you cannot change your fundamental DNA as an organization.  You can expand and recast your brand, but you cannot completely change the essence.  If you are a car maker, you will always be a car maker.  You may change the style or the type of cars you make.  You may target different demographics but you will still do that fundamental thing.  You can be a friendly manager or a difficult manager, but you are the manager, don’t become the customer – just satisfy the customer’s needs, by walking-the-talk.

 BPM TAKEAWAY#15:

  • DON’T BE AFRAID TO WALK ON THE DEAL

  • DON’T DILUTE THE BRAND

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