Takeaway #147: boundaries + landscape, courtesy of Eric B. + Rakim
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Coming out of the building, they set me up
Sprayed wit automatics, they wet me up
In a puddle of blood, I lay close to the edge
I guess I didn’t know the ledge…
Eric B & Rakim ♦ Juice (Know the Ledge)
Takeaway 107: Rakim always has been a touch melodramatic with the lyrics, but he’s classic. I love the word play on “knowledge” and “know-the-ledge.” True knowledge does help us determine our boundaries. The perfect economy contains perfect information & the perfect executive player is fully briefed on the conditions of the game. You are headed to a meeting, do you have the agenda; do you know the stakeholders and their positions? You are about to negotiate, what’s the other-side’s bottom line? Are they going to come friendly, or with guns blazing; will you be hit with friendly-fire from your own squad? BPM knows, do you?
Takeaway #19: Equity and Alliances. Inspired by Special Ed
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I got . .. An accountant to account the amount I spent
gotta treaty with Tahiti cuz I own a percent . . .
I’m not a trader
if what you got is greater I’ll trade
but maybe later cuz my waiter made potato -n- alligator soufflé–
I got it made.
Special Ed (I Got It Made ♦ Youngest In Charge)
Oh my, he “makes fresh rhymes daily. You burn me, really?”….Special Ed echoes the value investing strategy here as, but there is more bang for the buck BPM thinks. The art of the deal is on stage and BPM likes the techniques spun on Technics-1200 here. Special Ed has a great negotiation team — including the accountant to crunch the numbers. He makes sure that he gets a piece of equity or backend participation with his owned “percent”. His philosophy is not casual trading for the sake of being a short term investor, but only if you make sure he is showing “greater” value on that deal. It’s all about the ROI. No trading for the sake of getting the shiniest new asset here – no vanity deal.
The treaty reminds us that a joint venture or strategic alliance can be critical in taking your enterprise to the next level. It may be a supply chain deal, or business process outsourcing. It does not have to be a vast international deal, but think partners. You don’t need to do all the work internally or yourself. People are specialists for a reason. Use the better resource. Partnerships are great. And for paranoid lawyers, make sure you do not cross the line into some conjured up notions of price collusion and anti-competitive behavior.
BPM TAKEAWAY#19:
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GET A PIECE OF EQUITY
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STRATEGIZE AND ALLY
3-skills-ceos-need-most
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0irL1M15DH8
see Himanshu Saxena’s article below:
3-skills-ceos-need-most
Takeaway #10: Protecting Customers and FreeCash Flow with GrandMaster Flash and the Furious 5
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‘cuz it’s all about money, ain’t a damn thing funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey
Furious Five (Grandmaster Melle Mel and Duke Bootee or Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) (The Message ♦ (1982) )
One of the oldest aphorisms in hip hop, this line remains constant. The issue is not that the game is about cash at all costs, but there is actually more subtlety afoot here. Your world is the world of commerce, which is about more than cash, it is about effective salesmanship, marketing and yes, even customer relationship management (CRM). The perfectly efficient market governs the world of commerce, in theory. The reality is that this “land of milk and honey” that is the free marketplace is governed by something more insidious, “the con.” It is the angle, the marketing pitch, the mission statement and the management of perceptions of others – the CRM – that dictates who will remain above the fray. You must control your customer base by perpetually fine-tuning your pitch. If you don’t, your customer will be pinched. Eat your own lunch, before someone helps themselves.
BPM TAKEAWAY#10:
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FREE CASH FLOW COMES FROM EFFECTIVE CRM
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FINE TUNE YOUR PITCH OR GET YOUR LUNCH & CUSTOMERS PINCHED
Extra Note:
Ajhiphopworld.com on the Message
Mastering-the-art-of-the-pitch
3rd Bass says: “Details,details, details***”
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A grin shows a trick up a sleeve (HUAHAH)
What a tangled web they weave
Deceivers, stupefied through fable
say Let’s Make a Deal at the dinner table
Put you on tour, put your record on wax (“Trust me!”)
Sign your life on the X
You eXit, X-off, but what you really get:
A box of Newports, and Puma sweats (“Damn!”)
3rd Bass ♦ The Gas Face
Do you need a translation? Whether it is a deal memo or a definitive agreement you need to be cautious. Is the drafter of the contract trying to lure you into a deal with an inordinate amount of fine print that you will only discover long after the fact? The sales pitch sounds great. The proponent weaved a great story about what they can do for you and how this deal will change your circumstances for the better. The black & white deal bears no similarity to the pitch. Is it bait and switch? Yes, we suppose, but it is always slightly more subtle. The deal memo leaves out the key items you need. The spirit conveyed over the meeting that “locked” the deal up is not captured in the first draft.
BPM is not a fan of putting extra money in the hands of attorneys, but you need to get your attorney to review the earliest possible articulation of the deal in writing. It’s hard to renegotiate a deal, even it is only written on the back of a cocktail napkin. You don’t want to go into the deal with an Armani suit and walk out with nothing but a jockstrap.
BPM TAKEAWAY#9:
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GET THE DETAILS IN WRITING
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READ THE FINE PRINT
C.O.D.E. Mizell [.com] 