Opinion and Viewpoints
Point-of-view essays, columns, and contributor perspective for advisor conversations.
New KPIs. New Tech. New Frameworks. Same Problem: The Work Still Has to Get Done
They’ve heard investment X is the next big thing, or a mate’s doing strategy Y, and want to know why you aren’t doing the same.
Revenue Is Growing. So Why Isn’t Your Business Worth More?
After forty years in finance and thirty-odd M&A transactions, I've seen this pattern more times than I can count. And the founders who feel it most acutely are almost always doing one thing.
Your Managers Don’t Need More Training. They Need the CRAP Removed
The conventional response? Give them more leadership training. Another course. Another framework. Another toolkit. Another damn thing to do. I think we’ve got it backwards.
How Many Employees Does It Take to Create $1 Billion of Value? Banks vs. Fintechs
In other words, for every employee with a fintech there are 32 people working for a traditional bank.
The Silver Tsunami That Never Hit: Why Business Buyers Still Can’t Find Enough Deals
A decade-plus of data shows that delayed exits, informal succession, and a rapidly expanding buyer pool have kept quality lower-middle-market businesses scarce.
Housing Doesn’t Follow Interest Rates. It Follows Friction.
Four decades of mortgage-market shifts show how affordability, access, inventory, and decision complexity can matter more than any single rate move.
Your Doctor Should Know More Medicine Than You. That Doesn’t Mean They Know More About You
Good healthcare depends on more than medical expertise. Patients also need doctors who will listen, discuss what they are taking, and treat them as active participants in their own care.
30+ Client Gifts Financial Advisors Will Actually Want to Give This Holiday Season
A curated holiday gift guide for advisors looking to surprise clients with something thoughtful, personal, and a little more memorable.
Your Practice Isn’t the Business. The System Behind It Could Be Worth Millions
The answer to the question lies in understanding how a lever is used to deliver greater power or force than is otherwise possible to shift a weight, and then applying that strategy to the growth of a business.
The Loudest Voice in Your Head Isn’t Always Telling You the Truth
When circumstances look favorable, you may get zingers warning you to brace for the next shoe to drop. But the voice speaks loudest when the going gets tough.
Change Isn’t the Challenge. Knowing How to Respond Is.
In volatile markets, adaptability without business acumen can become reaction. And business acumen without adaptability can become rigidity.
The Federal Debt Problem We Kept Pretending Was Temporary
While they sometimes base their current case on factors such as rising interest rates, they discount too heavily the extent to which past deficit-increasing actions have contributed to today’s problems.
The Power 11: This Week’s Top Reads
I wondered what it costs if you sign up for the major subscription services designed to make your life easier?
When the Comeback Story Goes Too Far: What HYROX Got Wrong
Within hours, photos and videos went viral. Pundits and commentators waxed on about whether she showed fortitude or foolishness.
Displaying Confidence Is Part of the Financial Advice
Advisors give their clients context to understand financial situations and their own financial plan. All of this gives an investor the confidence to continue moving forward.
The Exit You Want Isn’t Necessarily the Exit Your Business Is Built For
Each door requires a completely different company underneath it. That is the part conventional exit advice consistently skips.
Taxes Aren’t the Problem. How We Spend and Collect Them Is.
Somehow, though, we rarely think of these vast systems, systems that serve an entire country, as being as personal to us as a dinner out, a week at the beach, or a new shirt.
Stop Comparing Yourself to the Person Who Has the Job You Want
And sometimes we take ourselves out of the running before we’ve even discovered what the role actually requires.
The Problem With Waiting for the “Right Time” to Invest
We like to believe that we will recognize a good opportunity when we see one. However, investing doesn't necessarily work that way. Think about what a market decline actually looks like while you're living through it.
The Frankenstein Problem: What Happens When AI Outgrows Its Creators?
Others in the technology community disagree with coordinated slowing and argue that rapid innovation and responsible development can proceed together.
