Curt Doolittle

Category: Business, Organization, and Management

  • Business Terminology

    BUSINESS TERMINOLOGY, SCALE. ESTABLISHMENT (small/craft) An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. FIRM (regional/industry): A firm is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments in the same state and industry under common ownership or control.

    ENTERPRISE(National/Federation) An enterprise is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments under common ownership or control. –VS– SIZE Very small businesses Fewer than 20 employees Small businesses 20 to 99 employees Medium businesses 100 to 499 employees Large businesses 500 or more employees THEREFORE THIS GRAPH …………………Establishment -> Firm -> Enterprise Large >500 ^ Medium >100 ^ Small >20 ^ Very Small >0 WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? It looks like half of the people are employed by LARGE organizations, the majority of the rest by Small and very small. I look at it like this: Given Median Family Income: 50K: 500*50K=25M * 4 = 100M+ 100*50K=5M * 4 = 20M+ 20*50K=1M * 4 = ~5M+ 1*50K=50K * 4 = 200K+ WHY? Revenue per employee goes up with scale. Ratio of employee to equipment costs balances out. As an average we tend to use 30%. (Since I’ve largely been in technology, I have never run a business where it is that low). If we use the median income, and multiply by four that seems to produce a fairly good “rule of thumb”. WHATS THE HIGHEST PAID OCCUPATION IN AMERICA? Management of companies and enterprises . . ..104,041 ..Enterprises with fewer than 500 employees . . . 76,484 ..Very small enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155,557 ..Small enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 70,065 ..Medium enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 74,717 ..Large enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 108,057 The organization of production distribution and trade is the highest paying sector in america. Entrepreneurship rules.

  • Business Terminology

    BUSINESS TERMINOLOGY, SCALE. ESTABLISHMENT (small/craft) An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. FIRM (regional/industry): A firm is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments in the same state and industry under common ownership or control.

    ENTERPRISE(National/Federation) An enterprise is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments under common ownership or control. –VS– SIZE Very small businesses Fewer than 20 employees Small businesses 20 to 99 employees Medium businesses 100 to 499 employees Large businesses 500 or more employees THEREFORE THIS GRAPH …………………Establishment -> Firm -> Enterprise Large >500 ^ Medium >100 ^ Small >20 ^ Very Small >0 WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? It looks like half of the people are employed by LARGE organizations, the majority of the rest by Small and very small. I look at it like this: Given Median Family Income: 50K: 500*50K=25M * 4 = 100M+ 100*50K=5M * 4 = 20M+ 20*50K=1M * 4 = ~5M+ 1*50K=50K * 4 = 200K+ WHY? Revenue per employee goes up with scale. Ratio of employee to equipment costs balances out. As an average we tend to use 30%. (Since I’ve largely been in technology, I have never run a business where it is that low). If we use the median income, and multiply by four that seems to produce a fairly good “rule of thumb”. WHATS THE HIGHEST PAID OCCUPATION IN AMERICA? Management of companies and enterprises . . ..104,041 ..Enterprises with fewer than 500 employees . . . 76,484 ..Very small enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155,557 ..Small enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 70,065 ..Medium enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 74,717 ..Large enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 108,057 The organization of production distribution and trade is the highest paying sector in america. Entrepreneurship rules.

  • BUSINESS TERMINOLOGY, SCALE. ESTABLISHMENT (small/craft) An establishment is a s

    BUSINESS TERMINOLOGY, SCALE.

    ESTABLISHMENT (small/craft) An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.

    FIRM (regional/industry): A firm is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments in the same state and industry under common ownership or control.

    ENTERPRISE(National/Federation) An enterprise is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments under common ownership or control.

    –VS–

    SIZE

    Very small businesses Fewer than 20 employees

    Small businesses 20 to 99 employees

    Medium businesses 100 to 499 employees

    Large businesses 500 or more employees

    THEREFORE THIS GRAPH

    …………………Establishment -> Firm -> Enterprise

    Large >500

    ^

    Medium >100

    ^

    Small >20

    ^

    Very Small >0

    WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

    It looks like half of the people are employed by LARGE organizations, the majority of the rest by Small and very small.

    I look at it like this:

    Given Median Family Income: 50K:

    500*50K=25M * 4 = 100M+

    100*50K=5M * 4 = 20M+

    20*50K=1M * 4 = ~5M+

    1*50K=50K * 4 = 200K+

    WHY?

    Revenue per employee goes up with scale.

    Ratio of employee to equipment costs balances out.

    As an average we tend to use 30%. (Since I’ve largely been in technology, I have never run a business where it is that low).

    If we use the median income, and multiply by four that seems to produce a fairly good “rule of thumb”.

    WHATS THE HIGHEST PAID OCCUPATION IN AMERICA?

    Management of companies and enterprises . . ..104,041

    ..Enterprises with fewer than 500 employees . . . 76,484

    ..Very small enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155,557

    ..Small enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 70,065

    ..Medium enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 74,717

    ..Large enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 108,057

    The organization of production distribution and trade is the highest paying sector in america. Entrepreneurship rules.

    Source date (UTC): 2016-10-03 02:09:00 UTC

  • REMOVE CHOICES FROM YOUR OPPOSITION IN ANY NEGOTIATION. Unfortunately, I’ve beco

    REMOVE CHOICES FROM YOUR OPPOSITION IN ANY NEGOTIATION.

    Unfortunately, I’ve become too good at this – to the point where it feels to others like entrapment. In my mind I simply think that x is the only logical outcome and I act in favor of x, without the consent of the other party, who feels (incorrectly) that he or she could have influenced the choice.

    This is an example of my (unhealthy) arrogance. I am definitely so paternally arrogant that I treat everyone as children. And that if I didn’t I’d be dishonest with them and myself.

    Interesting self insight.

    I thik it’s subconscious from having so many negotiations, deals, or ambitions ruined by idiots who we must make consent to that which they cannot understand.

    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-30 08:48:00 UTC

  • COO : WAYS OF RUNNING OPERATIONS PROFESSOR You view every person and every goal

    COO : WAYS OF RUNNING OPERATIONS

    PROFESSOR

    You view every person and every goal as an opportunity to educate the staff so that the continually improve and as a consequence the organization, it’s goods, services, and reputation improve. You manage, advise, counsel, and direct where necessary. You stay actively involved with each person and their duties. You contribute ‘suggestions’ and keep honing the organization by pushing decisions downward, while maintaining a safety net in case there are points of failure.

    When? When you are building a growth company.

    (I run operations like an MBA program. And it works. And people love it. )

    MANAGER

    You have a competent and stable team, and your primary function is to handle exceptions, and those exceptions are generally limited to the choice of how to allocate scarce resources.

    When? When you have built a stable company, but not a growth company.

    DELEGATOR

    You have people competent at performing tasks, but not yet at achieving goals. You control the planning and decision making then delegate the activities to team members, and in general, control the flow of work through the organization.

    When? When you don’t have the scale (or money) to build a team of people who can manage production without your help.

    OBSERVER

    You have competent people and you really don’t have to do anything because there is very little change in the organization over time, and little prospect of change.

    When? When there is little adaptation or innovation or change occurring in the organization and the individuals in the company merely need someone to come to in those few cases of where conflict resolution is needed.

    HARASSER

    You do not have competent talent at planning and decision making, and you are not competent at planning and decision-making, and do not know what to do, so you harass people as a means of getting information out of them the only way that you know how – precisely because you cannot get it out of them through creating value.

    When? When your company is a poor performer with a poor executive team and they cannot attract better talent for budgetary, cultural, or market segment reasons.

    ABSENTEE

    Enough said.

    When? Um. Seriously? When everyone knows the end is near but no one has the courage to shut down operations and write down the debt because it is still possible to collect a paycheck for another year.

    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-28 03:10:00 UTC

  • THE VARIOUS EXECUTIVE ROLES First. Let’s get our terminology straight so that we

    THE VARIOUS EXECUTIVE ROLES

    First. Let’s get our terminology straight so that we’re not talking apples and oranges. Executive Roles are Fungible, but in general:

    – CEO: BALANCE SHEET AND MANAGEMENT TEAM

    – CSO / VP SALES: SALES AND SALES AND MARKETING TEAM

    – …..CMO: MARKETING (if a separate responsibility for demand generation)

    – COO: P&L AND PRODUCTION TEAM (IN HOUSE OPERATIONS)

    – CFO: CASH AND CREDIT, AND ACCOUNTING TEAM

    The term President is a legal fiction preserved for archaic reasons. And it refers to those organizations still small enough that the various executive roles are held by an individual. For the uninitiated, in American parlance, the Legal Entity (corporation) must have a president (registered responsible person), and sometimes one or more other responsible persons (All are for tax accountability, and for legal accountability in matters of conflict). The ORGANIZATION can be run by registered agents (president), or the CEO and Management team, or by the Board, and the CEO and the Management Team. It’s a matter of scale.

    Some companies are separating the balance sheet (CEO) from the sales measurement by assigning the ‘president’ role to the CSO, and some are still using the strange archaic fiction of “VP Sales” in large companies. Sometimes because the CEO retains the SALES function as his primary focus.

    This is also a possible strategy if the company is small enough. A CEO should generally focus 1/3 on sales and marketing (outside), 1/3 on talent management,(inside) and 1/3 on resources and allocation of resources to strategic ends.

    As a general rule, if a CEO is spending too much time outside, his sales and marketing are too weak, or he is pursuing phis own interests, not the company’s. The most productive CEO’s handle exceptions in all functions, and spend half of their time internally with staff. (Although I have been criticized for making companies too dependent upon me by doing that.) In most companies I have acquired that are unsuccessful the CEO does not spend enough time or budget in sales (‘Craftsman Effect’), or the CEO spends too much time in sales without (paying for) an adequate internal CEO (COO), (“underinvestment effect”). In both these cases I am fairly confident that the company has failed to transition from small to mid-sized, usually because not enough profit to pay for transition to the next scale, or too much extraction of profits to afford to pay for transition to the next scale; or (as I have encountered) the CEO is not able to transition to an executive role and/or is incapable of hiring talent sufficiently strong to allow him to do so. (This inability to hire good enough talent to work for you is a more common problem than we usually intuit.)

    The Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) title is floating around referring to the sales function, but this is incorrect, since sales (what you book as potential revenue from the operation of the business ) and revenue (what you recognize as ‘earned’ revenue from the business plus any other activities such as investments) are two different things. In organizations where sales are immediately booked as revenue because of simple transactions where the production cycle does not have to be ‘earned’ or where the sale is not recognized until the good is delivered, this error is the understandable result of confusion. (Does it matter. Maybe not. But it can make your company look a little ‘dim’ if you have sophisticated customers, and there is a lag between sale and recognition of revenue.)

    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-28 02:52:00 UTC

  • Of course you already know about this stuff, but this is really good marketing f

    Of course you already know about this stuff, but this is really good marketing for it!

    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-20 13:49:00 UTC

  • Executive Roles and Character

    Aug 17, 2016 12:17pmSALES (PRESIDENT/CEO) – I like Sales and Revenue jobs – but it’s hard to control relationships upon which sales depend. One needs to be more intuitive and ‘likeable’, gather and distribute information, rather than creative. (I have to be likeable and share information) PROFIT AND LOSS (CTO/OPERATIONS) – I love P&L jobs – I have control over them. One needs to be better at problem solving, and persuasive. Creativity is necessary and rewarding. (I have to be right and creative) BALANCE SHEETS (MBA/FINANCE) – I hate Balance Sheet jobs. – I never feel like I can control them. One needs to keep a lot of details in memory, and resort them, and report on them. And most creativity is … limited. (I have to be diligent, and not wrong.) This is how I tell people why I prefer NOT to hold the CEO role, but the problem is finding someone not stupid enough to be the CEO. Normally I don’t like to take the CEO title, but prefer to have a ‘President’ and myself the “Chief Strategy Officer”. In a perfect world you have a three person partnership for customers (president and CEO), inside the company (CTO/Strategy), and suppliers (CFO/MBA). I don’t believe in using CPAs for CFO, and instead use MBA’s for CFO, and CPA’s for VP accounting. In my experience CPA’s cannot accurately report BOTH financial and operational accounting on the same P&L and Balance Sheet, nor do they produce rolling reports that let you see trends. Why? Because this requires a bit of extra work developing posting ‘macros’ (Processes) so that data isn’t pooled (munged), and so that it’s clear whether one is making money from operations, from capital trades, or from financialising the business. Curt Doolittle

  • Executive Roles and Character

    Aug 17, 2016 12:17pmSALES (PRESIDENT/CEO) – I like Sales and Revenue jobs – but it’s hard to control relationships upon which sales depend. One needs to be more intuitive and ‘likeable’, gather and distribute information, rather than creative. (I have to be likeable and share information) PROFIT AND LOSS (CTO/OPERATIONS) – I love P&L jobs – I have control over them. One needs to be better at problem solving, and persuasive. Creativity is necessary and rewarding. (I have to be right and creative) BALANCE SHEETS (MBA/FINANCE) – I hate Balance Sheet jobs. – I never feel like I can control them. One needs to keep a lot of details in memory, and resort them, and report on them. And most creativity is … limited. (I have to be diligent, and not wrong.) This is how I tell people why I prefer NOT to hold the CEO role, but the problem is finding someone not stupid enough to be the CEO. Normally I don’t like to take the CEO title, but prefer to have a ‘President’ and myself the “Chief Strategy Officer”. In a perfect world you have a three person partnership for customers (president and CEO), inside the company (CTO/Strategy), and suppliers (CFO/MBA). I don’t believe in using CPAs for CFO, and instead use MBA’s for CFO, and CPA’s for VP accounting. In my experience CPA’s cannot accurately report BOTH financial and operational accounting on the same P&L and Balance Sheet, nor do they produce rolling reports that let you see trends. Why? Because this requires a bit of extra work developing posting ‘macros’ (Processes) so that data isn’t pooled (munged), and so that it’s clear whether one is making money from operations, from capital trades, or from financialising the business. Curt Doolittle

  • The Class Divisions of Academic Labor

    —“Stanford and Chicago GSB have more academic publications that these universities’ economics departments. Two things i don’t like in this trend. 1) Academia persuaded university authorities that to business PhD and MBA math-economics is indispensable. Applied programs people hate this “rigorous” nonsense 2) Too many graduates from mainstream go to teach in business schools.”— Arteom Korotchenya – Procedural Application (private business and public govt) vs – Application(repeatability) vs – Basic Research(discovery). Three different things. Very few basic research papers of merit in any given year. Many, many applications tested each year, each expanding or reducing empirical content and thereby increasing or decreasing candidacy in law. All organizations, intellectual included, operate by class structures, roughly segmented by every ten points of IQ +/- 1/2 St.Dev. And it is the cooperation between these classes that produces the difference between imagination, hypothesis, theory, and law. Those at the bottom test theories tested by application to data and hypothesized by basic research. Together we take a restructuring of human understanding, through various tests, until habituated by use, and assumed metaphysically as a natural property of existence. So think of the hierarchy as a production cycle, and work within your class, and don’t worry about what other classes do. They CAN only work with the conceptual tools that we give them. And very few of us struggle amidst ridiculous odds to find some innovation that can work its way through that production cycle and end up in our unconscious assumptions about the nature of reality and how we can act to benefit from it. Curt Doolittle The Propertarian Institute Kiev,