When I think of a Texas Icon, This Man Comes to Mind...

He is T. Boone Pickens.  Mr. Pickens was a celebrated oil man, author, philanthropist, rancher, visionary, entrepreneur, and corporate raider. In essence, bigger than life.

You can read numerous stories about him and his legendary life.  His primary firms in his life were Mesa Petroleum and BP Capital.  Mesa was an oil and gas firm, BP Capital was a hedge fund oriented to the oil and gas industry. Oddly enough, he was social media savvy. 

I will focus on the time I heard him speak over 20 years ago.  First, every attendee got a copy of his book, Boone.  It is good read.  

What I remember was his speech and Q&A session.  His speech was much like him, honest and plainspoken.  The Q&A session was much like him, honest answers to every question.  I cannot recall much of what he said, but that I just nodded a lot to his points and smiling broadly at his answers during the Q&A session.  

Link to his obituary on CNBC:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/reuters-america-update-2-oracle-of-oil-t-boone-pickens-dies-at-91.html

Link to the Texas Monthly magazine obituary:  https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/boone-pickens-was-a-helluva-storyteller-and-thats-why-we-couldnt-resist-him/

Entrepreneurship - An Ageless Endeavor

This is more of a fun piece. We read so much about the young entrepreneur and the chances this individual is taking.  This post highlights entrepreneurs who started their venture when they were older.  The article simply demonstrates that great businesses can be created and/or started at any age.  You will recognize many of the names on the list.  My thanks to Business Insider. 

Link to the article:
https://www.businessinsider.com/ceos-who-didnt-find-success-until-later-in-life-2019-5

Entrepreneurial Advice from Charles Schwab

Everyone who follows business is familiar with Charles Schwab.  So I will not review his history and success. He just wrote a book titled “Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest.”

However, my comments are not about his book, but about his interview with Fortune magazine staff.   Mr. Schwab is an entrepreneur.   One key fact, he is dyslexic, but did not know it in college.  As the article points out, he turned a challenge into a strength.  He learned to delegate and focus on his strength, marketing.  He trusted his key executives with HR, finance and operations.

So, in a sense he learned three valuable lessons many entrepreneurs do not.  First, I am not an expert at everything. Second, recruit a team of individuals with skill sets I lack to propel my business. Third, I must learn to trust my team and not second guess them. 

As I read the article I thought about my mentor. He is practicing lawyer and economist. In fact, he taught economics for several years.  He preferred flat organizations. In one of my jobs with him he had national sales, international sales, HR, research, IT, operations, financing, export, marketing, communications, community development, existing business services, and the general counsel all reporting to him. He knew enough about each subject to ask valid and intelligent questions, and how to manage expectations.  It takes a unique individual to have knowledge in all these diverse subjects. It also means he cannot be easily manipulated.

Title of article: “Charles Schwab on the Lessons He’s Learned Over a Lifetime of Investing”.

Link to article:  https://fortune.com/2019/09/30/charles-schwab-lessons-advice/

First Look in Your Own Backyard

This is an article I read in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.   Innovation is definitely in, we read, watch, think and try to implement it.  You hear so many talking heads and consultants promise to deliver innovation to you.

The thrust of this article suggests you look at your front line employees.  In some cases you may find the best ideas to innovate come from these people.  It makes sense.

As pointed out in the article, so many CEOs say employees are our most valued asset.  Or something to that degree.  If so, trust them.  Ask them.  Solicit them. Nudge them.  Listen to them.   You may find a few great ideas that are innovative and lead to major strides in productivity.  And it may not cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the idea.

The examples are excellent. All three of the company executive team certainly trust their employees.  That is a key to the success. And the concept applies across almost every industry.

Before you read this article, and yes is it old. However, the fundamentals have not changed.

Link to the article:  http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-16/the-untapped-innovation-factory#r=nav-f-blog

Are You Absolutely Sure You are Ready to Start a Business?

As you know from my blogs, I read a lot of business magazines.  The October 1, 2019 Fortune magazine ran several articles about entrepreneurship.  It is a very good read.  And I will highlight a couple of the individuals profiled.

The first one is Mir Imran.  He is from India.  He is an engineer by training, but he has a very keen business sense.  You will find his effort to get a better education impressive and the sacrifices he made to achieve the degree he earned.  Equally interesting are his comments about closing a couple of his businesses and how he had to stretch his skill sets. 

However, among the most important tidbits I learned was when he freely admitted that his second business failed because he did not do a business plan or understand how much funding he would need.

You will enjoy his “Best Advice” piece. 

Title of the article: “How This 20-Time Founder With Hundreds of Patents Got His Start”

Link to article:  https://fortune.com/2019/10/01/mir-imran-rani-therapeutics-advice/