My New Gift – Gadget Overload

Gifts can be great.  Gadget gifts can be great and fun.  For example, my family recently bought me a new watch. I have not had a watch for several years; I usually use my phone. In hindsight, I missed not having a watch.  It is so much easier than trying to hide the fact you are looking at your phone. More on this later.

First, some background. My father enjoyed gadgets and James Bond movies.  He bought me a Casio calculator when I was in high school (see picture). It still works.  I was one of the first students in my school to have one.  As I grew older, he continued to buy me cool gadgets, like the watch that was also a calculator.  You could even play a game on it (see picture).  Now it is important to remember, that was back in the 70s or over 45 years ago. 

And now to today.  My family did not buy just any watch, but a James Bond watch!   You can see it here. It looks like an ordinary watch, but it is not. I can call people, read and send texts, read and send emails, access the internet, use it as a stopwatch, etc.  Just like James Bond!  Quiet, I hear the music queuing up now.

Of course, I cannot shoot anyone, blow up a building, stun an enemy, or other key Bond needs. So, it is not perfect.

Oh yeah, it also can track my steps, tell me how my sleep was, tell me my stress level, measure my blood oxygen, etc. My family tells me that is why they bought me the watch. No surprise.  I like it because it is the watch James Bond would have.

First, I need Q to show me how to use it. It is complex. Then, I need to buy an old Auston Martin and then a Walther PPK. It would be my first sports car and gun.  Again, Q would need to show me how the car works. My son can show me how the gun works.

As noted earlier, gifts are great as are gadget gifts. Dad, you would be pleased with this gadget gift.  As for my family, are you reading this?  I see a classic car and gun in my (likely) distant future.

Virginia Business

 Most states and metro areas do something like this.  I really enjoy the Virginia Business editions. These are all listed on the website under the tab “Reports” and includes novel ones like Best Places to Work, CEO Pay, Most Influential Virginians…you get the idea. The various lists are posted in the monthly magazine and usually highlight an industry.  The Excel download is at a cost.  The HTML format lists an abbreviated edition of the top firms.

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/lists/

My Favorite Business Rankings - Fast Company - IV

The World’s Most Innovative Companies – 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Most lists are formula bases.  You may see individuals, companies, states, ranked by value, profit, revenues, net worth, etc.  An example is the most innovative state as determined by the number of patents issued to individuals and firms in a state.  We all know the Forbes and Fortune lists.

I think this one is far more complex.  Innovation may truly be in the eye of the beholder. It is a fluid and moving definition. Innovation can change radically by industry and/or individual. The automotive industry (driver less cars) and Elon Musk come immediately to mind.

Of all the rankings, Fast Company’s innovative firms is one of the more fun to read. First, all are innovative according to Fast Company and their judgements (next paragraph). And company size; revenues, longevity, etc. are not really relevant.

The question is are you innovative.  For 2020 Fast Company staff determined innovative by:

“This year (2020), Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out groundbreaking businesses across 44 sectors, including every region of the world. We also judged nominations received through our application process. We assess each company on a combination of innovation and impact, with a focus on what it’s accomplished in the past year. The 434 organizations we honor here lead their fields and are transforming the world.”

Enjoy all four rankings and note the vast differences in the top 50. I see very few parallels. You may find more.  I think you will enjoy the one-line description of why each firm was selected. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2020

https://www.fastcompany.com/90603436/the-worlds-most-innovative-companies-2021

 

https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2022

https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/list

My Favorite Business Rankings – III - Forbes Next 1000

 This is a recent one.  Unlike almost all other rankings that use somewhat static data to rank companies, Forbes uses a combination to identify the future entrepreneurs. For example, most rankings take a combination of current revenues, profitability, etc. to determine the ranking.  By using the most recent historical data points, most rankings look at the most recent calendar year.

The Forbes Next 1000 looks at that type of data, but also asks about biographical, awards, and if student debt influenced your decision to start a business.  The magazine seeks to find the next generation of entrepreneurs by identifying current sole proprietors, self-funded ventures, and pre-revenue startups all with under $10 million in revenues.  A rather novel approach.

This is one of the most unique and fun rankings to read.  The winners are diverse in every sense of the word.  Since this is running all year, every season we get to read about the additional 250 firms.  The articles run over one year.

Finally, note the judges.  Just like the past editions, the judges are a varied group of individuals. 

 

Link to list:  https://www.forbes.com/next1000/

My Favorite Business Rankings – II - Forbes 400

Everyone has heard of the Forbes 400.  It is the ranking of the richest Americans.  This is more of a fun list. It is also very informative. An example, if you look at new wealth and how it was created, you might get an indication of a growth industry. You also get a great idea about family money.

The methodology is sound.  The brief on every individual is interesting and tells you several key facts about the person. Detailed profiles are definitely worth the read. The “did you know” is almost always interesting. The one category I immediately access is “Source of Wealth.” 

A couple of items on each profile I find difficult.  The first one is the self-made score. I think is a very hard judgement. The second one and more difficult than the first is the philanthropy score.  That just seems rude to me to have anyone pass judgement on an individual’s charitable donations. 

It is a fun one to read. Of course, I periodically read an entry and think “why didn’t I think of that”.

 

Link:  https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/#34e4c567e2ff

My Favorite Business Rankings – I - INC 5000

This is a similar article I posted over one year ago. I decided to repost it since I am kicking off a new series.  So much of what we see today is rankings. I think it took off with David Letterman’s Top Ten List…(I hope people remember this).

Frankly, I get sick of reading all of them.  Often I will read the methodology first. Sometimes you know after reading it that the ranking is utterly useless.  However, over this one and the next few posts I highlight my favorite rankings and why. 

First up is the INC 5000. This ranking is billed as the definitive list of the fastest growing private companies in the US. 

It is a fascinating list to sort through. Thanks to great sort options you can actually find clusters of private fast growth companies.  You can sort by state and industry too. The write-up on each firm is very helpful and a link to the company is also listed. You can search past rankings to 2015.

One unique point.  You may think INC scours the US looking for these firms.  Not really, it is decided by application.  Hence, each firm must apply through INC for inclusion in the annual ranking.

Four more reasons I really like this one. Some the names are priceless.  Second, individual stories are very well done. Third, good data on privately held firms.  

And finally, the summary above the rankings is very helpful. The summary is whatever you chose to cut and dice the list by.  For example, if I do a search by Virginia firms, I find that the median growth is 152 percent, total revenues exceed $18.4 billion, 33,611 jobs were added, 22 are new, and 224 of the firms have been on the list before.

Link:  https://www.inc.com/inc5000

Business Resources IX - Tracking Incentives

 Well, I was wrong. I had two more business resources to present. The first one was the project brief.  The second and last one is a variation of an incentive tracking spreadsheet I developed during my tenure with West Kentucky and later revised for my time with economic development in Prince Wiliam County.

One (and a fair one at that) criticism we get in economic development is not tracking incentives offered and received by a client.  In West Kentucky we always required an MOU that spelled out amounts, timelines, thresholds, review dates, and claw backs.  These documents are public, you just need to ask the city or county. 

Note that the timeline also includes state incentives, when appropriate.  This allowed me to track all incentives offered to a firm and all accepted by a firm. 

The need to track the incentives received and review dates is a critical foundation in economic development. After all, this is taxpayer funds.  We must be the absolute best stewards of these dollars as possible.  We must always work to maintain trust with our shareholders, stakeholders, and pubic at large.

Hence the need for the tracking spreadsheet.  I can determine every step of the incentive negotiation, approval, receipt, and review of any package received. 

The process is straightforward.  After the incentive is received by the company it is logged in by month. From this I can check the spreadsheet every month to see which company’s review time is coming up.  After that determination is made, I then draft the necessary correspondence and set up a meeting to review the company data and ensure that thresholds are indeed met.

If a company is not in compliance with the MOU, I then draft correspondence noting that the company is not in compliance with the MOU and what steps will be taken to ensure that they get into compliance. 

This may involve a give and take over a couple of weeks.  The goal is not to penalize the company, but to find a path to compliance.  If it appears that the company will not ever get into compliance with the MOU, then claw back procedures are implemented.  Fortunately, I never had to institute any claw back steps. However, if I did, the MOU clearly spelled out how.

This was a smooth process and it clearly spelled out the procedure for every step.

Link to spreadsheet:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qZDXGrgWswRBFJf4mtjOcFJh22ibQ6Qi/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105727592661546387822&rtpof=true&sd=true