Holla at me if you want an operator (Actually don’t for these businesses, please)

I don’t know who you are or what you are doing, but I hope you have a great freaking week.

Just entered the newest phase of toddler: Able to open doors and walk in on you while in the bathroom.

Dad tip when traveling away from the (young) kids: Avoid the desire to FaceTime them. I’ve only ever seen it result in meltdowns afterwards when you hang up. Across my family and others. Just send a video.

Long night with the toddler. In her room at 2 AM and slept on her chair. So not much sleep. Have a work dinner tonight and I’m gonna be hurting. I’m walking out of the door, heading to NYC for the night, and she says “I love you, daddy!” Worth it.

Find me a better PE hero section. I'll wait.

When my wife asks me why I haven't unloaded the dishwasher yet:

If I can offer one word on how to run an efficient recruiting process for a leader at your business it would be this: Tempo. I don't mean rush into hiring someone. I don't mean cut corners. I mean be active. Give prompt feedback. Make a yes/no on someone in the process. Have structure. Good talent has other people coming after them. They will get other offers. They opportunities outside of working with you. Lack of tempo is the biggest reason a search fails. Here is what that can look like: - An interview happens and the next step is undefined. "Uh, I think you need to talk to the COO. Let me check and I will get back to you." A week goes by to make that decision. Then another week to book the next round. Then a week to give feedback. Mix in the COO going on vacation or being at a conference and then the next round takes a month to get to. A lot can happen in that month. --- - Feedback is slow. A candidate comes and has a great interview. They then want to know where they stand in the process or if they are moving onto the next round. "Thanks, we will get to you about next steps." A deal partner has to get with the management team and align busy calendars. Then compare disparate notes. The decision on the person just stalls. Tempo is lost. The candidate, unsure about where they stand, pursue other opportunities. Someone else moves with more tempo and you lose them. --- - Background checks and reference checks. You should do these. But if you wait all the way until the end, they can stall out a process. For a reference check, you are now beholden to someone else who does not have any skin in your game. You are totally beholden to when it is their convenience. It takes time to do. And timed poorly, can lose tempo. --- Here is a sample process we follow. Our team follows the methodology used by the book "Who" from ghSmart. 1. Use a scorecard Before you talk to anyone, write down the mission of the role, the 3-5 outcomes you need, and the competencies that matter. This is a tempo play. If everyone agrees on what “good” looks like up front, nobody has to “get with the team” to compare disparate notes later. Yes/no gets fast. --- 2. Structure and decision A defined series of interviews, not a vibe check: - Screening interview. Short call. Are they worth more time? - "Who" interview. Chronological walk through their career. What they were hired to do, what they accomplished, low points, who they worked with, why they left. - Focused interview. Other team members dig into specific outcomes on the scorecard. - Reference interviews. You talk to former bosses, peers, and direct reports. --- 3. Sell. Recruiting is a two-way decision. Good talent has options. Focus on the 5 Fs: - Fit - Family - Freedom - Fortune - Fun. Figure out which ones matter to this candidate and sell to that, through the whole process - not just at the offer. --- Happy hunting.

I went to Costco, bought just the things on the list, and spent less than $100 in a single trip. AMA

Investors will idolize Warren Buffet and recurring revenue in the same breath. His early investments: - Berkshire Hathaway (textile mill) - American Express (high reoccurring, but not true recurring) - Associated Cotton Shops (retail) - See's Candy - Coca-Cola - Gilette - Washington Post (revenue mostly ads which are very cyclical) - Nebraska Furniture Mart - Kirby Vacuums Strong history of profitability and future potential go a long way.

Perfect fall day for a local vineyard here in the Shenandoah Valley

Crazy part of yesterday’s CFB bloodbath is how close the games were: - UGA loses by a last second field goal - ND loses on a last second pass that was clearly pass interference - Florida state gets a Hail Mary over Miami in 2 OT and it gets called back by a questionable holding call - Indiana misses the go ahead TD over OSU by inches out of bounds What a day

The SEC today:

Imagine this: You just picked up your kids from school in your Tesla Roadster. Crank the radio and launch into the air. Your kids ask you to do a barrel roll and you have nostalgic flashbacks to playing Starfox 64. The world has come full circle and life is good.

I mean, heck yeah.

6 months ago I started sending a physical newsletter about being a dad. Have some subscribers I’ve met here and others who just signed up because some dude on the internet was going to send them mail. Next edition going out today to dads across the US (and 2 in 🇬🇧).

One of the most common questions we get from owners: “How should I structure profit sharing?” On the other side, I hear candidates who want to leave their company because of mis-aligned incentives or broken promises around this. The owner wants a key hire to have skin in the game. Totally the right instinct. But then the plan ends up being something like: “I’ll give you 10% of profits.” 10% of what? Starting when? And what happens when you hire the next person? As they day, the devil is in the details. Here’s a simple plan: 1. Define “profit.” Sounds obvious. It’s not. A lot of plans use adjusted EBITDA. Normalize the owner’s salary to market, pull out one-time items (sold some equipment, a legal settlement, etc). Write it down. If the number can be argued about, it will be. 2. Set a floor. The pool only funds on profit above a certain number. The floor protects your return. A few ways to set it: - Fixed number. Easy. - Last year’s actual. - The budget. Works if your budget is honest. 3. Build in triggers: - Company clears the floor - Individual hits their scorecard (pays 0-100% of their share) - Still employed on the payout date - If they own the KPI, tie it to the payout. If they only influence it, weight it lighter. 4. Use points to figure out each person’s share. The part people ask about most. Simple example: Floor: $3M EBITDA Pool: 15% of everything above the floor Actual year: $4M EBITDA $1M above the floor = $150K in the pool. Plan has 100 points total: - GM: 40 - Ops Manager: 20 - Controller: 15 - Unallocated: 25 Each point = $1,500. GM gets $60K, Ops Manager $30K, Controller $22.5K. The unallocated $37.5K stays with the company. Here’s the part most owners miss: Divide the pool by TOTAL points. Not the points you’ve handed out. Divide by allocated points and every new hire is basically a pay cut for everyone else. Great way to get your best people quietly rooting against your next VP. Your first key hire won’t be your last. Leave room for this. 5. Decide on payout timing. Most pay annually, right after year-end close. Some owners hold back a third and pay it the following year. Good for retention. But it can start to feel more like a delay than a reward. Personally, I think quarterly is more in-line with how employees think/behave. 6. Plan the exit before you need it. - Quits or fired for cause: forfeits - Let go without cause, death, disability: pro-rata for the year - You sell the company: pro-rata through close, paid at close. Buyers don’t want to inherit a handshake deal. One honest note: cash profit sharing rewards this year’s profit, not the value of the business. For a GM you want thinking like an owner, it’s a great step one. Equity can come later (that’s a whole other post). And I’m not an attorney or a CPA. Get both to look at it before it goes in an offer letter. Profit sharing is great. Profit sharing on a napkin is not.

I would venture to say 75%+ of the guys I know in their 30s in white collar jobs have mentioned buying a business in conversation in the last 3 years. For this along, think we needed that SBA SOP update.

Who’s ready to join the Space Rangers?