idea man bragging

Somebody Stole My Idea

By Tim Berry

How do you feel when somebody steals your idea? It’s a frequently asked question. Here’s my answer. That happened to me once. A business associate listened to my idea that I shouldn’t have shared in a cocktail party setting, and he went quietly off and executed. I was annoyed because he didn’t invite me to... Read More »

How to Pitch a Startup Idea by Email.

By Tim Berry

How to pitch a startup idea by email? I scoffed a bit when I saw the question, on Quora. Nobody invests in ideas, I mumbled to myself. And pitching by email? Fat chance. But then I read the answer here, written by Brett Fox, former CEO of Touchstone Semiconductor, and now a CEO coach. Here... Read More »

Fraud

Horror Story of Small Business Fraud

By Tim Berry

If you’re a business owner, and especially if you’re in the expert business, you should know this small business fraud story. It involves a very sophisticated scheme, including a fraudulent cashier’s check, and a very well faked charity, that would have fooled me. This could happen to me or to you Melinda Emerson, a good... Read More »

10 Prevailing Myths Of Business Ownership

By Tim Berry

I was asked about common myths of business ownership, that people still believe in 2019. I came up with a list of 10 common myths. Do you agree? That the business idea matters. As if ownership ought to depend on having the big idea. As if people steal ideas, or that’s even possible, much less... Read More »

entrepreneurs without salary

True Story: Missing Assets Equal to A Year’s Sales

By Tim Berry

This kind of accounting nightmare happens way too often. When expenses are not assets, accounting fiction can be a real problem Read More »

The Crystal Ball and Chain

By Tim Berry

This is an answer to a question I get way too often. I call it the "Crystal Ball and Chain" problem. I've run into it several times as I've introduced the planning process into a new company or organization. People... Read More »

Do We All Undervalue Bootstrapping?

By Tim Berry

In business schools, in popular blogs, in business publications, and in general discussion of starting a business, we undervalue bootstrapping. We teach starting a business as if every new business requires sophisticated venture capital. I understand how this can be... Read More »

Planning Is Telling Stories and Making Them Come True

By Tim Berry

You could call this synchronicity. A few years ago I was reading Seth Godin’s All Marketers Are Liars at about the same time that I caught Harvey Cox talking about the power of stories as truth telling in all major religions. I paused to think about the importance of stories in so many different modes... Read More »