The shock waves of tech stocks crashing are headed straight for startups
Companies are seeing their valuations fall, to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway's quote on bankruptcy, in two ways: Gradually, and all at once.
The inside story of how Elon Musk won Twitter—and could still lose it
Musk is putting everything on the table in his bid to buy Twitter. For sheer entertainment value, the saga of how the iconic billionaire tweeted his way to what would be the third-biggest tech takeover deal of all time is about as jaw-droppingly exciting as business ever gets. But look past the audaciousness of Musk’s gambit and there are some serious questions to consider.
Startups and VCs should be preparing for the possibility of stagflation
The last time stagflation hit the U.S., “startup” was a niche term and VC an obscure cottage industry. How stagflation hurt small business in the 70s and early 80s can tell us now startups may need to respond to this looming threat.
Tech M&A’s surprising acceleration despite a sputtering economy
Merger and acquisition spending, like most other areas of finance, tends to cool off during economic downturns as corporate executives and boards get skittish about big deals and private equity firms grow more choosy. But so far this year, the tech industry is providing an intriguing exception to this rule. Last week, Amazon announced a $3.5 billion purchase of primary care company One Medical. That follows other big-ticket acquisitions during 2022’s turbulent markets.
Alpine Investors finds its edge—cultivating CEOs for its portfolio companies
Graham Weaver founded San Francisco-based Alpine Investors in 2001, but it wasn’t until the depths of the financial crisis that the firm discovered its edge.
With several portfolio companies struggling, Weaver was jetting from city to city putting out fires. When he canceled a weekly meeting with executive coach JP Flaum, the coach pushed back and peppered Weaver on the challenges facing his companies, including one led by a 25-year veteran CEO who was missing his projections during the market
With several portfolio companies struggling, Weaver was jetting from city to city putting out fires. When he canceled a weekly meeting with executive coach JP Flaum, the coach pushed back and peppered Weaver on the challenges facing his companies, including one led by a 25-year veteran CEO who was missing his projections during the market
U.S. companies are hoarding more and more cash overseas
A good cash stockpile has always provided companies with a strong insurance policy in uncertain times. But many multinationals are stuffing cash an increasingly bloated piggy bank for a different reason: to keep tax bills low. Cash held by U.S. companies has mushroomed from $1.6 trillion at the turn of the century to about $5.8 trillion this year.
CalPERS gives an early indication of what 2022 has in store for pension funds
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has long stood heads and shoulders above its fellow pension funds. And because its fiscal year ends on June 30, its annual net investment reports are both a bellwether and a harbinger of pension fund performance for the full year. So what does CalPERS have to tell us about pension funds in 2022? The news isn’t good.
Cybersecurity looks like a safe haven in private finance
“A good half of the art of living is resilience,” the philosopher Alain de Botton once said. For private companies, the same could be said about the art of survival in down markets.
Top finance execs often self-sabotage their success. A coach to top CFOs explains how to avoid it
In these uncertain times, CFOs and other corporate leaders are increasingly turning to Edith Hamilton and her peers in the $14 billion executive-coaching industry. Last year, more than 70% of organizations offered some form of leadership coaching. After all, it’s easy for CFO’s to feel overwhelmed these days. Inflation and business automation present new challenges. CFO tenures are shorter, and turnover rates are higher.
Buybacks vs dividends? In market downturns, the rules may change
CFOs have two common levers to pull when returning cash to shareholders: dividends and buybacks. Both can present challenges when market selloffs signal a recession may be coming.
