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Josh Ackerman's avatar

I remember the gyrations to hit quarterly numbers. Pull orders into this month. And then taking the heat for low orders in the next quarter. So we'd pull those orders ahead again. And again.

Yuck. no wonder i didn't like that place.

Josh

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Bob Gilbreath's avatar

And the crazy thing is that everyone knows it's crazy and we'll have to face the pain one day. Yet, we pull and pull!

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Josh Ackerman's avatar

Our comment at the time was take the hit once, and the future will be much easier. If you take the hit in Q2, Q3 and 4 will not require such contortions. But it helped upper management and their stock options I suppose.

That's the differentiator right? In a public company, upper management can see their financial status on the ticker on the bottom of CNBC. Do the kids go to Paris for Spring Break or Gulf Shores?

Value is created in the private company, but it isn't so readily accessible or obvious.

Josh

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Rick Lewis's avatar

Very useful Bob. I'm not currently close to an IPO, but I'm now farther away than I might have been. IPO = I'm Personally Obsessed? It strikes me that there are other versions of this to pay attention to as an entrepreneur, when coming up with new things to sell is based on a need to impress one's inner shame shareholder instead of what will actually be useful to others.

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Bob Gilbreath's avatar

Thanks, Rick! I think an obsession is mandatory when you're an entrepreneur (and writer, and anything creative), but so is thinking many years ahead. An IPO is not the end of the story!

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Rick Lewis's avatar

ha ha, yeah, I guess I meant the danger is "I'm personally obsessed . . . with me!"

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John Stieger's avatar

Love footnote #5! (Yes, at least some of us read the footnotes) And I am glad I am not the only marketer who is a Damordoran fan! One of my classmates gave me his classic book on valuation when they were done with it in b school, can't say I read all of it but I sis refer to it over the years.

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Bob Gilbreath's avatar

Alright, I'm thinking of you with every footnote now!

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