Category Archives: The Personal Side

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Excellence vs. Perfection

“The pursuit of perfection is the pursuit of failure.”

The thought came to my mind on my walk this morning.  It was undoubtedly prompted by meetings over the years with younger analysts who, because they wanted to find “perfect” answers to valuation problems, were (temporarily) unable to find any answer at all.

Excellence is attainable for many, if not most, at least in some areas of life.  Perfection is unattainable.  The pursuit of excellence is the roadway to success.  The pursuit of perfection is a downward slide to failure.

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The Principle of (Realistic) Expectations

In Forecasts for Business Appraisals

Business valuation is all about expectations for the future. However, those expectations, as reflected in forecasts prepared for business appraisals, must be realistic. This short post mentions the hockey-stick projections often seen in business appraisals and ask for realistic projections, whether they be explicit forecasts of future years’ performance, or implied forecasts in single-period income capitalization methods.

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Business Valuation: An Integrated Theory, Third Edition Is Here

Business Valuation: An Integrated Theory, 3rd Edition has been published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in the Wiley Finance Series. My co-author, Travis W. Harms, CFA, CPA/ABV and I are excited and relieved to have received this work in hand late last week. In this post, I will begin to tell the story about the book and why you should own it and read it.

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Led by Four Trillion Dollar Companies, the Market Caps of Public Stocks Are Highly Concentrated

The public stock markets are highly concentrated in the top 500 companies both in terms of market capitalization and earnings. This post looks at those concentrations and at the declining number of public companies. We also discuss the S&P 500 Index and the Russell 2000 Index to see how the largest public companies have fared relative to small cap stocks since the markets recognized the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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200 Days and My Step Challenge Continues

Five Miles and 10,000 Steps or More Per Day

Often, when we take a step, either literally or figuratively, we don’t know where that step will lead. This post is about taking 10,000 steps one day, December 15, 2019, and how, somehow, I’ve been able to do that every day for 200 days as of today. I never thought about a long goal. It has simply developed from a series of short-term goals. Hope you enjoy the post!

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11 Things to Know about Fixing “Problems” in Your Business

And #12: Problem Resolution Has a Positive Impact on Business Value

I was reflecting about business problems and my experience in seeing them addressed in other organizations or in dealing with them in our own company. This post provides 11 observations on why it is critical to address business problems timely and credibly. The value of your business is directly influenced by how you resolve problems as they arise. Think of a problem identified as an opportunity for constructive change.