Wells Fargo Business Plan Center

Here’s a story of noble work done by a big bank: Wells Fargo has rolled out an invaluable tool for business owners – a business planning tool. It’s available to anyone – not just bank customers – free of charge. Business plans are mysterious things. Few people know how to…

Lessons Learned from the Casey Kasem Fiasco

Casey Kasem did a terrible job of planning his estate. Here, a bunch of my brilliant Bryan Cave colleagues give some sage advice about what you can do to avoid the storm. I have a different, less technical piece of advice: try and raise kids and pick partners who…

Seven Stories That Will Make You Think

Inversions and Phantom Fiduciary Duties – PracticeLaw.com That argument that big CEOs make to justify moving their company nationalities overseas in order to satisfy their fiduciary duty to minimize taxes? Yeah, that’s bullshit. CEOs and Boards also have no fiduciary duty to maximize profits, particularly short term profits. CEOs and Boards have a…

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Negotiating

Negotiation is a human conversation. If your adversaries won’t talk, listen and trade, you can’t do business with them afterwards. And if you bully or extract too high a price, you will hurt your ability to deal with them afterwards. There is always an afterwards.

I’m Ashamed to Admit That Stephen Covey Saved My Life

I used to be a messy desk person. But, when I was 35 (I’m now 42), I worked obsessively to get organized and productive. Getting organized was a huge pivot point for me. First, I bought 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This was a good…

My Descent Into Productivity Porn

DISORGANIZED, AT LOOSE ENDS I used to be a messy desk person. I worked on platforms covered in drafts, mail, coffee cups and dozens of stray pen caps. My floor was an obstacle course of books, documents, magazines, loose change and umbrellas. I forgot to calendar items, I kept phone numbers…