Metro Bank: Peak Uncertainty
Metro Bank (LON:MTRO) is undergoing a multi-year turnaround under new CEO Daniel Frumkin. Here’s my take on the work so far, and the chance of success.
Changing the shape of the playing field: Content and the attention economy
The ability to propagate a viewpoint at scale – changing the shape of the playing field – is new in financial markets, and it is a big deal.
Fixed Fee Funds Management: So Insane, It Just Might Work
Fixed fee funds management. A look at why it might – and why it mightn’t -work.
The Rebrandening: 10footinvestor and Infinite Nuance
The 10footinvestor site has changed. Here’s why, & a summary of the journey so far.
Technical CEOs, transitions, and growing organisations
Something I’ve been thinking about for at least five years (and last tried to articulate here) is the transition that happens as a technical founder’s business grows. Quite often, someone with what I’ll call “technical expertise” starts a business (for the purpose of this article, we will exclude “entrepreneurs” which start with an idea or …
Sezzle’s Precipice
After Xinja’s Pivot, I’m coining Sezzle’s Precipice to describe a company that stands on the knife edge of catastrophic failure. Whether Sezzle tips over the eponymous precipice or skates along the top before riding off into the sunset is yet to be seen. (I wrote some preliminary thoughts on the company late last year). After …
Management: Infinite Nuance
In early 2020 I took on managerial responsibilities, which was the definition of being dropped in the deep end. To be a manager is to have a focus on the process that produces the output, rather than the output itself. The switch to focusing on the process clicked very quickly with me, piggybacking on years …
Interactive Brokers: A Stock Pitch
I have written about Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) before, most notably in Xinja’s Pivot. During the Covid Crash I purchased it on valuation grounds, but I think there are a lot of fundamental merits to, and opportunity in, the business. I recently pitched the stock and I’ve tidied up my notes to publish here: Stockbroking is …
Blue Ocean Strategy: A Review
I am reading Blue Ocean Strategy (Expanded Edition) by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. It is solid gold and I wish I’d read it 10 years ago. The thing that surprises me most here is that nothing in here is “new”. Apart from the case studies (which are excellent), I could not put my …
How to conduct a performance review
This is a tricky topic. To conduct a performance review you need to know a) what is the performance you are measuring and b) what will you change as a result of that measurement, and c) how will that affect your employee. Is your review process about coaching? Or is it about salary? Is it …