Values: Think long term. Be helpful. Be brave. Confront the facts. We help customers, teammates and partners climb their marketable skills, income and net worth within our growing community. Launch local. Maintain density. Spread geographically.
FOUNDERS
Daryl Starr
Mikel Berger
Latest Blog Posts
Navigating Small Business Acquisitions: Understanding the Type, Distance, Pace, and Size of Your Deals
Small business acquisitions have become a vital part of growth strategies for many companies. I’ve been reading about many great, publicly traded service companies –many of whom buy dozens to hundreds of small businesses annually. They jump-start expansion plans occasionally or fit into a regular plan. In this post, we’ll delve into the key factors Read more about Navigating Small Business Acquisitions: Understanding the Type, Distance, Pace, and Size of Your Deals[…]
Regarding Capabilities
As a young man, I used to say, “What I lack in experience, I make up for in ability.” It was a cute way to disarm older people and get them to hire me. But, fundamentally, I believed it. And generally, it was true. Today, as a middle-aged man, I find experience to be of Read more about Regarding Capabilities[…]
Small Team Ventures
Little Engine Ventures is a nod to small but mighty teams that humble themselves before troubled customers, and help them climb. We are excellent at managing small teams at multiple locations. Our team sizes range from 2 to 25 per location. When others think “that’s barely a company!” We think “small but mighty.” A large Read more about Small Team Ventures[…]
Measuring the Pace of Onboarding
Few small business owners that I have met have a systematic onboarding process. I believe this is one of the reasons they stay small and complain about their inability to hire good people. Frankly, their standards are too high and their system is too weak. They people that could succeed are too rare. Once you Read more about Measuring the Pace of Onboarding[…]
Reading Annual Reports of Public Companies to Influence Your Small Business
Each year I pick a reading theme that fills in my time. My primary blocks of reading time in our marketable security business line are filled with companies I have already researched before. Once current on those I like to explore. Having a theme for the year helps give me structure so I don’t wander Read more about Reading Annual Reports of Public Companies to Influence Your Small Business[…]
The Types of Managers That Fail
We recently hosted our quarterly Advisory Committee meeting in Lafayette, Indiana. Jeff Peterson stuck around afterward to share some more detailed advice. I asked if I could share his notes –which he delivered from memory–I had to write down. He agreed and proceeded to say, “There are 3 types of managers that fail.” Ultimately, each Read more about The Types of Managers That Fail[…]
Summary of the Little Engine Ventures Annual General Meeting 2023
On Thursday, July 20, 2023 more than half of our partners gathered with our managers in downtown Lafayette, Indiana for a report on the previous twelve months and our updates on the go-forward plans. We are grateful for the people who have helped us. While our purpose is to help others climb, we have been Read more about Summary of the Little Engine Ventures Annual General Meeting 2023[…]
Systematic Expansion
Saturday morning I finished reading the 2022 Annual Report for a large, publicly traded corporation. We do not own shares of this particular company, but it is on my list of wonderful businesses. Over the years, it strikes me that all wonderful companies have simple expansion plans. This particular company has maintained the basics of Read more about Systematic Expansion[…]
2023 Annual Meeting
The partners of Little Engine Ventures are invited to gather. We will confront our progress and blunders over the last 12 months and try to explain how our thinking has evolved since launch and where that may take us on our journey ahead. No questions are off limits. Come early. Stay late. Enjoy our city Read more about 2023 Annual Meeting[…]
General Manager Training
We concluded our final session of our first-ever “General Manager Training” this week. We plan to start our next cohort May 23. Per my usual, I thought I’d reflect on what worked and share some opinions about what we might change in the future. Purpose: Condense two years of management training into three weeks in Read more about General Manager Training[…]