Our early content was mostly filled with me spouting off about some hair brain ideal otherwise known internally as a Daryl-ism. Recently the velocity of my blog writing has dwindled. I think a large reason for this reduction is humility. Another factor is simply that I am not spending as much time figuring it out in public. Do not get me wrong, I have not arrived. There are more mistakes to be made. But, there are approaches that seem right to a man of his youth that are simply not so. What’s that saying by Mark Twain? “It’s not what you don’t know that gets you into trouble it’s the thing you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
As such, reading and writing are core to who we are at Little Engine Ventures. I’m not claiming that you have to have a literature degree to work here or read our content (that just ain’t so) nor do you have to enjoy debating the philosophical and spiritual merit of entrepreneurial services to society. However, it is a disservice to my friends and partners to remain quiet on things we are learning and the working out along our journey. As such, I want to reignite my time allocation to publishing in hopes that I continue to meet new people interested in conducting an investment practice across diverse small businesses in an honorable way. Plus, there’s nothing quite like publishing to make you publish more.
Here are the types of posts I intend to make (yes, I will be writing most of the content):
Mental Models in the Trenches – Our partnership was never about raising tons of assets and competing with NYC hedge funds or classical, high leverage private equity. I have zero experience in that realm and some scars associated with over-leverage. There were practical lessons I learned while starting and buying small businesses that might be applicable to the future allocator in me –and the friends that invested with me– that I want to continue to develop. And, as it turns out, I enjoy a blend of being in the trenches, galvanizing teammates to achieve more than they expected, and adhering to well reasoned mental models as an investor. As an author I want to share the models that bring me into the trenches, and the models that are used in the trenches that elevate my game from the trenches. I’m not trying to stay in one place or the other. I like moving between. For example, I’m in one of our shops now as I write. How is this possible? Why spend time this way? I had an hour between meetings and things are running smooth. Time to develop my writing… and thinking.
Letters to Younger Me – I mostly write to my future self. Some of it is journal like and should be read as such. I will still do that but I will try to publish from this letter-to-future-self tone a little less often (this post is one exception okay –cut me some slack.) As I enter the back half of my life, I have been advised to adjust my approach. Rather than being the young, curious goofball working things out in public, maybe I could help some future operators and allocators avoid damage. If a younger Daryl resides in my readership, hear this: I will steer you to the best of my ability, not because I might make any profit off of your excellence (although this has happened in my life), but rather because it just feels good to see people make the abnormal turn that is right. The temptation is to go about business the way others have succeeded –and you will be advised this way. However, do not do it. Think for yourself. Stand on your values. And take your own approach. Your future self will rest well in your own skin.
Playful What-ifs – Most of my readership enjoys elements of the goofball delivery I have honed over a lifetime. It’s important that we not take ourselves too serious. Business is about coordinating people for a profit. It’s bad when it uses people in an ill-gotten way. I rage about that. However, when it’s done well it can drive deep relational connections that persist beyond any single transaction. Injecting humor into the workload of life is important. Plus, who doesn’t appreciate a little humor every now and then, eh? What if more business had humor incorporated in it? Why so serious?
Investment Reasoning for Operating Moves – During the last several years we have been pruning misfit holdings. The drudgery of this type of divestment is doldrums for readership and painful for partners to see repeated. See this statement value? Watch it erode. What the heck are you thinking? Why did you make that move? I don’t get it. I’m done. Most people do not publish this type of operator forward investment reasoning when it comes to closing a business line or selling a company at a loss. They sweep that shit under the rug and never speak of it again… ashamed or ill-reasoned loss. I do the gross thing and bring it to the forefront so we can learn from it and test the merits of the decision. Post mortem is important as well as the pre-mortem. For example, I asked my peer group recently if anyone ever saw their business shrink when they conducted layoffs. As in, our margins stink so let’s shrink our costs. (good reasoning, right?) But then the system reacts with lower volume production. The response was a resounding: “never happens to me.” I was floored. Seriously? Am I a jackass? I think the answer to that question depends upon who you ask. And sure, the heroic out there never see volume dip. Right. Sign me up for that newsletter.
Okay, in closing, I’d like to publish a bit more than I have in the last two years. Maybe our readership will increase? Maybe it will fall off? I don’t know. What I do know is that we need to continue to plant flags along the proven paths of our approach and advise people to avoid the pitfalls we’ve encountered. I also want to attract like-minded folks to join me in the next chapter of our journey.
If you are a small business owner (5 to 150 employees) and want to figure out how to go to the next level, join me as I work to take our firm up another notch. I’ll lay down some stones in what we did to go from 0 to 1, what you think might work but won’t, and what it takes to survive. If you want 101 ways to succeed you should find another author. Our stuff is mostly about avoiding the obvious stuff that just ain’t so.