Evaluate nonprofits by starting with the goal

By rickColosimo / November 11, 2009 /

This recent memo from the president of Guidestar.org moved way beyond the typical self-congratulatory non-news and sales announcements and started off with a bang: start with these two simple and profound questions: what is your organization’s mission and how are you trying to accomplish it? It’s amazing how many organizations can’t answer this. I read…

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Clear examples of weighted-average analysis

By rickColosimo / December 9, 2008 /

When we start discussing our heavy usage of weighted averages with customers, we sometimes get a questioning look, until we make the analysis more concrete for them. People are very familiar with using averages; equity analysts regularly look at numbers such as Days of Sales Outstanding that are composite numbers for an entire company. Very…

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Short Form Due Diligence Request List

By rickColosimo / November 24, 2008 /

We are often approached by small businesses that are seeking capital in connection with strategic and operational advice. For anyone corresponding with us, or frankly for anyone starting to get a handle on an existing business, here’s a short due diligence request list. This list would also serve a new director well to become acquainted…

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Why raw data alone is insufficient for making decisions

By rickColosimo / November 1, 2008 / Comments Off on Why raw data alone is insufficient for making decisions

The WSj recently published an article regarding the prospects of asking/demanding that political candidates or prospective CEOs release DNA sequence information. For us, even though data-driven analysis is the first phase in our business leadership process (Data-Driven Analytics (DDA), Informed Decision-Making (IDM), and Intentions-Based Guidance (IBG)), it is important to understand that data alone is…

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