Lawyer, Author, Strategic Advisor
No matter what type of business you’re in – investing, strategic advisory, financial management, legal advisory…there is always value in improving your leadership skills. Not only is it crucial for personal and professional development, but your immediate and extended teams will benefit from your honed leadership skills through your example, as well as the tactics you implement.
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Photo by Mircea Ploscar
Only a few years ago, impacting investing was for the most part, a PR play for financial companies and other institutions to appear sensitive to issues like climate change, social welfare, and inclusivity. However, as the demand for truly impactful investments rise, along with the availability of better measurement tools, impact investments, specifically in Agriculture, will dominate in 2020.
“It’s just amazing what you hear when you listen,” as Yogi Berra reminded us. As usual, Yogi captured the essence of not only a timeless problem, but also one of increasing urgency in our current milieu.
The omnipresence of mobile devices, laptops, and other electronic distractions has caused a phrase of T.S. Eliot’s poetry to ring more true today than when it was first penned: “Distracted from distraction by distraction.” That line was written in the 1940’s when you would think that all minds were focused on World War II.
Continue reading “The Art of Listening and Why it Matters for Strategic Advisors”
Jim Padden is the CEO of Your Way Fresh, a North American fruit and vegetable processor, distributor, and sourcing platform that brings high quality produce from farm to table within hours. Jim is also our office neighbor in Newport Beach, and agreed to do a Q&A on his experience in the US Agriculture business, the status of Global Agriculture.
Continue reading “The Current Status of Agriculture from a Farmer’s Perspective”
If you are an entrepreneur, business advisor, or investor, you either know, or have been beat over the head on the value of networking. Whether you’re trying to grow your company, raise capital, or seek out deal flow, we know the first place to begin is your professional network. However, building a strong network of professionals takes time and requires strategy. Here are five strategies on how to network effectively:
Firstly, in order to discuss what advisory firms do, we should look at the difference between advisory firms and consultancy firms. The difference between these two usually varies from firm to firm. However, in practical terms, consultants usually work on specific operational projects with deliverables to meet the clients’ strategic objectives.
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The role of a corporate lawyer really depends on the type of client they are serving. However, most corporate lawyers, no matter the industry, size, or type of client is responsible for advising on the clients’ legal rights, responsibilities, and obligations in their business. They may work as outside counsel, either for themselves at their own legal advisory firm or at a small-to-large sized law firm, or they may work as employees of a company as their general counsel.
Impact investing is the combination of investment and philanthropy – doing social “good” while making financial gains. Intentions and measurable impact are the two most important aspects of impact investing.
Areas of investment may include affordable or sustainable housing, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy infrastructure, healthcare services, education, and micro-finance.
Due diligence is one of the most important parts of executing any deal. Whether your firm is undergoing a Merger, Acquisition, IPO, or Strategic Investment, due diligence is the act of investigating a company to understand how they function down to the smallest details.
One of the challenges with both climate change and pollution is that it’s very gradual in its impact, and any progress is very slow like trying to move a battleship. This is one of the reasons Venture Capital in the biggest industries in the world, energy, water, and food, has been an uphill battle. I’ve been talking about addressing issues in these areas for over 20 years, but it feels like it’s only been in the last 12 months that people have been responsive and want to do something BIG.