Keeping with the theme from yesterday, you’re likely familiar with the KISS Principle, Keep it Simple and Short (also, Keep it Simple, Stupid). I believe the phrase was originally a prescription for smart product design, but it holds equally true in strategic planning — less can be more, simple can be smart, brevity can be powerful.

Posted by: Colin Mangham

So … yesterday I was just complying with the prescription to write a short letter … albeit totally nudge-nudge-wink-wink as, you may have guessed, I had more to say. (Somebody muzzle this man, yeah-yeah, I know.) Anyway, the pithy gist of Mr. Twain’s quip is that it’s easy to write and write and write (this blog is proof-positive) but to write concisely with real impact takes skill — and, can have great value, as any entrepreneur who’s lost sleep struggling with the proverbial Elevator Pitch can attest.

I mention this because recently someone asked me what part of a business plan for a new venture is the most important. Is it the management team? The pro formas? The intellectual property? The market size? The exit strategy? Use of funds? I planted myself squarely in the middle and professed that the Executive Summary is the curio cabinet, underscoring my holistic view that everything in the entrepreneur’s quiver is critical to success.

Few people will actually read an entire business plan unless they’ve got a real vested interest, or are a prospective investor who’s moved into a diligence phase or at least some mode of serious consideration. Far more likely they’ll read the summary overview and maybe flip through and skim the rest. As they turn the pages they might stop on something here or there, perhaps the bio of a key team member (e.g., CEO, President, Founder, Chairman), or a chart or other schematic that provides a visual overview of a process or critical path important to the success of the new venture. That’s about it.

Now, depending on one’s perspective (i.e., one’s area of expertise), it can fairly easily be argued that the financials are the most important. Meaning, how’s this thing going to actually make money? And if it does, how’s it going to stay afloat and throw off some tasty dividends? Hard to argue with that. Especially if there’s to be an earnest attempt to use the BP to guide the operations of the company moving forward. However, it’s rare that it will be used as much more than a North Star beyond capitalization.

Another thing, have you ever seen a set of pro formas that didn’t work? That didn’t present the company opportunity as being huge, the Next Big Thing? All too often financial projections are presented as “conservative” but are more akin to best case scenarios safe from hidden competition, ticking clocks, x-factors, downturns, acts of God and other anomalies that can put a bullet in a Big Idea.

OK, so what about the people? The leadership team? Critically important of course. But here again, the Executive Summary is an overview of the plan at large, so it should provide, at minimum, a narrative snapshot of the key players, what they’ve done, and why they’re the torchbearers, heavy lifters and super glue to make it happen.

Bottom line, in most cases business plans are developed, written, printed and bound simply to get the attention of a prospective investor or other strategic partner. From there the dance typically moves quickly (or not at all) into dog and pony show-n-tell and chemistry tests. And given the time impoverishment of most people today — and I’m impressed if you’ve taken the time to read this far — if they don’t understand the proposition quickly and clearly, you’ll lose them, count on it.

Posted by: Colin Mangham

There’s a saying you’ve probably heard, perhaps even used in some form or another, that’s generally attributed to Mark Twain (think “Tom Sawyer,” but not the ’80s hit by Rush): “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one.” Well, OK then, I guess that’s all for now.

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Our team including Colin Mangham, Chris Davis and cartoon illustrators Chris Kalb, Ben Towle and Maureen Stone, created 15 different animal characters to appeal to young children in educating them on healthier activities and diets to combat childhood obesity. The project, presented recently to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (www.hhs.gov), was commissioned as a private sector study on how to potentially extend and enhance the Let’s Move campaign (www.letsmove.gov) developed by the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity:

“Let’s Move! has an ambitious but important goal: to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation. Let’s Move will give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country. Join First Lady Michelle Obama, community leaders, teachers, doctors, nurses, moms and dads in a nationwide campaign to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity. Learn more and join us.”

(Final selected character below by Chris Kalb)

Another Social Venture Network book I’ve actually read a couple of times and quoted in my MBA essays and some blogs. Here again the Triple Bottom Line (people, planet, profit) takes center stage, only this time with a focus on following your bliss, finding and harnessing your life purpose (perhaps considerably easier than that sounds) and connecting with people who share your interests and passions pursuant to business success.

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Co-production relationship with Los Angeles-based Fairhurst Productions will initially focus on developing a half-hour reality series showcasing an established host (to be revealed in the coming weeks) and her comically homegrown and unconventional style and beauty tips that are perfect for today’s economy.

Compact and visual retelling of the early days and progressive development of the Tate, along with some general catalog top-lines on some of the major artists in the collection. I first read this when we were endeavoring to launch a museum of contemporary art in Beijing and eventually got it off the ground (admittedly just barely) in the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong. A longer story for another venue and occasion….

Posted by: Colin Mangham