Business Transactions

A Conversation with Eddie Brown about Beating the Odds

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Eddie Brown, founder of Brown Capital Management. My interview with Eddie was part of this year’s The Twelve-In-Twelve Book Club Meet the Author Forum in Columbia, Maryland. Eddie, who last year published his memoirs entitled Beating the Odds: Eddie Brown’s Investing and Life Strategies (John Wiley & Sons), was the invited author.

Beating the Odds has a potential dual meaning. First, Brown Capital Management, founded by Eddie Brown in 1983, has a history of slightly outperforming and sometimes significantly outperforming the market. A deeper meaning arises from the fact that Eddie was born in 1940 Jim-Crow-era Apopka, Florida to a teen-age mother and into poverty. He beat the odds of those less-than advantageous circumstances to become a Howard University-educated electrical engineer; a valued worker at IBM; the first African-American portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price; a regular financial commentator on national television show, Wall St. Week; the founder and president of a financial services firm with $6 billion under management; and a philanthropist.

During our interview, Eddie and I discussed his childhood in Apopka, Florida; what it means to have an entrepreneurial gene and how he has exercised that gene throughout his life; the role and importance of family in his life; his attitude towards and approach to handling racism; his approach to investing; and the impact of his philanthropy.

All those topics are of course covered in Beating the Odds, written by Eddie Brown with co-author Blair S. Walker. I highly recommend you pick up a copy.

I'm Quoted in Entrepreneur Magazine

The March 2009 Entrepreneur Magazine quotes me in a feature on start-ups. The feature carries the tagline “Time to launch a business and get out from under the man”. I contributed to the section entitled “Dodge these 3 startup dead zones” advising entrepreneurs on how to avoid the most common start-up mistakes.

My advice was to choose the right business partners by making an honest assessment of what you want from the business partnership, discussing expectations candidly with your prospective partners, and putting your agreement in writing.

I covered more on the topic of successful business partnerships in a StartUp Bizcast interview with Steve Mullen which you can listen to here.

Complimentary Jan. 14 Teleseminar on Joint Ventures

I’m hosting a complimentary teleseminar, Using Joint Ventures to Survive the Economic Downturn. It takes place on Wednesday, January 14, 2009, at 3:00 pm ET/ 12:00 pm PT. You can register at http://www.joybutler.com/seminarinfo.htm

 

THE ISSUE:   We’re surrounded by constant reminders of our current challenging economic times.  A joint venture – which is a method of pooling resources with others so you don’t have to go it alone - might be the key to economic survival for some businesses and entrepreneurs. 

If you think a joint venture is the exclusive territory of Fortune 500 companies, think again. There are many opportunities for individual entrepreneurs and small companies to work together. Your joint venture might be as straightforward as sharing a customer list for a combined marketing campaign, licensing a product you've developed, or providing original content for a website.

THE TELESEMINAR.  During the seminar, I’ll address the practical questions you need to answer in order to form a beneficial and smooth-operating joint venture:

 

* Which method of joint venturing is most appropriate for your circumstances? 

* Should you organize your joint venture as an LLC, partnership, or corporation?

* Do you need a written agreement and what terms should it contain?

* What are the factors that make joint ventures fail and how can you avoid them?

* How can you save money on legal costs when structuring your joint venture?

 

REGISTRATION.  The live teleseminar occurs on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 3:00 pm ET / 12:00 pm PT.  Register at http://www.joybutler.com/seminarinfo.htm.

 

My Launch Wizards Interview about Naming a Business and Trademark Law

I recently talked with the writers at Launch Wizards about legal considerations for naming a business.  Launch Wizards provides advice on how to launch and run a new business.  Its tagline is “Dream It. Do It. Own It.” 

 

We talked about business names from the perspective of trademark law and how to create business names that can be registered as trademarks.  You can read the full interview starting here.

StartUp BizCast Interview: “When Business Partnerships Go Bad”

No one can do everything alone – thus the appeal of taking on a business partner or entering into a joint venture or strategic partnership with another company. In many ways, taking on a business partner is like taking on a spouse. Unfortunately, like some marriages, some business partnerships don’t work out and the parties eventually end up seeking a way out.

I recently talked with Steve Mullen of StartUp Bizcast about how business people can protect themselves and their businesses from relationships that go south. Our discussion included the three questions you should always ask before entering any business relationship.

Startup BizCast is targeted to busy professionals and prides itself on brevity.  Each episode is 15 minutes or less.  The weekly show offers small business advice, tips, and education ... all in less time than it takes to have a coffee break!

Listen to the 15-minute show here.