Robert Hacker's blog

Forecasting extreme events such as the economic crisis of 2008 are highly unlikely.We all live our personal and professional lives based on forecasts. Forecasts are used for many routine things such as buying a home. investing in a college education and planning for retirement. Some rely on other people's advice and some of us like to make our own forecasts.

An analysis of surplus cash at Google and Microsoft. A response to Business Insider.

A brief note on how good revenue growth alone is not always enough to raise private equity capital.I recently attended a meeting where a private equity firm declined to invest in a very profitable company growing at 40% a year with revenue of $40 million. What did the investor find missing:

An evaluation of a value capture pivot, pricing models, and value creation.

Identifying the major types of new business opportunities in cloud computing.

One of the challenges of discussing business models is finding ways to memorably illustrate each of the required parts of the model.My interest in business models comes in part from the original way I have of creating a business model. Based in part on some ideas from Sequoia Capital, I believe that a business model has three key parts:

I am a great admirer of McKinsey, the international consulting firm, but I think they overlooked two important 2010 tech trends.

This post contrasts the modeling requirements of a project financing deal and a private equity deal

Trends in professional services are potentially raising some concerns for those making a living providing strategy and financial services.