Death of a Growth Company

What's sadder than a fast-growth company that falls victim to its own success?

My latest column in PROFIT magazine looks at a PROFIT 100 company that took a one-way trip to the seven circles of hell. Dante Manufacturing (not its real name) had a great concept and a great future, but executive blindness did it in.

Here’s an excerpt:

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"As conditions worsened, the bank warned that its continued support was contingent on Dante raising more equity capital. Suddenly, Ghieri had to learn all about private equity, mezzanine financing and asset-based lending. Identifying potential suppliers took weeks; negotiating possible deals took months. Ghieri was just days from a deal when the firm’s creditors blew the whistle. Dante died of self-inflicted wounds."

You can read the full sad story here.