Has anyone noticed how certain people, obviously well-connected folk, show up time and time again as CEO of some firm or another? You know the type. They mumble on about EBITDA and profit an loss and all that bull crap but if you really drill into them they are an empty suite with a public school tie and lots of connections.

The problem is that they show up over and over again running businesses into the ground at the expense of the shareholders and workers. You see their results and think - thats the end of him - only to pick up a press announcement 3-months later to find they have landed another plumb job at $500k per year and a fistful of stock options. How the hell do they do it?

I mean, their resume must be a great read. Five times CEO and five bankrupt companies to show for all their golf outings.

I got an insight into how this works a few years ago when I was on the management team of a small but quite nice software company. We were doing pretty well until the VC firms (Venture Capital) got interested. The owner of the company couldn't resist taking the millions they offered him for a controlling stake in the business (who would?) so he sold.

What was really strange was the run up to the investment. Lots of dark suited, well educated law school graduate types coming through the door and asking lots of questions and peering at contracts and revenue statements. Not one of them understood a thing about our business, our customers, the software or the dynamics of the industry we served but they all spoke that business speak language and all looked remarkably similar. Like an army of drones actually.

They all thought we had a great business and an even better management team. Oh boy, with a management team like this one this company will go far they said. They promised all sorts of help and assistance, they'd use their extensive contacts they said and nothing much would change.

Funny. The moment they had control of the business we were provided with a new CEO. You know the type cos we just discussed him above. He in turn took one look at the management team and hired two of his cronies into SENIOR Vice President positions.... we were all titled simply VP of course. Next, the three of them had private meetings on the golf course or local expensive Italian eatery - none of the old management team included thanks.

One of the new SVPs became my boss. Everytime I got in his office (say twice in a year), I would marvel at his spartan, utilitarian approach to office layout meaning I never saw any paper on his desk, no files ... nothing. He would talk to me as if I was an ant. Lecture me on how to do my job when he plainly couldn't spell 'software'. But thats OK cos he could say EBITDA.

Within 9-months we went from a highly focused, efficient and profitable business to a company that was bleeding cash from every oriface. Furthermore, these clowns talked to our customers who smelled the rat before anyone else and started to bail on us - guess hey could smell the stink of decaying companies on our new CEO's breath.

Finally, we were sold to our competitor for a tenth of what we had been worth and most of us laid off. Not me though - I bailed a few weeks before sick and tired of the nonsense from the CEO and the VC firm.

And our brave leader? Yep, six-months later he was duly installed as COO of another company. By the same VC firm. And 12-months after that, it collapsed too. And six-months later, yep - another plumb job for him and social security for everyone else.

I'm still not sure how these guys do this. I mean the VC firms have to figure it out eventually? Or maybe he has a few choice negatives? Either way, it happens every day in corporate America... it reminds me of the collapse of he British Empire but that is another story.