Charlie Munger always says you must not get into a debate unless you know the other guy’s side of the argument better than he does. First, listen. Grapple with the issue on the table. Look at it from the perspective of all parties. Do everything you can to truly understand the matter at hand. Once…
When you start a business the first advice you get is, “Don’t give away equity”. Equity is the most expensive form of compensation, so this is generally good advice. But it is bad advice if you want to build a big business and make a big impact. We all need partners in life and in business. “The…
If you’re struggling to find opportunity, go somewhere that’s full of people with money and/or problems and/or successful people (preferably all three). Money creates opportunity. Problems create opportunity. Successful people will rub off on you. Opportunity is a function of density. Go where the crowd is.
The secret to financial independence is low overheads. Low overheads are about being frugal. In order to be frugal in business you must be frugal in life. Its just not possible to live in two worlds, ie: drive a Ferrari and drink Ricoffy at the office. Being frugal doesn’t have to mean being a tight-arse. It doesn’t…
Taking risk is partly a matter of mind-over-matter, but mostly about environment. It’s more about being in a position to take risk than having the willpower to do so. The following factors create the environment for risk-taking: Financial risk Emotional risk Reputation risk Reputation boils down to what people think and say about you. Or…
The part about leadership that can’t be faked is charisma. You either have it, or you don’t. If you don’t have it, you can’t be a true leader. And only a true leader can change the direction of a company. If your company is on track, it doesn’t matter if the leader lacks charisma. If…
I like rum & raisin ice cream. For some reason, not all ice cream shops sell rum & raisin ice cream. This glaring flaw in the universe has a silver lining: it led to the Rum & Raisin Theory Of Destiny. It works like this. If I walk into an ice cream shop and they…
There’s plenty of downside to putting yourself out there. Embarrassment. Potentially irritating people. Rejection. But there’s much more downside to failing. Business is about sales. You can’t sell if no one knows about you. Pluck up your courage, pack away your inhibitions, and put yourself out there.
This is the little gap in the world where fortunate things happen. Where you get lucky. How do you find it? You maximise intersections. How do you maximise intersections? You spend time in the same geography as the movers & shakers in your industry. Every time you intersect with influencers creates an opportunity for serendipity….
On occasion, you’ll meet someone who is desperate. Desperate for customers, desperate for investors, desperate for cash. You can smell the whiff of desperation. Beware. Don’t antagonise, don’t reject. No sudden movements. Just slowly walk away. When people are desperate they can do rash things. Don’t make yourself the target of their rashness. Beware the whiff…
Venture capitalists don’t invest in products or jockeys. They invest in exits.The only way to justify the high investment failure rate is to have regular exits at valuations much greater than 10x.When taking into account the time value of money, dividends don’t cut it. Only selling the business can realize sufficient return for a VC…
That’s how you should be thinking. The alternatives are, “Something’s are hard” or “Everything is hard”. Where does that get you? People feel sorry for you. You feel sorry for yourself. You can justify failure. None of that matters. All that matters is winning. You can’t win if you think things are hard. Nothing is…