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No solutions, only trade-offs
Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics is one of my favorite economics books of all time. Why? Because it skips all the complicated formulas and charts you usually see in macro and microeconomics classes. I took both in university, and I still get haunted by those isoquants and isocost curves! Anyway, Sowell is such a clear thinker,…
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Problem? GOOD. Now take action.
One of the things I’m working to change in our company is how we deal with problems. Right now, the default is to talk about the problem — sometimes endlessly. And what happens when that’s the focus? Emotions get stirred up. People get frustrated. We overanalyze. There’s too much talk and too little action. The…
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Don’t follow your passion
In order to succeed, you need to “follow your passion.” We all have heard this phrase. But I feel uncomfortable with this. I know people who have become extremely successful not because they followed their passion. They simply pursued an opportunity, put their head down, overcame a lot of obstacles, and eventually became successful. Their…
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Sell with authenticity
I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Since I was exposed to business at a very young age, I could already spot a snake oil salesman from a mile away. These type of sales people usually talk a lot. They are masters at manipulating emotions and getting you to feel comfortable with them. They sell…
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What is a business?
A business solves a problem. It creates value by providing solutions to a problem. Answer these two question and you have yourself a business. The answer needs to be succint. If you wrote an essay answering these two questions, you have an overcomplicated business. It will probably not work.
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A relationship is more important than business
A few years ago, my parents and a family friend started a new business venture. As with most partnerships, the mismatch of goals and efforts eventually led to the splitting of the business. The split was filled with tension, and I had to step in and agreed to a split which was unfavorable to us.…
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Scaling a business versus staying small
I see entrepreneurs who are happy with one store. I also see some with the ambition of scaling to multiple locations. Scaling a business has its financial rewards but the level of risk and stress is also high. If you scale a restaurant to 10 locations, now you have more than 10 times the problem.…
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Simplify aggressively
I think a lot of problems can be avoided if you simplify aggressively. Whether it is in business or in your personal life, simplicity can be the cure. I know of business owners who are constantly stressed because they have not developed a system where the business runs without them. And the reason why they…
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Execute, make mistakes, learn, iterate
I have a friend who became successful in the restaurant industry and then one day decided to leave the industry to focus on travel. He wanted to start his own travel agency which at that time I thought was nuts. But he became successful in the travel agency business too. That friend is that guy…
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The pressure to succeed young
“Bro, I’m burned out.” I was totally caught off guard by my friend’s message. This dude is a machine. A one-man development team with two successful apps in the Apple Store and Google PlayStore. A week earlier, a buddy of mine who flips real estate sent me a message asking my thoughts on truck driving.…
