As you can probably tell from my recent posts, I’ve been working my way through a compendium of Chinese proverbs. This type of reading has always been among my favorite – to take an observation and think about it for days, weeks, sometimes even longer, extracting every lesson I can from it. Here are some of my favorites.
There is a traditional Chinese proverb that goes something along the lines of, “Do not take the seeds and throw away the melon”. Though there are many ways you can approach this, and multiple lessons that can be extracted from reflecting on it, it can be particularly sage when it comes to running a business and allocating the cash flow from that business. One of my favorite examples comes from The Coca-Cola Company.
When you are managing your business, your life, or money, the true test of your ability and talent will come during the bad times. Have you managed your liquidity well enough so that even the worst depression won’t wipe you out? Have you conducted yourself with restraint so you don’t find yourself buried under interest expense on credit cards and store accounts?
Here are some quotes I’ve come across the past few days online and elsewhere. What do you all think? … I’m not entirely decided on all of them … “Being rich is being able to buy whatever you really want, whenever you really want it.” – Robert Reich “There are two ways to be rich:…
Mental Models: Hobson’s Choice, Morton’s Fork, and Buridan’s Ass Hobson’s Choice: A free choice in which only one option is offered; i.e., “take it or leave it”. Morton’s Fork: Is a choice between two equally unpleasant alternatives (in other words, a dilemma) or two lines of reasoning that lead to the same unpleasant conclusion. It…
Along with learning the piano works of French composer Erik Satie, Aaron’s latest project has been learning the art of gardening gladiolus and other flowers. I was indifferent to the plan in the beginning, but after seeing the fruits of his passion, I wholeheartedly support this.
Right now, we are watching a South Korean series that translates as “The First Shop of Coffee Prince”. My favorite reason for this show is the grandma, the founder of the original empire, the CEO of the family foods business, and the one with the money. I swear, this woman answers almost exactly as I would in a lot of situations.
I have a theory that true intimacy, whether in friendship, business, or romantic entanglements, is based upon the degree to which one must censor himself or herself. People are happiest when they do not have to censor or edit what comes out of their mouth and they don’t have to concern themselves with the possibility of being judged.
The sugar industry is fascinating. For a variety of reasons, including protectionist policies put in place by Congress, prices recently hit a thirty-year high, threatening chaos for sugar refiners.
During college, one of Aaron and my closest friends made a comment that still haunts me to this day. I was explaining that if you own a share of The Coca-Cola Company, you actually receive a proportionate cut of the company’s profits on every single can of Coke sold. This makes sense, after all … if a business is divided into 100 shares outstanding, and you own 1 share, you own 1% of the company. If you own all 100 shares, you would own the entire business and get all of the profit, right? For me, this falls into the, “We hold these truths to be self-evident” category.