It would be a serious mistake in judgment to think of Dolly Parton as merely a singer and actress. She is much more. Over the past 50 years, she has become one of the most adept investors in the world, with a portfolio of operating assets spanning everything from theme parks and hotels to media production…
A recent experience involving my four-year-old nephew made me appreciate how powerful marketing is in motivating consumer behavior.
Shortly after Blue Fairy gives life to the eponymous wooden puppet in the 1940 classic animated film Pinocchio, she instructs him that he must, “Always let [his] conscience be [his] guide”. Were she a rationalist, she might have added an important addendum: “And make decisions based upon objective, high-quality, third-party-recorded data to remove your own bias as much as possible…
There is an old joke that goes something like this… Not so long ago there was a watermelon farmer. In June, during peak watermelon season, he began to notice that someone was stealing his fruit. Slowly, but steadily, melons would disappear, along with it his profits. He tried everything until one particularly fine morning, he had an idea.…
After writing about using words to your advantage in life and business, I began thinking of one of my all-time favorite mental models. It comes from legendary marketing psychologist Clotaire Rapaille, who wrote about it in his treatise “The Culture Code“. Before we get into that, let me say that Dr. Clotaire Rapaille caught my attention so…
I get a lot of requests for real-world examples or homework assignments that have to do with some of the more important investing concepts. This morning is your lucky day if you’re fairly new to the finance game and want to give diving into SEC filings or annual reports a try. Here’s a (fairly) easy introduction to how things can appear better, or worse, than they really are. Ready? Let’s go.
Get ready to add yet another secret millionaire to your case study files. Ronald Read passed away last June at 92 years old. The Brattleboro, Vermont man, who had no college education and drove a Toyota Yaris, always made a point of living below his means. He spent many years working as a gas station attendant and…
A college student wrote asking a question involving a conflict he had with one of his professors. The student was right. The professor was wrong.
When Aaron and I were at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, we thought about buying our niece and nephews some gifts from the retail store but ultimately decided to give them something more valuable: Stock. We’ll make another transfer to the custodianships I setup last year, modeled partly after the one we established for my youngest sister more than a decade ago.
Back when Dave Thomas left his discipleship of Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame to go off and start the hamburger chain that we now know as Wendy’s (which he named for his daughter, Melinda) one of my favorite things he did was find a way to reduce waste – and thus costs –…
