Note to self: If you are going to publish anything on your blog, make sure it is something that someone else can benefit from. Also, don’t end sentences in prepositions.
How To Build Wealth
I was introduced to a speech by Jarod Diamond while on Farnam Street. Jarod Diamond is an author who details the practical lessons from human history i.e. the lessons we can use to get rich. For me, the big takeaway is the importance of conversing with your competition, and other businesses, even if they aren’t your direct competition. I’ve had some of my biggest ‘aha moments’ (not the mobile app kind) from these conversations, and Diamond reminds me to initiate more of them.
So what this suggests is that we can extract from human history a couple of principles. First, the principle that really isolated groups are at a disadvantage, because most groups get most of their ideas and innovations from the outside.
2. How To Build Knowledge
Elon Musk is a fascinating person. I’m not a Tesla stan, by any stretch, but his words on how to build knowledge lead to one of my biggest breakthroughs.
One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree — make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.
3. How To Build An Enduring Business
East Coast Asset Management’s quarterly updates are full of gems. The Q3 2014 Update, Grove Of Titans, is something I re-read often. Christopher M. Begg uses the coast redwoods in California as a mental model for building enduring business. If you follow the investment philosophy of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, you know that one of the essential features of an investment-worthy business is an enduring competitive advantage. What better source of knowledge on ‘enduring’ that the coastal redwoods, the giant trees that out live just about everything on earth?
The Coastal Redwood also importantly controls growth. Most trees grow too fast reaching for the sun. Overreaching is one of most common causes of death in trees as it creates an air pocket in the trees’ pipes, xylem, which is why trees will often rot from the inside out.
If you like this kind of content, let me know, and I will post more of it.
