Category Archives: Business is Awesome

Jan 17 2016
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Value

It has been some time since the awesomeness of business was discussed on these pixels. One might therefore assume that business has lost its way, and is now no longer awesome.

That could not be further from the truth. Nostalgia had me browsing through some nice lines & boxes & numbers from yesteryear (2015), from the nice people of Goldman Sachs.

One number in particular struck me, right at the bottom. In 2010, World Market Capitalization was $52tn. In 2015, the hardworking denizens of the business world added over $10tn in value ($10.8tn to be precise). That’s $5.9B a day, even on weekends!

And business people get so much stick! If increasing the value of the world day in and day out isn’t important, I don’t know what is. Awesome.

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Oct 16 2014
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Mad Men

Have you seen Mad Men? I love Mad Men. Don Draper is such a cool guy, and boy can he pull off a suit.

What if I told you that you could be just like Don Draper, every single day? You’ve guessed right, I’m talking about business. In business, you are required, nay obliged to wear a suit every day. Just like Mad Men! And a tie too.

Of course other features prevalent in Mad Men, such as day-drinking, institutional sexism, and indoor-smoking are less encouraged in a business setting. But from a sartorial standpoint, Business = suits = Mad Men. Isn’t business awesome?

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Sep 05 2014
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Forecasting

Business is Awesome.  You know it, I know it.  This series is where I write about it.

It’s hard, being a person. As soon as you think you’re on top of something, the future comes along and surprises you. Like Alice in Wonderland, you’ve often got to keep running just to stay in the same place.

How do businesses cope with this future uncertainty? The answer is that they don’t have to! Every year, businesses are able to predict, or “forecast”, precisely what their sales and profits will be many years in the future. I have come across many businesses, and they can apparently all do it! I don’t know how, but what a wonderful weight off the mind.

It might seem like magic, but it’s just businesses being businesses. Isn’t business awesome?

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Aug 02 2014
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Monet-ization

Business is Awesome.  You know it, I know it.  This series is where I write about it.

Stating the obvious, tech is hot right now.  The latest and greatest entrepreneurs are filling up the app store and the wider WWW with tools that are changing people’s lives and / or making it easier to pass the time while waiting in queues. The current growth formula is generally pretty similar across all such businesses – first achieve scale, and then worry about Monetization.

Isn’t that awesome? I was sitting here thinking that art was dead, when in actual fact Impressionism is alive and well in the modern-day tech industry! Quite why all these entrepreneurs have chosen this particular French painter as their muse escapes me, but Monet-ization is a major point of concern for founders and their VC backers.

I’m all in favour, indeed the great man’s waterlily series includes some of my favourite works of art. I can only hope that Pointillization, Picassification and Pollocking gain similar traction in future.

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Jun 28 2014
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Slides

Business is Awesome.  You know it, I know it.  This series is where I write about it.

I was talking to an old classmate of mine the other day, who works at a strategy consulting firm.  We were catching up on the usual topics, when we started talking about his job, and what he does on a day to day basis. Now I thought consulting was a desk job, but I was amazed to discover he actually spends his entire time making slides.

Imagine that! We didn’t have time to get into the details (I’m not sure if it’s water slides, or just regular adventure playground slides), but that sounds great to me. I’ve always been a big fan of slides of all shapes and sizes, particularly the ones that drop immediately down, or “death slides”, as we used to called them. I was always terrified beforehand, but glad when I did them, you know?

Anyway, apparently they make slides using a “Power-Point” machine, and ultimately it all goes into Slide Shows in the end.  I’ve never been to a Slide Show before, but they sound like a lot of fun. I’ll be sure to go to one, but not before I’ve applied to join a consulting firm. Spending all day making slides? Business is awesome.

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Jun 14 2014
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Journalism

Business is Awesome.  You know it, I know it.  This series is where I write about it.

Imagine if you could get paid, to write down words. That might seem implausible.  I thought so too!  But apparently there is an entire industry where people get paid to write things, so-called “Journalism”.

Isn’t business awesome? And here I am, writing down words for free, like a sucker.

Journalists don’t just write about serious topics either, like finance and economics, journalists can write about everything and anything. I even read an article by a paid journalist about some kind of sporting event!

I have no doubt that this industry will grow like crazy over the next few years.  After all everyone wants to write things for money, so the sky’s the limit, everyone will be piling in. Journalism will be the next big bubble – you heard it here first.

 

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Jun 03 2014
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Business is Awesome

Business is Awesome: Currency trading

Business is Awesome.  You know it, I know it.  This series is where I write about it.

Everyone knows how shops work. You go into a shop, you choose things that you want, you exchange those goods for a given amount of money. Everyone is a winner – you have a product or service you want, and the retailer or service provider gets the money they need.  Simple.

What if I told you that you could use money, to buy money, that was somehow worth more money than the money you used to buy the money?

I’ll hold on a second while you read that back.

I know right?! That seems crazy! But that’s what Currency Traders do every day.  They somehow turn money into more money just by buying money!

I will admit that I’m not that clear on the details, but regardless, this is just another way in which Business is Awesome.  Making money by buying money? What will they think of next.

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