Shrinking a Market

“In just three years, leveraging a disruptive technology (CD-ROM), cost infrastructure (licensed content versus in-house editorial teams), distribution model (retail in computer stores versus a field sales force) and pricing model ($99 versus $1000), the encyclopedia market was cut in half. More than half a billion dollars disappeared from the market. Microsoft turned something that Britannica considered an asset (a door-to-door salesforce) into a liability. While Microsoft made $100M it shrunk the market by over $600M. For every dollar of revenue Microsoft made, it took away six dollars of revenue from their competitors. Every dollar of Microsoft’s gain caused an asymmetrical amount of pain in the marketplace. They made money by shrinking the market.”

Via Margins https://themargins.substack.com/p/links-on-the-margins-april-30th

editions-Encyclopaedia-Britannica

A lot of what we learn is unplanned

“Wondering if a lot of the benefit of proximity is intangible – it’s about the stuff you overhear and your peripheral vision. So, it doesn’t show up in what ‘I did today’, and you seem to be productive, but it does show up in ‘what I learnt this month, or this year’”

Via Benedict Evans https://twitter.com/benedictevans/status/1262814660018999298

vision

 

Not all success is due to hard work, and not all poverty is due to laziness

It is easy to assume that wealth and poverty are caused by the choices we make, but it’s even easier to underestimate the role of chance in life.

[We] should believe in the values and rewards of hard work. But also realize that not all success is due to hard work, and not all poverty is due to laziness. We should keep this in mind when judging people, including ourselves.

Via Collaborative Fund https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/financial-advice-for-my-new-daughter/

luck

The highest dividend money pays is the ability to control your time

The highest dividend money pays is providing the ability to control your time. Being able to do what you want, when you want, where you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, provides a lasting level of happiness greater than any amount of fancy stuff can ever offer. The thrill of having fancy stuff wears off quickly. But a career with flexible hours and a short commute will never get old. Having enough savings to give you time and options during an emergency will never get old. Being able to retire when you’re ready will never get old. The ultimate goal is independence, but independence is not black or white, all or nothing. Every dollar you save is like owning a slice of your future that might otherwise be managed by someone else, and whatever their priorities are.

Via Collaborative fund https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/financial-advice-for-my-new-daughter/

time

Today’s Innovations Are Tomorrow’s Baseline

[Tony Hawk and skateboarding] is an example of something vital to progress in virtually every field: Innovation works like compound interest. Today’s group uses yesterday’s hard work and discovery as a starting point to build off of, rather than a finish line. It took an eternity for one person to master the 900 because there was no one else to watch or mimic. Tony Hawk was alone, like a tinkerer. Today’s skateboarders have a set of directions. They can watch videos of Hawk and say, “Look how he did it. Look how he bent his knees and tipped his shoulder.” Not to mention the motivation of, “If he can do it, I can too.” It’s a roadmap of how to do something, versus the black hole of doubt Hawk faced when trying something no one had before.

Via Collaborative Fund https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/todays-innovations-are-tomorrows-baseline/

tony hawk

Tech is now Too Big To Fail (for better or worse)

“Until very recently, tech was exciting, but pretty small, and didn’t really touch most people’s lives very much. And in the past ten years it suddenly became systemically important to global society and democracy, without us quite noticing until it had happened.”

Via Benedict Evans https://twitter.com/benedictevans/status/1266144766217027584

too-big-to-fail

Simple Rules of Capitalism

You can’t accurately describe how complicated the global economy is.

There are more than 200,000,000 businesses in the world. Three-hundred trillion dollars of financial assets. Eighty trillion dollars of GDP. Almost 200 countries, thousands of cultures and norms.

Via Collaborative Fund https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/simple-rules-of-capitalism/

 

When ego approaches income

“Past a certain level of income, what you need is just what sits below your ego. Spending past a pretty low level of materialism is mostly a reflection of ego approaching income, a way to spend money to show people that you have (or had) money. Think of it this way, and one of the most powerful ways to increase your savings isn’t to raise your income, but your humility.”

Via Collaborative Fund https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/let-me-convince-you-to-save-money/

ego