When every second counts...
Covid has left very few of us unaffected. As I suspect is also the case for many of you, it has served to remind me how brief our stay is on planet earth. And as a consequence, how important it is to spend one’s time wisely.
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I have joined the board of a Finnish start-up called Nsion, whose tag line is, incidentally, “when every second counts”. The situational awareness software it provides to the emergency services, governments, corporations and private security firms enables users to make rapid decisions based on multiple data feeds: if you are interested in learning more, drop me a line.
Many people are choosing the start-up route: in the US alone, the number of start ups is up 25% versus last year. It’s never been easier or cheaper to start a business, and the products and services on offer for new business owners can be overwhelming. The good news is there are lots of resources available to people taking this path. For example, earlier this year I completed an excellent program run by Brad Feld, serial entrepreneur, early investor in FitBit, founder of TechStars, and like me a Charlie Munger fan. Brad was a guest on my podcast here. He runs a great program with the Kauffman Fellows, based on his must-read book Venture Deals, aimed at start-up CEO’s looking to raise money from VC’s.
Another program I have just completed, which I also recommend, is by Eric Jorgenson called Building a Mountain of Levers. Leverage is an hugely overused word in the corporate world (I’ve never seen a McKinsey deck without that word sprinkled through their recommendation chapter), but it takes on new meaning in our tech-enabled age, and comes in all shapes and sizes. Eric goes into some detail about people, tool, product and capital leverage, and introduced me to a world I was only vaguely aware existed. I am hoping to have Eric join my podcast later in the year.
I am pretty excited about the podcast, to be honest. My recent interview with William Green, author of the best seller Richer, Wiser, Happier led me to two of the investors he profiled: Joel Greenblatt, a legendary Wall Street investor who delivered annual returns of over 50% (yes, thats not a typo) for over a decade. And from the other side of the country, Mohnish Pabrai, an unabashed cloner who declares that he has never had an original idea. I first met him at 5am outside the Nebraska convention center that was hosting the Berkshire Hathaway AGM, and I hope you enjoy the podcast when it comes out in the next few days.
The third investor I have coming up is Jim Mellon, author of Moo’s Law, an investors guide to the new Agrarian Revolution. Jim and his team have deployed almost half a billion dollars in start ups in plant-based, cellular agriculture, and enabling tools and technologies.
Thanks to you all for your ongoing support, feel free to reach out if I can be of any help, and have a good weekend!