When the news talks about “the economy” they always talk about percentages, especially growth or recession. Meanwhile, the U.S. GDP (a flawed but popular measure) is almost $20 trillion, almost one quarter of the $80 trillion world economy. The $80 Trillion World Economy in One Chart Put the pretty picture and the giant numbers aside for a moment and take a step back. The U.S. news is...
I’m in the middle of yet-another economics history book and came across the fact that investors in the first Bank of the United States purchased their shares for $25 in gold, then the remaining $375 in a mix of gold and other means. The book then continued on to talk about how the bank functioned. But not me. I was sitting there wondering what other currency those investors were using, as...
100 years ago, in 1919, the Michigan Supreme Court made a comment in their ruling of Dodge v. Ford saying (in its common paraphrased form), “The purpose of business is to maximize shareholder value.“ In 1970, Nobel Laureate in economics Milton Friedman repeated this in an essay in the New York Times entitled “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits...
My pledge a week ago was a Daily Habit of Creation, not a daily blog post. I did promise to share the day’s creation on the blog, so today the question is to you… have you listened to the podcast? Did you know The Next Step: Podcast exists? That channel is primarily focused for entrepreneurs. It’s a mix of lessons from The Next Step books, plus interviews with entrepreneurs and...
Startups suffer from two types of problems. Neither is fun. Both are stressful. You only want one type, but don’t have control of which you’ll get. One set of problems are the search for more customers, the search for more investors, the search for more talent to get you out of the current hole you are in. These are not the problems you want. The other set of problems are too many...
There is something about people who aim to improve the world and circles. Maybe its the camaraderie vs. the hierarchical structures of family, work, and school. Maybe its something else. Whatever the cause, I find myself sitting in a lot of circles in my work and life. Today it was the Seattle Impact Investing Group’s offsite. I won’t tell you what we discussed, as the core purpose of...
Change is hard. Making change happen even harder. Looking for the origins of change fits in with my questions of how things used to work three or more generates ago, and my general search for hidden assumptions. I was thus delighted today when I flipped on the Planet Money podcast, Episode 925: A Mob Boss, A Garbage Boat and Why We Recycle. I was in high school living in suburban New York when...
Today’s Fast Company article (seen above) was forwarded to me today by one of my fledglings. Two answers to their question: First, why are they not counting Whole Foods, Zipcar, Etsy, and EBay? How about Twitter? These are companies that set up to improve health, the environment or build communities. Talk to Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures and he’ll tell you they are social...
Zirconia is a startup company, not an obscure country. Last week I trekked over to the Zirconia lab/factory in Tukwila, Washington to check-in with the team. While there I shot a quick video visit: And recorded an interview for The Next Step podcast. The company has a breakthrough coating for concrete which seals the surface from decay and prevents the growth of bacteria and fungus. In the...
Last week Seth Godin published a blog post that started like this: Today’s the 11th year in a row of daily posts on this blog. Nearly 5,000,000 words since my first post twenty years ago, and I haven’t missed a day (given some time-zone wiggle room) since 2008. Many times per year people ask me how on Earth I do everything I do. When I look at Seth Godin, I understand their point of view. But...
