Strategy Boffins

Idea Almanac

Daily update on new ideas and books so that you can grow each day

October 14, 2021

Idea Almanac

Cash in your chips

“Selling your company, especially for $10 million or more, is life changing, to say the least. Heck, it’s generation changing. I’ve seen it happen many times, and it never gets old. If you use the method in this book, you may find yourself in a position to one day sell a business if you want to. This is absolutely possible, assuming that your product is good, you’ve built a good business, and you have put in the step-by-step work I’ve taken you through. In fact, you really make your money when you sell. Even after you cross the million in sales, you will still likely be paying yourself a modest salary, investing as many dollars as possible back into the business. You celebrate when you finally cash in your chips.”

Excerpt From: Ryan Daniel Moran. “12 Months to $1 Million.”

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October 13, 2021

Idea Almanac

Follow-your-passion business

“Gary’s business, like many others we’ll look at, can be described as a follow-your-passion business. Gary was passionate about travel and had found a number of creative ways to enjoy first-class trips around the world at economy prices. He started helping people do the same thing, first as a volunteer community member for several travel forums, then on a blog, and then on an individual basis for people he knew. Word got around—“Hey, Gary, I’d like to take my wife to Europe and I have all these miles … What do I do?”—and before he knew it, he had more requests for help than he could handle.”

Excerpt From: Guillebeau, Chris. “The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future.”

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October 12, 2021

Idea Almanac

The fastest path to the money

“If I had to summarize the essence of this book in one sentence it would be, “the fastest path to the money.” I’ve purposely put this as early as humanly possible in the book because I don’t want to waste your time. I know for a certainty that this opening sentence will be off putting to a large number of people and frankly I’d much prefer they read someone else’s business book full of ear-tickling clichés like “follow your passion,” “work hard,” “hire the right people,” blah blah blah.”

Excerpt From: Allan Dib. “The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd.”

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October 11, 2021

Idea Almanac

It’s enough to just post a message ?

“A lot of people think it’s enough to just post or boost a message on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. But it’s not. You need to know what makes people want to share your message. When one person shares your message, your exposure and range grows exponentially—it eventually reaches hundreds of their friends and can potentially reach their friends’ friends as well. The velocity at which you get people to share your content dictates the success of your organic growth. This also means the more people sharing, the quicker you grow.”

Excerpt From: Brendan Kane. “One Million Followers.”

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October 10, 2021

Idea Almanac

Nobody photographs the photographers

“For amateur photographers, the only cost is the stress of perfection. One woman corrals two small children sparring over a bottle of Coca-Cola so that her sister can stand in line to pose in front of green-and-blue peacock feathers. The teenager who just had her turn with the peacock gets angry with her companion for wasting it by snapping an unflattering angle. But nobody photographs the photographers; on Instagram, the polished images become the reality, driving more and more visitors to this place.”

Excerpt From: Sarah Frier. “No Filter.”

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October 9, 2021

Idea Almanac

Promises to keep and miles to go

“If you take away just one message from this book, I hope it is this: life doesn’t have to be as hard and complicated as we make it. Each of us has, as Robert Frost wrote, “promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep.” No matter what challenges, obstacles, or hardships we encounter along the way, we can always look for the easier, simpler path.”

Excerpt From: Greg McKeown. “Effortless.”

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October 8, 2021

Idea Almanac

Send in the F15s

“The generals sitting around the Saudi Defense Ministry’s situation room table thought they had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. They’d been running the Saudi armed forces for decades and believed their new defense minister would be pretty much like the last one. When facing adversity, Saudi Arabia followed the lead of the United States of America, its longtime protector. There would be grave deliberations and a decision to have more grave deliberations the following day and the following week until Washington, DC, decided what to do. But when Mohammed bin Salman, twenty-nine years old and with less than eight weeks of experience running the Saudi military, sat down at the head of the V-shaped table and issued an unprecedented order, “Send in the F15s,” they were shocked into silence. Saudi Arabia was not just going to war. It was leading the way.”

Excerpt From: Bradley Hope. “Blood and Oil.”

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October 7, 2021

Idea Almanac

Pharmaceutical industry was notoriously herdlike

“Suddenly everyone seemed to be taking Miltown. And there wasn’t any stigma associated with using the drug. You might think twice before confessing to a colleague that your doctor had put you on a course of Thorazine, but Miltown was nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it became fashionable—a party drug in Hollywood. People boasted about having a prescription. The pharmaceutical industry was notoriously herdlike, so other companies now set out to develop minor tranquilizers of their own. At Roche, Leo Sternbach’s orders were simple: invent a drug that can outsell Miltown. “Change the molecules a little,” his superiors told him. Make something different enough that we can patent it and charge a premium to sell a competing product, but not so different that we won’t be able to muscle in on Miltown’s market.”

Excerpt From: Patrick Radden Keefe. “Empire of Pain.”

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October 6, 2021

Idea Almanac

Life as a Consultant

“We were trained from day one to focus on addressing the client’s real challenges with data and clear, objective thinking, not just telling them what they wanted to hear. We revealed uncomfortable truths and would then sit down with company leadership, go through our analysis, and figure out a path forward. I felt this process had an intellectual honesty that sidelined politics, although, of course, there was plenty of corporate politics to wade through, too. The consulting business really suited me. I loved zooming in, digging deep into a business, learning growth and profit levers, then zooming out to determine how best to reposition a business or a company. Every project felt very personal, and I was busy all the time. I don’t sleep much, and I easily put in the long hours needed when I was wrapped up in the analysis.”

Excerpt From: Indra Nooyi. “My Life in Full.”

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October 5, 2021

Idea Almanac

You don’t need to be great to thrive as an investor

“It was a priceless education. Jack Bogle, the index fund icon who founded Vanguard, which now manages $6.2 trillion, talked to me about the formative investment lessons he’d learned from his mentor and “hero,” a mutual fund pioneer named Walter Morgan: “Don’t get carried away. Don’t take excessive risk.… Keep your costs low.” And: “The crowd is always wrong.” As we shall see, Bogle also explained why “you don’t need to be great” to thrive as an investor.”

Excerpt From: William Green. “Richer, Wiser, Happier.”

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