There’s lots of interesting content in Amazon.com’s launch page for “No One Would Listen”, the book by Harry Markopolos – the main whistleblower in the Bernie Madoff saga. The timeline in particular is very impressive: it shows that all in all it took ten years to uncover the mess – nine since the first contact with the SEC – by which time the problem was irreversible. And that’s far from the only case, which begs a question… Read more »
Tags: book, corporategovernance, davideinhorn, fraud, harrymarkopolos, investigation, madoff, redflags, riskmanagement
David Pogue’s presentation at TED in 2006 (embedded inside) was pretty funny and carried an important message for designers: simplicity sells. The iPhone wasn’t even out, but the trend is clearer than ever. The talk starts slowly but quickly builds momentum.
And as we always stress: view it critically, play with the idea, try to contradict it or apply it in some other field(s). In this particular case it may be hard to do so, because Mr. Pogue’s delightfully terrible songs can really stick in one’s mind. Read more »
Tags: davidpogue, design, funny, innovation, newyorktimes, simplicity, Tech
A rare but always welcome interview by Charlie Munger embedded inside, courtesy of an attentive reader and the Stanford Law School. Some highlights inside as well. The main theme is the economic/ financial crisis (what else?).
Tags: berkshire, globalfinancialcrisis, interview, macro, munger, video
God has spoken, go out and read it. The core is dedicated to welcoming and explaining BRK to its new shareholders acquired through BNSF, so no big news. Buffett complains more about the media and investments analysts, on how they distort things, causing losses to the less diligent and recommends that everybody form their own knowledge base and opinion. Hope he lives to see that happening, but we sincerely doubt it. Read more »
Tags: berkshire, buffett, corporategovernance, letter, portfoliomanagement, report, riskmanagement
The first comic book to ever feature the Super-Man character, Action Comics #1 dated June 1938, was just sold for $1 million. Considering its original price of $0.10, this is an approx. 25% nominal and 21% real IRR for the past 72 years. Eat you heart out, Warren Buffett. Bonus links inside.
Mostly hate, actually, judging by recent troubles in Belgium and this article at Valor (in Portuguese – links in English inside). And there’s the “socialism vs. capitalism” conflict in Europe again. If it weren’t for the image deterioration risk – and it seems that they’re handling it by going as far as they can, but no further – the union representative’s words would be music to shareholders’ ears. Read more »
Tags: ABI, corporatestrategy, costcutting, foodbeveragetobacco
Buffett used the Thriftsville vs. Squanderville metaphor in this brilliant article back in 2003. Now it’s Charlie Munger’s turn with a parable on the wealth of a nation and how to lose it. It’s a fun read.
Tags: berkshire, buffett, foodforthought, macro, munger, wealthofnations
There was a very interesting if somewhat lengthy article in Piauí Magazine (in portuguese) about how a great mathematician is “forged”. One of the things that stands out from the text is the multidisciplinary approach to knowledge/ scientific discovery. And once you think about it, it’s also about the relentless quest for developing not just a team’s “toolbox” but also one’s own.
In this debate, one aspect appears overlooked: communication. If you don’t have the adequate communication policies/ environment, how does one reap the rewards from all this multidisciplinary goodness? Read more »
Tags: communication, corporate, crowdsourcing, IMPA, math, multidisciplinary, science
The question is: “If we did not do this already, would we, knowing what we now know, go into it?”
Apply it both in the big picture and the small picture – from the broadest strategic moves of your company to its tiniest daily processes. Now change the underlined word “company” for “department” if you want to go small, or “nation” and “regulatory system” if you want to go big. For extra fun, try “life”.
Tags: corporatestrategy, drucker, foodforthought, mentalmodels
It’s been a recurring theme in articles in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal and now the Financial Times. But to say that “a strong Toyota is a strong Japan” must be political rhetoric. How does “fixing” Toyota (whatever that means) change a country’s demographics time-bomb or its still-rattling financial system? While there are interesting food-for-thought bits in these pieces, they all seem to give way too much importance to “planning a country” in a world where central planning (again, whatever that means) for a country of this size and relatively free market is ever less effective – if it ever was.
Tags: demographics, foodforthought, investment_theme, Japan, Toyota