“Your contribution is what happens when you’re in the room. Your impact is what happens when you’re out of the room.” – Matt Dunsmoor I found this quote very profound especially for those who are keen on being impactful. I'm appreciating that contribution is the process that leads to impact. GIGO, garbage in is garbage…

When you do a great job, many people notice but not many will tell you. They are silently listening, watching, reading, or quietly sharing what you do. They may not loudly say much, no fussing, no loads of social media likes or retweets, no loudmouth chatterbox about your work. They quietly savour your work, marinating…

One of the things I keep being reminded of is the purpose of wealth creation. People build wealth for a variety of reasons. Others work hard to acquire things, other to acquire and show off, others to build something for when they retire, others it is to travel the world, and others to look after…

Imagine that [in a world and time without COVID] you are waiting outside to be seated at a really nice restaurant. As you pass the time, your attention is grabbed by the roar of an engine. You look up and see a beautiful red Ferrari pull up to the parking. Normally you are not impressed…

Modern capitalism is a pro at two things: Generating wealth; andGenerating envy. The modern world is good at generating envy. Public display of a good life, acquisition of things and conspicuous opulence is meant to define the notion of success. It is interesting that if you have R1 billion, you will be okay until with…

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds: "Yes, but I have something he will…

Ray Dalio shared this graph yesterday on his socials and it is interesting to note the change in powers of the four countries. What I find fascinating is that China used to be a world superpower in the 1500s. Basically what they are doing now with their ascendance in the 2000s is to reclaim what…

In the 80s when were you diagnosed with HIV/Aids, it was like a death sentence. As time went on, advances in medical innovation and technology resulted in things like taking 9 or so pills daily to boost your immune system. More advances in technology today resulted in taking only one pill per day. The recent…

Put the customer first is not necessarily the right advice. As an entrepreneur, put your team first. Put the front-line staff, and their team leaders first. The goal is to maximise the odds of repeat business driven by turned-on employees serving their customers. Your primary focus as a startup leader is your team. The primary…

When the financial crisis took off last autumn, Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital”, originally published in 1867, whooshed up bestseller lists. The first book to describe the relentless, all-consuming and global nature of capitalism had suddenly gained new meaning. But Marx had never really gone away, whereas Friedrich Engels, the man who worked hand in glove…

When I go to a restaurant, I have a tendency to assess the cleanliness of the place by its restrooms. You can tell the hygiene levels of a restaurant by the hygiene levels of the restrooms. Often we tend to focus on the big things, the things on everyone's eyes. A clean, attractive and even…

Sometimes as you are reading you get hit by a story, booommm and then you say, "wait, let me read this again" and then you go back and start re-reading. The story goes like this: ______________________________________ Despite their condescending racial attitudes, the English had designs on the country of the Khoe and wanted to learn…