by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I recently read the 2017 Gates Foundation annual letter. It starts with this alarming and kitschy picture. Whoa – this caught my attention. Huge fan of Warren Buffett – for his intellect, quirkiness, and generosity. In 2006, Buffett donated $31B to the...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Bain published its 2017 Global Private Equity Report here. For those interested in private equity (who isn’t?), this is a simple and easy read. The PE business continues to do well (fund-raising, exits, returns), with two big caveats: the NAV of funds is going...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Read the prospectus If you have never read a prospectus, you should. First, it’s useful. With an initial public offering (IPO), it is often times the first time outside investors are given a chance to understand how the company makes money and how sustainable...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Update: I’ve been using Calendly since 2017. So you can do the math $100 x years = great businesses for them. I was introduced to the Calendly website by a recruiter. After we emailed a few times, we agreed to have a 20 minutes live conversation by...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Sample size This is a phrase every consultant should know and (kinda) understand. Consultants are in the business of 80/20 rule, and smartly deducing insights from a sample of structured data (read: excel), qualitative interviews, observations, benchmarks and other...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
BCG recently published its 11th annual global survey of the most innovative companies here (PDF, 1.1Mb). It’s brief (20pg) and not controversial. It highlights a few case studies – J&J, Cisco, BASF and Under Armour. See the list of top 50 companies....
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Who is Peter Thiel? On Wikipedia you will quickly find that Peter Thiel is the founder of Paypal, the first investor in Facebook, and has a net worth is $2.5B+. Oddly, those three facts are the least interesting parts of his story, point of view, and personna....
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Career is a long time After 20+ years in corporate America and working at 5 different Fortune 500, I will say that it’s easy to burnout if you’re not careful. Microsoft analyzed a bunch of MS Office data and showed that we spend about 8 hours a week doing...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Today I was speaking with some friends about metacognition. Yes, I realize that is a $10 word, but the idea is fairly simple on the surface – being aware of your own thoughts. Essentially, thinking about your thinking. Whoa – deep, I know. Skills...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Starting a new job, my tips and tricks A lot of people I know are changing jobs in the new year. For good or bad, I have also worked at 5 Fortunate 500 companies over the last 25 years, so I know what it is like to have a new job. Some transitions were smoother than...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
www.Finviz.com is awesome Finviz.com is a great way to filter stocks and generally get smart on specific industries. While there are multiple tools on the website, will focus on something call the screener. As you can see here and below, there are 60+ filters...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I love listening to successful people tell their stories – for their confidence, ingenuity, fears, failures, heroism, goofiness, and ultimately success. We see a little of ourselves in them and experience the art of good story-telling. Boston Beer Company...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
The global asset management business is huge There are lots of billionaires and lots of people like you and me who have our wealth with pensions, 401K, and in stock/bond mutual funds. With the incredibly loose monetary policy (read: printing money), it is no surprise...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
McKinsey & Co published a very authoritative 148 page study (404 error as of 01/23) arguing a fairly simple (perhaps obvious) fact; the number of people freelancing is larger than you might think (20%+) and growing quickly. For those who already do...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This book is all about focus It is like the Pareto Principle to the extreme. The authors argue that by narrowing your focus to ONE thing in each area of your life, you will be happier, more successful, and find things easier. It turns out that pseudo multi-tasking,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Yes, we all have it sometimes. Social anxiety. It’s that nagging fear you that you might be better off – somewhere else, with someone else, doing something more fun. It’s that high-school sense of peer pressure to not be...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Trust, but verify. This is a Russian proverb that US President Ronald Reagan learned and used frequently when speaking about the Soviet Union and nuclear arms reduction verification in the 1980s. I use it quite a bit too – and when delivered with good comedic...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Grit Grit is a casual word which means “resolve” in English. Endurance with a mission. Doing something difficult and not giving up. It is the opposite of complacency or indecision. Clearly, people with grit are going to be more successful – because...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning, Real Estate
Note, this blog post was from 2016 in relates primarily to the Atlanta ex-burbs. This post is about rental properties – not about consulting. That said, all consultants and professionals making $$$, need to start putting money away to get yourself retired?...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Corporate learning and development is a huge market Training magazine estimates here that it is approximately $70 billion annually for companies with more than 100 employees. While that is a huge number, it feels about right. All of this training takes the form of...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
2015 was a blockbuster M&A year. Lot of big name deals as companies re-position themselves and push for growth in a slow-growth, low-interest rate environment. Good times for investment bankers and due diligence big 4 firms. BCG 2016 M&A report here. 2016 has...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Too many billionaires? That can be bad Ruchir Sharma is an investment strategist for Morgan Stanley who focuses on emerging markets. He uses a 10 point system to evaluate the investment-worthiness of countries, and the billionaire index is one of them. He makes a...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Billionaires are more common than ever Ruchir Sharma – Morgan Stanley global strategist – notes in Rise and Fall of Nations (affiliate link) that the number of billionaires increased from 1,011 to 1,826 between 2009-2014. That is a 80% increase in...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
PWC released their 4th report on top 100 global software leaders here. Of course you will see the major bulge-bracket software companies (Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, EMC etc), but you will also see a lot of names that you may interact only tangentially. For example,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
In sharp contrast from the last post about slow global growth, BCG writes in their 10th annual report about emerging market companies that are killing it. BCG notes that the top companies – i.e. highlighted in this report – are growing revenues at 3x the...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Driving back from lunch today, listened to this podcast interview of Ruchir Sharma here, global strategist for Morgan Stanley, manager of $20 billion of assets. Well-spoken, very clear point of view about the world economy after the 2007 crisis: It is a new normal of...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Yes, they are. Emotions are contagious. Lots of research on this topic and a great TEDx talk by Brandon Smith showing that, yes, emotions do exist at work and play a much larger role than you might think. I am a huge believer that culture trumps strategy and the...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
“Not enough time” When is the last time you said that? Yesterday? Maybe even today. We definitely live in a culture of distraction, consumption and crazy good Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and YouTube Premium. where should I invest my time? Time is...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Birthday coming up again and honestly, my 50s > my 40s > my 30s > my 20s. When people say, “Aw, I wish I were ____ years old again”, I honestly, don’t get that. Enjoying the journey too much for that kind of romanticism. That said, I do...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Surprisingly, people use email poorly They write long-winded email essays that are ambiguous, and often copy too many people. These sloppy people create more confusion, frustration and rework. In this case, more communication is actually worse. Take 15 seconds to...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
What’s going on in Brazil in 2016? Yes, the Olympics. But also an economic recession/depression. According to the Economist, this is the biggest economic slump since the 1930s here. This is a problem. GDP falling Look at the GDP growth rate over the last few...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Deloitte 2016 Global Human Capital Trends was released here (5.6Mb). It is a 124 page manifesto of well-organized thinking on how the workplace is changing, what employees want, and how the old way of thinking about human resource (read: people) just does not work. In...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
takes more than 10,000 hours. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that people have to practice for 10,000+ hours before becoming experts. At the time, this dispelled the idea that it is just raw talent or genius at work. No, he concluded, it takes lots and lots of...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
April 15 is tax day This is the day for individuals to file taxes. There are other tax days (e.g., March 15 for corporations), but yesterday was the day most people know – and loathe. People take off work, look for receipts, download bank statements, and answer...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
My of my friends have school-age children and they worry about their kid’s education. Sadly, they have a lot of reasons to be worried. For all the recent innovation, changing business models, and dedication of some teachers. . US public education is a mess Every...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Written 07/08/2016 Looks like 8 airlines were given clearance to fly to Cuba here. Cuba Glasnost This is HUGE news for the US, Cuba, and the world. The United States severed diplomatic ties with Cuba and had a trade embargo for 50+ years. While only symbolic,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This blog post is from 2016. You can tell, because I don’t listen to Pandora anymore. I listen to Spotify. How times can change. Capitalism is real. Competition is real. I listen to Pandora every day. On my computer, on my Roku, on my Amazon Echo, in my car,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
McKinsey 120 page report on the digitization of America Some critics might argue the two main arguments are a bit obvious: 1) digitization drives productivity and 2) those gains are shared uneven across industries, companies, and people. It is a story of the digital...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Dave Ramsey This is a famous radio host from the United States who I listen to regularly. He only talks about financial planning and money management – but he can be just a polarizing and crazy as the other “shock-jock” radio personalities. He has...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This is a quote first attributed to Dan Montano in the Economist, but was popularized by Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat. Here is the full quotation here: Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
From 2016, as a FYI, US tax laws keep changing. . . In my mind, depreciation has two meanings – the common sense definition most people know intuitively, and the financial accounting definition which dictates how costs of fixed assets are spread out over many...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Wrote this in 2016, so it’s fun to look back and reflect on this attitude, my investments, and my time. I look forward to retirement Who doesn’t? I recently went on a road trip to Key West and Sarasota Florida. Seriously, 80 degrees in December with a...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I read Fast Company It is a iconoclastic magazine which is easy to read, fun, and honestly, pretty cheap at $1 per month per magazine at discount mags. It is their 20th anniversary, this editorial here talks about their predictions for the next 20 years. Lots of to...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Data is often imperfect As consultants we know that perfect data is a myth. No matter the organization or website, data is gunky, irregular, and often broken. Was at Starbucks this morning doing my travel and expenses. Went to the American Express website and...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
When you’re sorry, just say the words I said this to five different people on Friday. “I am sorry”. An overly curt email. Late for a meeting. Over-stepping bounds, a little disrespectful of the staffing process. Not bringing an extra copy of a...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Consultants ask great questions Peter Drucker famously said, that “My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.” BOOM. Today I was in a big corporate meeting of 60+ people. Big titles, regional heads, leaders...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
ROE (return on equity) Yes, this is one of the key formulas that most MBAs (yes, including Marketers) remember learning on their path to financial literacy. It is often the best FIRST place to start for financial statement analysis. In simplest terms, it tells...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Candy Crush So last night, my wife and I were playing Candy Crush on 3 different devices. Yes, it is a big part of our recreation life. Sad and funny. So which wretched company created this time-sucking game? King Entertainment Publicly traded under the ticker symbol...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Financial accounting is the language of business No question. It’s how investors, managers, creditors, suppliers, and regulators keep track of the “score”. Without it, even the most basic questions like “how much profit did you make”...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Accenture had a good week Their stock hit a 16 year high, as they boosted their forecast for both revenues and profits. Go A-C-N. While looking for their quarterly investor presentation, I stumbled on something entirely more interesting. Digital Business Era: Stretch...
