Thoughts
Repetition maketh a man
Replicate your Yesterday and Day-Before-That out over a few hundred days. That’s a year or two. Is what you’re doing today going to get you from Where-You-Are to Where-You-Want-To-Be? Have you invested sufficiently into the relationships you have with the people you care for? Did the people you engaged with form part of your future…
The next commodity supercycle involves something we all already own
The commodity supercycle which started in the early 2000s, saw the prices of physical commodities such as food, metals, fuel and chemicals rise as demand from emerging markets outstripped demand. A slowing global economy has recently seen a rapid slide of commodity prices, having severe impacts on global economic markets, job security and emerging market…
My love-hate relationship with entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the poster-child of the economy – consensus appears to be that running your own business is the ultimate pinnacle of a career – full of fun and the secret to untold riches. That might be the truth for a very few entrepreneurs, but there’s also a dark, lonely and extremely challenging side to…
Innovation – the intersection of science and the humanities
I recently gave a guest speaker address a leading media company, where I looked at the aspects of why a business should innovate, how to go about it and how best to lead it. Best captured by Walter Isaacson, “The next phase of the digital revolution will bring a true fusion of technology with the…
2015 – My stock portfolio view
This time last year, I blogged about my view on the upcoming year in the markets, and which shares I’d be holding to try and keep up with the Jones’. My sentiment at the time was that the US would return to growth and that the South African economy would come under pressure. Although the…
Top tips for being a better man this summer
This isn’t a narcissistic article about what’s required to be me, nor suggesting that I’m an ideal man. What it is, though, is a collection of thoughts and observations from men I’ve met in life that inspire me to be more than my current self. Being a man, these days, means different things to different…
Going viral. From Ebola to content and the secret sauce behind it.
This week saw the worst Ebola outbreak in history. It’s been talked about on the television, radio and social media. Everyone you talk to, knows that it’s happening, and deep down, whether a conscious awareness or not, has a little tinge of fear that they might contract the deadly virus. At the time of writing,…
The evolution of the web
Some might look at the World Wide Web as a story of creation over seven significant time periods. Others might see it as a story of evolution through daily, incremental improvements and additional services or experiences. Nonetheless, the history of the web is a short one, with the first piece of HTML code being written…
5 tips to making inroads into investing for your future
“There’s no point in a $50 million funeral or a $25 million divorce.” One of the guidelines in the unofficial Goldman Sachs guide to New Year’s resolutions. Still, keeping a bit of money aside every month, subjecting it to compounding and then using it on a rainy day makes sense. In the same way as January…
The benefits of trying your hand at something entrepreneurial
I attended a lecture by Laurie Dippenaar on Leadership recently. He relayed a few of the highlights he’d enjoyed on the journey of setting up Rand Merchant Bank, and ultimately, FirstRand. He talked about the fears and challenges that are common corridor talk for entrepreneurs – worrying about having money to keep the lights on,…