Notes: This HBO documentary covers the life and work of Berkshire Hathaway Chairman & CEO Warren Buffett, largely through his own quotes. We also hear a lot from his business partner Charlie Munger and his first wife Suzie Buffett. Warren Buffett’s advice can teach us way more about life than just business. Most people callContinue reading “Best Quotes from the Becoming Warren Buffett Documentary”
Tag Archives: Investing
Public Ventures
How Governments Can Run VC Funds The public should get equity in businesses that take government funding. No more free-money bailouts for billionaires. Public VC funds share in the upside when the startups they fund succeed. This incentivizes governments to invest more in earlier-stage startups. Public VC is a renewable economic resource. Successful investments inContinue reading “Public Ventures”
43North for Detroit
Create a $5M+ per year fund sponsored by the City, State, and/or nonprofits. 43North invests $5M per year in startups that move to Buffalo. This accelerator is funded by the State of New York as part of its Buffalo Billion program. 43North’s Grand Prize winner gets a $1 million investment. Create thousands of jobs inContinue reading “43North for Detroit”
Arsenal of Progress
We don’t have enough food. We don’t have enough medicine. We don’t have enough masks. We don’t have enough semiconductor chips. We must have enough before we can dream of more. Literal factories. Hundreds of them. These factories of abundance are our new Arsenal of Progress. Movement: Detroit vs. Shenzhen Accelerator: YC for Manufacturing Fund:Continue reading “Arsenal of Progress”
Y Combinator for Manufacturing
Invest in a new American hub for rapid R&D and manufacturing of critical products. See: Detroit vs. Shenzhen Newark secured a $50M partnership last year to relocate HAX’s US headquarters. Funding: $25M from New Jersey (NJEDA) + $25M from VC firm SOSV. Detroit: Raise $50M+ to build a manufacturing and technology accelerator in the City.Continue reading “Y Combinator for Manufacturing”
Studios vs. Startups
Startup = Growth. No company can grow forever with just one product. The best startups launch, buy, and grow many products. Xerox → PARC Google → X Amazon → Grand Challenge Google → Alphabet Facebook → Meta Keeping their startups in perpetual studio mode is key to staying relevant for another generation. Running an indieContinue reading “Studios vs. Startups”
Founders vs. VCs
If you’re really ambitious in startups, there’s only ever been two paths: founder vs. VC. Founders go deep on one company. VCs get to build a broad portfolio. So they’re incentivized to keep founders locked up in their original startups. They don’t want founders to diversify. VCs want a portfolio for themselves but not forContinue reading “Founders vs. VCs”
Micro M&A
Example: On midnight January 1, 2022, I officially closed on my first acquisition, a product line of technical workbenches called Electra-tec. I am now relaunching it as Pro Benches. I first found this product on BizBuySell in early September. Four months and five site visits later, Pro Benches is my business. Politicians left and rightContinue reading “Micro M&A”
Personal Capital
The 4 Types of Personal Capital: Chart: Examples:
360 Deals for Founders
In the music industry, a 360 deal is where a record label provides an artist with financial, marketing, and distribution support in exchange for a percentage of future revenue streams. Help founders create their own startup studios. This gives founders the freedom to think big and quickly take multiple shots on goal. Motown Records’ 360 dealsContinue reading “360 Deals for Founders”