The Beijing Olympics are set to begin on Friday, July 26, 2024. For every Olympic game, there is a fight by cities and countries around the world to host it. The cities promise extensive municipal improvements along with the construction of appropriate facilities for the various events. Why Would Anyone WANT To Host The Olympics? The […]
Blog
Analyzing Opportunity Cost in Entrepreneurial Ventures
A Reddit user asked an interesting question about an analytical method for calculating opportunity cost in a car transaction he made. I felt like the commenters kind of blew it with their suggestions, often only offering “rules of thumb” or general principles in a situation that was quite tractable. What is Opportunity Cost? Opportunity cost is […]
Writing Contests
Soon after someone starts writing, they’ll come across “writing contests”. If the writer doesn’t discover these themselves, well-meaning friends and family will start sending them links. The contests themselves are offered by a broad array of organizations. Some you’ll have heard of, others you won’t. They prominently advertise the prize, usually a small sum of […]
Execution is Everything
One of the big, abstract, philosophical debates is which is more valuable, the inspiration or the execution? Is Google a two-trillion-dollar company because of the clever PageRank algorithm the founders came up with or because of the wise business decisions they’ve been making since? Was Harry Potter a global phenomenon because J.K. Rowling thought of […]
Drone Roof Inspections
A while back, water started coming through the ceiling of one of my rental properties. I talked to a handy friend and he said I needed my roof repaired as there’s nothing else in the attic that could be creating water (no pipes or anything). I called a number of roofers and asked them to come […]
People Don’t Leave Jobs, They Leave Managers
I’ve been interested in retention: why employees stay with or leave an organization. There’s been a recent focus on Silicon Valley misogyny, with Susan Fowler’s poignant blog post leading to shakeups at Uber. A cynic might suggest that the people being fired are a public relation’s sacrifice and that the company has an inherent problem going all the way to […]
How Do “If We Don’t Sell It, We’ll Buy It!” Deals From Real Estate Agents Work?
It seems just about every town has a real estate agent that offers some sort of “I’ll buy your house if it doesn’t sell” deal. It’s natural to wonder how this could work – does the agent have dozens of homes they own? Are they just THAT good? Is it a scam? How It Works […]
The Magic Of Multiple Bids
It’s often a tricky thing when you’re trying to make a purchase for the first time. My wife and I have decided that 17 windows in the duplex that we’re living in need to be updated. It’s a 90-year-old house and we think the windows are original. Every time I look into windows they always […]
Wacky Writing Idea #14: Satanic Dungeons and Dragons
For this, and any other Wacky Writing Ideas, I happily release them into the wild for anyone to use. If you like the idea and want to write it up, do so with my blessing! If you want to change it or use it for something else, have at it! If you really want to do […]
Wacky Writing Idea #13: High Fantasy Mechas
For this, and any other Wacky Writing Ideas, I happily release them into the wild for anyone to use. If you like the idea and want to write it up, do so with my blessing! If you want to change it or use it for something else, have at it! If you really want to do […]