Entrepreneurship

Machiavelli said the first way to judge a ruler is to look at the people around him. Chapter 22 of The Prince is still the best guide to choosing and paying a number two.

Escoffier stopped explaining the same base sauces and wrote them down instead. The explanation you repeat every week is an unbuilt product.

An employee closes the tickets you opened. An operator opens the one you did not know existed. Napoleon promoted on merit and then never let his marshals decide.

A business that needs you daily is a job with overhead. Document, delegate, automate, audit, and the 3R filter that decides what leaves your desk.

Most founders can tell you their revenue to the dollar. Ask what it costs to deliver one unit of the thing they sell and you get a range, a shrug, or a number invented on the call.

I downloaded Photoshop when I was fifteen. Nobody gave me permission, nobody taught me, and there was no plan attached to it.

Every few weeks someone asks why I still run short-term rentals and an agency when I’m building in crypto. The question has it backwards. The rentals and the agency are why I can build in crypto.

Most advice about building a business starts with “focus on one thing.” It’s repeated so often that nobody checks the premise.

Most advice about entrepreneurship assumes you’re building one thing. Focus on your one business. Find your one niche. Don’t get distracted.