Some more quotes for the day....... The 15 Best Quotes to Inspire You to Never Stop Learning

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/15-best-quotes-to-inspire-you-to-never-stop-learning/

I ran across this today as well,    I must be on a quote happy today.   As you get older it seems harder to live this.  

1. “I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious.”
- Albert Einstein

2. “The person who knows HOW will always have a job; the person who knows WHY will always be the boss.”- John Maxwell

3. “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
- Eric Hoffer

4. “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
- Benjamin Franklin

5. “Shall I tell you a secret of a true scholar? It is this: every man I meet is my master in some point and in that I learn from him.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. “Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”
- Daniel Boorstin

7. “Don’t let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.”
- Jim Rohn

8. “If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject.”
- Earl Nightingale

9. “Unless you do something beyond what you’ve already mastered, you will never grow.”
- Ronald E. Osborne

10. “The greatest enemy of learning is knowing.”
- John Maxwell

11. “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
- John Wooden

12. “What is a college? An institute of learning. What is a business? An institute of learning. Life, itself, is an institute of learning.”
- Thomas Edison

13. “That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.”
- Doris Lessing

14. “There is nothing new under the sun, but there are lots of old things we don’t know.”
- Ambrose Bierce

15. “The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks.”
- John Rooney

My last post for the day - Mind-bending Implications of a Multidimensional Universe

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2014/12/04/multidimensional-universe/#.VII3VDHF-FU


Something a little more interesting....   I definitely don't have anything substantive to add to this article and it is completely off school topic,  other than it is fascinating to dream of what might be some day.    Never say never.....

10 Brilliant Quotes From Warren Buffett

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239763?hootPostID=4804d7fe48fc66d52143dcd71bb5225c


I don't have much to add here,  just wanted to post some insightful quotes by Warren.   Maybe my kids will read them.   :>)    I like number 8 best,  got to always remember that one.  

1. Give your mind some clarity.

“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.” 

2. Never forget thy business basics.

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” 

3. Know what you're getting into, before you get into it.

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

4. Be smart -- and realistic.

"I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will."

5. Don't fake it till you make it.

"After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."

Related: Warren Buffett Sings Sinatra to an Audience of 400 Powerful Women

6. Always know who you're dealing with.

"You can’t make a good deal with a bad person."

7. Act with honor and integrity.

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently."

8. Value what's most important.

"Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends."

9. Hit the brakes when you need to. 

“The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.” 

10. Be bold. Be confident.

“I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute. ” 

Apple's Garage Myth and HP

Ran across this article today,  thought it was kind of interesting and related to one of my school assignments.  

http://www.cultofmac.com/305088/woz-demystifies-apples-origins-including-myth-jobs-garage/

I recently re-read Bill Hewlett's book the "HP Way"  and we wrote a group paper on the company for my Organization Behavior class.   The whole HP story is quite fascinating  and his book is very insightful,  nearly 20 years after it was published.  The book is definitely worth the time.    David Packard and Bill Hewitt were certainly ahead of their time in so many ways,  it is quite amazing.  Of course,  their start up garage was real and is now a historic landmark for the creation of "Silicon Valley"    They downplayed the whole garage myth and said it was just a place to work  and was very temporary.     It is amazing how many companies were eventually started by former HP employees.   This was the first time I read that  most of Apple's early  work was done at HP and not in the fabled garage.

Don't know if I really have a point here other that it is a little ironic that Apple was started at HP while Steve jobs was on their payroll, which was really the original silicon valley start-up and now Apple is even larger and more successful than HP.   The other open questions is,  why didn't HP recognize and foster the creative talent they had on staff and for which the were paying.   Bill Hewlett's first job was with GE where he got much of his practical knowledge from before heading out to form HP.  So maybe GE really deserves some of the credit for both of these companies and all of Silicon Valley?

NPV - What it can't tell you

"What Net Present Value Can't Tell You"

https://hbr.org/2014/11/what-net-present-value-cant-tell-you

Found this interesting article on NPV analysis on HBR.  The author, Maxwell Wessel, had some interesting observations regarding the use of NPV and business investment decisions.    I think this is directly related to some of  Bruce's discussion on valuations and investment decisions in class, especially regarding startups and other transformational projects.    According to the author:

• NPV can usually only project outcomes accurately beyond several years.  
• Some very complex and risky  projects such as the iPod and Kindle would not have had a positive NPV in a short number of years.
• Executives need to think of projects as complex options.  They need to match the valuation methodology to the opportunity.    
• Mark Andressen  suggested that  for VC's the most important questions is "What if it work?" . The problem is most large corporations make decisions differently and instead of buying options on a transformational opportunity,  they invest in only the next logical step.

Large Companies should ask themselves:

1. What if it works; what can you accomplish?   Once you have a sense of upside and of the likelihood then you can start comparing options.  
2. What is required to leave the option open to the upside?  Don't over commit to everything at once.
3. Do you have what it takes to follow through?  If it is wildly successful do you have what it takes to make it work?      

Bottom line, investment decisions can be very complicated with numerous factors, and over-simplification will not lead to the best investment decision.  

Refresher on NPV

https://hbr.org/2014/11/a-refresher-on-net-present-value/

I ran across this HBR.org article on net present value (NPV).   Although all of the material was covered in our class,   I thought it was a good refresher for our NPV discussions in class and our assignments.   The author covered several points below.  I found the last point to be the most interesting and helpful.      

1. What is NPV?  -  it is a method of calculating return on investments for a project or majotr expenditure. 
2. What are NPV used for?  -   It is the "tool of choice"  for most financial analyst because is considers time value of money and provides a concrete numbers that can be used for comparison purposes.   
3. How do you calculate?  -  the author points to excel as the main tool along calculator, with NPV function, and phone apps.  He goes on to explain the formulas and math behind the calcs.
4. What are some Common Mistakes?   - 
1. It is hard concept for other non-financial  people to understand
2. Calculations are based on assumption and estimates,  which means there is lots of room for errors.   
3. Risk associated with future discount rates.,  interest rate could spike in the future.    
4. Mistakes are often made with project future returns.  You need to be certain about returns,  all too often they are over optimistic.    

Hello!   So this is my first attempt at blogging!   So here goes....


In class we are talking about business entity selection.   Basically talking about different type of legal organizations from sole proprietorship to S or C Corps and LLCs.   I currently have a sole proprietorship business but  I have been looking at possibly starting a new small company so this was interesting materials.   Based on what was provided,  I believe the LLC would be the best choice for me for several reasons:



1.  Offers limited liability.
2.  Pass thru taxes to my individual returns.
3.  Can be managed by myself or other manager in the future.
4.  Can add additional members and capital at later date.


Any thoughts?