The Weekly: Edition #21 - November 29, 2019
Suzy Batiz's empire of odor (The New Yorker)
+ "Batiz, whose net worth is estimated at more than two hundred and forty million dollars, grew up poor. She describes her family as “Irish potato-famine people” on her father’s side and “cotton pickers from Arkansas” on her mother’s." Despite Batiz's spotty record before starting her successful Poo-Pourri line, she persevered through personal and business failure and shares her lessons in this in-depth profile. Here are a few of our takeaways:
1. Overnight business success is always 20 years in the making. The best entrepreneurs and operators understand in hindsight that the road to building a successful business is never smooth, never linear, and never instantaneous. It often involves personal failure, a willingness to experiment and hit dead ends, and multiple highs and lows. The Suzy Batiz's of the world know that each bump in the road is a lesson to be learned and applied going forward.
2. Awareness is key. Listen for thorny problems in the form of questions - these are often the kernels of successful businesses. Batiz first had the idea for her Poo-Pourri line while at a dinner party when someone asked a question regarding, well, bodily functions - you never know where you may find your next opportunity.
3. Often, the best businesses are those that no one else will touch. Go where others won't - the businesses that involve 'dirty' jobs, tough work, or unsavory sights. Poo-Pourri, for example, is all about masking your bodily scents. Most likely, you'll find yourself in an area of business with little competition and ample room for exploration and innovation.
Startups and uncertainty (Jerry Neumann)
+ Jerry Neumann masterfully illustrates the key difference between 'risk' and 'uncertainty' - namely, that risk in business is mathematically quantifiable, while the uncertainty in startups is more foggy, more indiscernible, more hazy in nature.
CostCo's business model (Investing City)
+ Ryan Reeves digs into the business model of CostCo and explains how it is a membership business, not a retailer.
The life and death of the local hardware store (New York Times)
+ The ideology of convenience is reshaping retail and business as we know it.
Inside the fall of WeWork (Vanity Fair)
+ This profile of WeWork's former CEO, Adam Neumann, displays the full extent of his charisma which led to the rise and fall of the chaotic organization.
China's private equity champion on winning with the Chinese consumer (Fortune)
+ "Most headlines today depict a China under siege, its long economic boom ominously waning as it duels with the U.S. in a volatile trade war. But Weijian Shan is talking about the other China, the thriving market of 1.4 billion customers that, he claims, stands shielded from tariff disputes—and is one of the world’s best places to invest."
Pinterest launched a new account dedicated to small businesses (Retail Brew)
+ "Pinterest has launched a new profile, Pinterest Shop, dedicated to small retailers. The company is crowing about Pinterest Shop like it’s the birthplace of e-commerce, but Pinterest Shop is just a digital offshoot of multi-brand concept shops growing in popularity today."
Performance reviews kill your culture (Farnam Street)
+ "Internal motivation is easier to sustain. We produce and push ourselves because we get this immense satisfaction from what we are doing, which motivates us to keep doing it. It doesn’t work the same way when your motivation comes in the form of external comparisons."
Mapping out Apple's global supply chain (The Prepared)
+ This is a side project of The Prepared newsletter that uses a published supplier list to illustrate the vast reaches of Apple's supply chain around the globe.
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