Wednesday, June 22, 2005

 

Words of Advice to Young People

Your life is a marketplace.

If you want to stay ahead, you have to beat the market. To beat the market, you’re going to have to take risks.

Those companies that consistently stay ahead of the market are not those that seek to protect their property at the risk of innovation. Excessive protectionism of your current assets is fine in the short term. But that cow will age and she’ll eventually milk no more. So in order to outlast the short term gains and the inevitable competition that will be faster, cheaper, and better (and there will always come competition that learns how to be cheaper, fast and better), you have to be willing to accept some risk in your life and make a bet on where the market is going. It’s not just a matter of avoiding stagnation and dogmatic protectionism. It’s a matter of thriving in a changing world. The world that gave you meaning and value today is not the world of tomorrow. The quickening pace of that world is something you cannot hope to match. So what do you do?

Go on, lad. Take a leap. Roll those dice. You stand a pretty good chance of landing on your own two feet. Sevens are your friend.

¶ 6/22/2005 10:15:00 PM

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