by Shane Lashley on October 23, 2008
For years Warren Buffet has stayed away from the stock market. Now he is buying American stocks. Why? And what does that mean to you and me? Look a little deeper and you’ll see it is more than just buying stock. Buffet’s decision to buy now tell us two things about his view of our economic future.
1. Invest in people and their ideas. Stock price can be broken down into two broad categories: (A) The part of the price that comes from tangible assets; and (B) The part of the price that comes from intangible assets. The first part is book value and that refers to all the brick and mortar assets, such as equipment, property, etc. Book value makes up the smallest portion of most stock prices, even in the biggest companies that have vast physical holdings.
Intangible assets can be broadly described as the value of the people, their ideas and all the contracts they put together related to executing those ideas. This is where the vast majority of stock price comes from - the confidence the public market has in a company’s people and its ideas, and the ability of that company to execute the ideas in a way that makes financial sense.
When Buffet was out of the market saying it was overpriced, he was saying the leaders of public companies cannot convert their ideas into cash at the level required to support the high stock price. Now he is back in the market and encouraging you and me to go there too. Why? Because you buy low and sell high, and Buffet believes that the talent and ideas in his selected companies will generate financial results that are greater than than their stock price reflects today. He’s investing in the intangible assets. He is investing in people and their ideas.
Buffet appears to believe that innovation and leadership will pull America out of this recession and he is putting his money where his mouth is on the subject.
2. Now is the time to innovate and execute. The temptation to crawl in a hole may be profound, but now is the time to innovate and execute the plan for the innovation in a way that makes financial sense.
What is your innovation? What is your plan? Got a team around you? Now is the time, according to The Oracle of Omaha.
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by Shane Lashley on October 22, 2008
Johns Wu, the 22 year old creator of Bankaholic.com, recently sold the blog to Bankrate for $15 million. He had only been at it for two years. In a world where many great companies can’t get a decent valuation, much less equity investment due to the downturn, what does it mean that Wu got $15 million? Was he lucky? Right place, right time? Can others do this too? [click to continue...]
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by Shane Lashley on October 10, 2008
If you are worried about how you will manage limited financial resources in the months ahead, this post is for you. There are two elements to survival: (1) generating income; and (2) controlling costs. Survival is about balancing the two. Here I profile an innovation that has developed a reputation and loyal following for its ability to help with #2. Great story. Great help. Enjoy!
When I contacted Jesse Mecham recently (pictured above with his wife Julie and children) and informed him that he had been nominated as an innovator worthy of being profiled on InnovativeEconomy.com, I think he may have wondered if I had the wrong number. He didn’t see himself as an innovator. More and more, I find that to be a common trait among authentic innovators.
The more we talked the more I realized that his nomination was appropriate and timely. You see, Jesse created a personal financial management software tool for the non-financially-trained person to easily manage their personal finances in just a few minutes per month. I have checked out his product, been through his site and tutorials, started using it for myself, and now concluded it can really help people. Not only can his product help, but his story as an entrepreneur and innovator should inspire and instruct other innovators. The back-story is as interesting as the product turned out to be effective. [click to continue...]
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by Shane Lashley on October 17, 2008
Three icons in the online world have recently made eye-opening remarks about blogging and its relevance to business, brand and survival in economic turmoil. Technorati, HARO founder Peter Shankman and Problogger Darren Rowse have each recently made powerful statements regarding how valuable blogs can be to brands and businesses.
Yesterday, Technorati released its 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report and in it they described the relationship between bloggers and branding. The conclusions of the report are completely consistent with the trends upon which we based “The Coming Economic Boom For Bloggers.” Of course, Technorati does not discuss the forward looking “how” questions the help bloggers understand how they can take advantage of these trends, that’s not the purpose of their report. But they do a great job of quantifying and clarifying that blogs and brands are increasingly coming together for specific and profitable purposes.
Peter Shankman, PR expert and founder of HARO (Help-A-Reporter-Out) sends out media opportunities to more than 30,000 people, three times a day, five days a week. I featured Shankman and his innovation in the inaugural edition of this blog through a post entitled, “PR Consultant Takes Own Advice, Builds Valuable Brand.” He was but a wee lad at the time, with about 13,000 daily subscribers when I wrote that post - oh wait, that was just mid-July - ok, not such a wee lad as much as an explosive force! On September 26, in one of those posts to his loyal followers, Shankman wrote, [click to continue...]
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