Newsletter #46 - Bluffing in Business and in Poker |
First, my launch from last weekMy Air Travel Tech Jobs launch bombed on Product Hunt. I guess job boards are not the most interesting products. Admittedly it isn’t really a job board yet, just a list of cool air travel companies. And probably that's what it will remain for next few months, there won’t just be many new cool companies popping up every month, so it might be too niche. Nevertheless, I have a nice list now. ... In the meantime… I'm building one more fun air travel project And then I'm going to do something non air travel Promise. ... Then again, I'm trying to look forward to a freelance future. And I've read two times this weekend that specialisation helps (one time about someone specialising in Tech Hospitality, and another about someone specialising in Open Source). I'm not sure if the things I'm building make me a specialist, but maybe it helps. Steve Jobs once said you can only connect the dots in hindsight. Who knows how these dots will connect. First run and swim in PhuketI wanted to live in the mountains and I wanted to live close to the sea. I never realized Phuket had both. Awesome beaches, obviously, that’s what it’s known for. But also high, steep mountains full of jungle, rivers, and dirt roads. I went running for the first time and I was massively impressed. If you love trail running, Phuket is a fantastic place! And this week, I went swimming as well, also in a beautiful outdoor public pool. After a couple of busy months, I'm trying to get my daily workout back on track. First power outagesWhen watching The Hangover movie before moving to Bangkok I expected the worst. But despite the state of how the electricity system looks, we never had real power outages. In Phuket the network seems more fragile. Since we moved here two months ago, we've had multiple disruptions. It's the middle of the rainy season so the intense rain storms might have something to do with it. Lets' see how this evolves! Would Richard Branson be good at poker?I'm reading Losing My Virginity again. When I previously read it, I didn't realise Richard Branson is actually an ingenious entrepreneur, smart like a fox. The stories are probably enhanced to improve them a little. Nevertheless below extracts are impressive in how, in the midst of a crisis, he comes up with very clever ideas. One day in 1970 (Branson is 20 years old here, and founder and head of Student magazine) I came back to my desk and found that Nik had been sitting at it. By mistake he had left a draft of a memo which he was writing to the staff. It was a plan to get rid of me as publisher and editor, take editorial and financial control of Student and turn it into a cooperative.
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I looked around at everyone working. They all had their heads bent down studiously over their desks. I wondered how many were part of this.
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I decided to bluff my way through the crisis. If Nik had already whipped up support from the ten other people, it would be difficult for me to stop them.
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'Nik, ' I said, as we walked down the street, 'a number of people have come up to me and said that they're unhappy with what you're planning. They don't like the idea, but they're too scared to tell you to your face. '
Nik looked horrified.
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Nik left that day
Such a brilliant move, offense is the best defense?! I was promptly expelled and my parents were told to come and collect me the following day.
That evening, unable to think of ay other way to escape the wrath of my parents, I wrote a suicide note saying that I was unable to cope with the shame of my expulsion. I wrote on the envelope that it was not to be opened until the following day but then gave it to a boy who I knew was far too nosy not to open it immediately.
Very very slowly, I left the building and walked through the school grounds towards the cliffs. When I saw a crowd of teachers and boys beginning to run after me, I slowed down enough for them to catch me up.
They managed to drag me back from the cliff and the expulsion was overturned.
Maybe that's why business owners are often also good poker players, they need to be able to bluff with a straight face? That's it for this week. Have a great week ahead! |
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