leadership

The Problems And Perils Of Perfection

August 15, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

There are a million – maybe a billion – scenarios for how someone becomes the Founder of a business. But regardless of variability, there is one part of every venture that, almost by definition, will not vary: In the beginning, and often for some time afterward, the Founder will be the first to do all the jobs.

If you’re one of those Founders, you were the first receptionist, the first salesperson, the first accountant, and the first janitor. But you didn’t become a business owner to answer the phone, pay the bills or sweep the floor. You did those jobs because, at that moment, you were the smallest of business entities. An entrepreneurial quark. A team of one.

You have every right to look back on those days with great pride. Starting a business from scratch and growing it into a success story is a modern-day Herculean feat, accomplished against all odds. But there is one perilous byproduct of the Founder being the first to do all the jobs [Continue Reading]

When Blind Justice Had A Good Day

August 10, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

As you likely remember, the question asked last week in our online poll was: “What do you think about Hunter Biden’s plea deal failing this week?” And we offered these four response options:

It’s just more Conservative/MAGA theater to divert from Trump’s assault on the Constitution.
Thank God something/someone slowed the Biden DOJ’s banana republic approach to justice.
Doesn’t matter. Our country isn’t going to survive as a constitutional republic for much longer anyway.
What if we presented both the Biden and Trump cases to a court without names?

Below, along with the other responses, you’ll see that three-fourths of our folks went for #2. They were relieved to see that there’s still some level of blind justice in America today.

Is Hunter Biden, et al, guilty of all of the things being alleged? Well, when allowed to work as designed, that’s what the architecture of the American system of justice is designed to resolve. But as we’ve known since Henry II’s 12th-century legal reforms spawned the immortal English common law upon which our system is modeled, the mill grinds pure when unimpeded by politics.

[Continue Reading]

Banks, Banking, And Brigadoon

August 1, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

As you know, the U.S. banking system has been challenged this year. Three large “regional” banks collapsed, and not a few experts have opined that there will be more banking-sector bloodshed going forward.

As you may remember, in our online poll last week (see below) we asked about concerns for your bank and the U.S. banking system with this question: “In light of the 2023 bank failures, have you been concerned about your own bank?” [Continue Reading]

Blockchain: It’s The Future Of Trust

July 25, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to how Blockchain works. This offering is about how it can create digital trust. But first, let me remind you – Blockchain is a complicated topic, so thanks for your continued focus.

To understand Blockchain, we must first contemplate the primordial role of trust. Just as every chemical process in the human body takes place in the medium of water, every human interaction – each one – takes place in the medium of trust. As civilization, societies, and markets evolved, all were made manifest by the existence of, and singular devotion to trust. It’s the cornerstone, the keystone, and the capstone of our civilized existence. As the original open-source model, trust is the intangibly awesome foundation of equilibrium and creator of order.

This will be on the test: For 10,000 years, humans required analog trust. In the Digital Age, humans will require digital trust. As open-source technology beyond cryptocurrency, Blockchain is enabling trust’s metamorphosis from analog to digital, as it becomes synonymous with digital trust.

For Satoshi Nakamoto, creating Bitcoin was easy. But making his peer-to-peer cryptocurrency deliver on[Continue Reading]

Two Grueling Competitions: The Tour de France And The Tour de Main Street

July 19, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

As the sun rises on the first day of July, one of the most amazing athletic competitions in the world is set to begin. Since 1903, the Tour de France has been the pinnacle of professional bicycle races, and arguably the most grueling of all sporting competitions.

Contested over 23 days, this race has 21 stages, each averaging more than 100 miles. That’s right. Only two rest days. These superathletes from all over the world navigate diverse road conditions, rain, wind, heat, and legendary mountain ranges – five total, including no less than the Alps and Pyrenees – that God surely created for us to ski down, not pedal up.

As the sun rises on the marketplace, millions of small business owners are set to mount one of the most grueling competitions in the business world – merely by opening up. Against all odds, they start, run, and grow their operations in rude conditions few Corporate America CEOs ever face. But unlike the Tour de France, the Tour de Main Street lasts 365 days, not 23. And sometimes, no rest days.

Combining admiration for both of these types of superhumans, we can identify four common elements required to compete successfully in both tours. [Continue Reading]

America Began With Freedom And The World Is Better For It

July 4, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

The first Plantagenet King of England, Henry II, is important to America’s small business owners because he’s considered the founder of a legal system to which entrepreneurs owe their freedom to be.

His intelligence only exceeded by his ambition, Henry’s attempts to consolidate all of the 12th-century British Isles under his rule necessitated the need for order. And while his motivations were for his own political expediency rather than to empower the people, Henry’s subsequent reforms actually gave birth to the legendary English Common Law, which ultimately replaced elements of the feudal system that included such enlightened practices as trial by ordeal and inquisition.

By the 18th century, [Continue Reading]