In conversation with my wife's nephew the other day, he was talking about his business degree and the subjects he is interested in. He has designs on being an "entrepreneur" and likes the logo planning, the marketing and advertising side of things - the relatively useless stuff, at least at the high level they cover. What I suggested was that (especially since he is crypto bullish) is that he adds as many accounting, statistics and data analysis courses he can.
But they are boring!
Yes.
Ever noticed how the things that end up making people a lot of money are pretty well boring subject matter that takes a lot of learning and consideration, as well as a lot of time to develop? Ever noticed how economics is presented as something that people don't really need to know in order to function and is delivered in a way that disconnects the concepts of it to the effects it has on our everyday lives?
"Boring" is where all the value is.
People imagine that the stock exchange is all Gordon Gekko, but the reality is that it is in the numbers, in the analysis, in the boring, no-one-wants-to-read, put-me-to-sleep, black and white.
But, reading through some Gekko quotes, there is some insight there for a movie released in 1987:
Sure, the infamous:
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
But there are others:
Greed captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth.
Now you’re not naive enough to think we’re living in a democracy, are you buddy? It’s the free market. And you’re a part of it.
I create nothing. I own.
What’s worth doing is worth doing for money.
And this gem:
It’s not about the money. It’s about the game between people.
And I like this one:
It’s not always the most popular person who gets the job done.
It sounds exiting and it sounds like greed really is the secret sauce of success, but there are a couple other quotes that I will add here that tell of what really is at the heart of success and why so many of us fail financially to be successful:
You stop sending me information, and you start getting me some.
You don’t understand. I wanna be surprised. Astonish me, pal. New info. I don’t care where or how you get it, just get it.
The most valuable commodity I know of is information.
Information.
We are surrounded by it, we have access to it whenever we want and as such, we have devalued it in our own practices because everything is available, every answer. But, we are missing the fact that those answers have already been established, they have already had the information parsed and consolidated - there is very little value left.
Where the value lays is in the collection, analysis and selling of information, or the ability to take what is learned and productize it to gain market entry, position, competitive advantage and brand recognition. This requires understanding of the data available, the ability to analyze, theorize, predict and extrapolate out to a larger audience, or to find a focal point to target.
But, most people aren't interested in the "backend" of data, because it is boring - however the predictions for the future is that the backend data jobs are going to be where employment is available and value is made. And, for those who are working in the frontend, they are going to benefit from understanding how all of these things are connected, because they are going to want to leverage and benefit from the dynamics in play.
But, there is more to boring and boredom in general, because it is in these areas that we tend to become the most creative in thought, where we look for connections and relationships, where we invent the new world. For me personally, I wish I had spent more time in the numbers and less time and energy in the frontend subjects, because it is in those numbers where I spend so much of my time now, trying to predict where the ball is going to be a month, a year or a decade into the future.
I think that one of the problems facing the "youth of today" is that they are never bored, they always have something to occupy their attention - steal their boredom from them. They don't need to look at the world around them and problem solve, because they have a screen in front of their face that has all the answers they need in how to spend their time - except how to make their time count.
Being an entrepreneur is being able to do what others are not willing to do for a few years at least -
People are willing to be entertained.
Have to do different.
Be bored instead.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]