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Copycat Strategies Have An Expiration Date
Investment June 24, 2022/Investment If you have ever seen a bicycle race, you probably noticed the strange phenomenon known as the peloton. Most of the racers group together in a single big mass. Joining the group helps shield riders from the wind, but staying there also prevents them from winning. This same concept exists…
Read More >>Are You Investing Or Gambling?
Investment June 17, 2022/Investment The current stock market sell-off has many investors asking themselves: Where will the bottom be? At first glance, placing a bet on this might sound like gambling. The line between gambling and investing can be fuzzy. In my view it depends more on the reasoning behind a bet than…
Read More >>Culture Can Be A Competitive Advantage
Leadership June 2, 2022/Leadership Some people say that “culture” is a made up idea. Or that it’s ambiguous and subjective. I disagree. Anyone who’s been involved with different organizations over their life knows that some environments inspire the best in them… and others less so. I don’t pretend to be a management…
Read More >>What Will the Fed Do About Inflation?
Financial June 2, 2022/Financial The Fed is walking a razor’s edge between rising inflation and a potential recession. So-called fedologists have been working overtime trying to predict policy changes that will have a big impact going forward. Inflation has been a problem for quite some time now and there are reasons to think it…
Read More >>War Has Lessons for Business
Leadership May 10, 2022/Leadership It’s been more than two months since the hot war between Ukraine and Russia began. The outcome to date has been a great surprise to many. There are important lessons to be learned from what we are witnessing… for military leaders, of course… and also for business leaders. There…
Read More >>Regulations Should be Simple, Consistent and Fair
Legal March 16, 2022/Legal The great economist Milton Friedman once said: the business of business is business. It’s a zany one-liner that gets at something deeper, in particular on government regulation. We see the best outcomes when governments limit themselves to setting clear, fair rules and enforcing them consistently. This approach is about…
Read More >>AI is a Tool, Not a Threat in Real Estate
Financial March 16, 2022/Financial I often hear people say: data is the new oil. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving into more and more areas of the economy, and the fuel for AI is data – and lots of it. It’s incredible, and also a bit scary, to think about all the possibilities…
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Financial March 15, 2022/Financial The more things change, the more they stay the same. The pandemic has accelerated companies’ shift into the digital age. We have picked up new technologies at a faster pace and we’ve proven that remote work can work. But the foundations of high performing teams are the same as…
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The Cure for High Prices
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment Warren Buffet once said price is what you pay, value is what you get. As prices rise in real estate and across the US economy, it helps to keep this in mind. The pandemic triggered a lot of changes in the economy. People are moving to new places, working in different…
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Technology is Accelerating Big Real Estate Trends
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment Location, location, and location. This cliche is as valid today as it was years ago. But over time, the value of a given location changes… predicting the future value is one key factor in real estate investing. For years, Alliance has been tracking population shifts toward high growth cities and suburbs,…
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Self Delusion Doesn’t Pay
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment People are not born great investors, business leaders, or even musicians. It’s a process of continuous learning, and honing of natural talent. A critical aspect of learning is honest self-assessment. It’s hard to repeat successes if you can’t identify what went right. Or avoid the same mistake twice, if you’re not…
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Government Strings Attached
Financial December 17, 2021/Financial Recently I noticed an interesting policy innovation in the news. Some countries in Asia are experimenting with stimulus payments that have strings attached. It’s an interesting development, and I feel wary about it coming to America. The idea is to distribute digital cash that has an expiration date, or other…
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A Truly Impressive American Recovery
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment The pandemic is giving the United States a big stress test, and I think we’re passing, maybe even with flying colors. There is much to feel optimistic about. We still have problems, yes. The pandemic isn’t over yet. There are still many people without jobs, the nation has taken on a…
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Unicorns Aren’t Rare Anymore
Technology December 17, 2021/Technology Technology is changing the world incredibly quickly. I’m excited to see where it takes us in the coming years. One fact that illustrates just how quickly technology is moving is the number of tech unicorns. Not so many years ago, the term unicorn was coined to describe a privately held…
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Measure Twice, Hire Once
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Businesses across the country are seeing surges of demand. America is increasingly open for business, and businesses are hiring. Today’s tight labor market means that many businesses are looking for whatever help they can get, because every week that goes by with an unfilled vacancy has a high cost in productivity.…
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