June 6th, 1944 … the day we stormed the beaches of Normandy. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The invasion created a foothold that allowed Allied forces to expand through France.
The memorial in France this year was a particularly touching event with the many surviving World War 2 soldiers being well into their 90s.
"A generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped the post-war world. They didn't boast. They didn't fuss. They served" – Theresa May
A 97-year old veteran paratrooper, Tom Rice, commemorated the day by once again dropping into the field he landed in on that fateful night.
Seems like a friendlier welcome than a sea of German soldiers. As an extra fun fact, Teddy Roosevelt stormed the beaches of Normandy at 56 with a heart condition, arthritis, and a cane. He was the oldest man to take part in the invasion.
Our society is built on the backs of many strong men! I'm thankful for their sacrifices.
Population growth is an interesting measure. Historically, growth has been slow. But something changed that. And the implications are stunning.
Scientists estimate that humans have existed for over 130,000 years. It took until 1804 for us to reach 1 Billion. We doubled that population by 1927 (123 years later), and then doubled it again in only 47 years later (which was 1974).
Early population growth was driven by the agricultural revolution. Since 1804, the industrial revolution, health and safety advances, and technology have radically improved quality of life – spurring comparatively rapid growth.
World population growth rates peaked in the late 1960s and have declined sharply in the past four decades, but we're still on a positive trend. We're expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, but a lot of that growth comes from developing countries – they also almost exclusively come from urban areas.
Urbanization: Megacities
Since 2014, over 50% of the world's population has lived in urban areas – today it's approximately 55%. That number is growing.
Ironically, as we grow more digitally connected, our world is shrinking and our populations are concentrating.
An interesting consequence of this rapid urbanization and population growth in developing countries has been the increased development of Megacities – defined as cities with populations greater than 10 million. Today, there are 33 megacities – more than triple the number in the 1990s.
This creates a set of interesting opportunities and challenges.
For example, how will these cities deal with infrastructure – sanitation, transportation, etc.
China and the US produce 23.2 trillion and 19.4 trillion respectively; unchallenged powerhouses now. That being said, the global balance of power and population is shifting; and many developing countries (like India) are growing quickly.
It seems likely that with their population growth and maturation as global economies, we'll see a relatively different landscape in 10 years. Will it look like this? Maybe? But Egypt's projected growth of 583% seems a bit beyond normal expectations … Time will tell!
Here are the biggest companies by revenue (in 2018) in almost every state. You'll notice some states are missing. Alaska, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming lack Fortune 1000 headquarters.
Theresa May has just announced her resignation as UK Prime Minister. She's faced massive criticism for an inability to come to a resolution on Brexit, and missing two deadlines. A new PM will be appointed in July.
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.
When I first got out of Law School in the 1980s, "professionals" didn't type … that was your assistant's job.
Then again, most people couldn't have imagined what computers and software are capable of now.
Looking back, my career has been a series of cycles where I was able to imagine what advanced tech would enable (and how business would have to change to best leverage those new capabilities).
Malcolm Gladwell suggests that it takes 10,000 hours of focus and effort for someone to become an expert at something.
But the game is changing.
Today, we can do research that took humans 10,000 hours in the time it took you to read this sentence. Moreover, technology doesn't forget what it's learned because a computer's memory is much better than yours or mine.
Still, technology isn't a cure-all. Many people miss out on the benefits of A.I. and technology for the same reasons they didn't master the hobbies they picked up as an adolescent.
I shot a video discussing how to use technology to create a sustainable creative advantage. Check it out.
Most people realize this technology is cool – and they want to use AI – but they forget what mastery takes.
When using AI and high-performance computing, you need to ask the same questions you ask yourself about your life's purpose.
What's my goal?
What do I (or my systems) need to learn to accomplish my goal?
What are the best ways to achieve that goal (or something better)?
Too many companies are focused on AI as if that is the goal. AI is simply a tool. As I mentioned in the video, you have to define the problem the right way in order to find a solution for it.
Artificial Intelligence is a game-changer – so you have to approach it as such.
Know your mission and your strategy, recognize what you're committing to, set it as a compass heading and make deliberate movement in that direction.
I end the video by saying, "Wisdom comes from making finer distinctions. So, it is an iterative and recursive process… but it is also evolutionary. And frankly, that is extraordinarily exciting!"
It means exactly what it sounds like – but also a lot more.
We use A.I. to trade. So, measuring performance is important. But, so are all sorts of production, efficiency, and effectiveness measures.
While there are hundreds of important metrics we track day-to-day, energy affects everything.
Energy affects how you feel, what you do, and what you make it mean. That means it is a great way to measure your values too.
Consequently, even if you don't recognize it, energy has a lot to do with who you hire and fire. It affects where you spend our time. Ultimately, it even affects the long-term vision of our company.
If something brings profit and energy, it is probably worth pursuing.
In contrast, one of the quickest ways to burn out is by fighting your energy. Figuring out who and what to say "no" to is an important way to make sure you stay on path and reach your goals.
Normally, Genius Network is private, and these recordings are for internal use only; but I asked permission to share my impromptu session with you.
Check it out. In the first 5 minutes, I will introduce the scorecard. For the next 10 minutes, you'll get an extra look at the resulting group discussion.
I use this tool to diagnose where we are during meetings, while ranking opportunities, and even for HR and partnership decisions.
Think of each comparison as a spectrum. They're not necessarily "one-or-the-other", but they can help identify where you are on the scale of "what to avoid" versus "what you want".
Blaming <—–> Encouraging
Insistent <—–> Inspirational
Fearful <—–> Abundant
Steadfast <—–> Curious
Clogging <—–> Cleansing
Resentful <—–> Grateful
Zero-Sum <—–> Relational
Small-Minded <—–> Visionary
These words mean something to me, but they may need tooling to work in your company. Changing the names, the order of the comparisons, the number of comparisons, etc. can have a profound effect on the usefulness of this scorecard to you.
I encourage you to think about how you could use this scorecard, and how you can bring attention to those people and actions that best embody the traits that are vital to your business.
It's three days of friends, food, fun, and bad puns (like #AporkalypseNow and #MeatDrinkAndBeMerry).
You've heard the phrase "Put your money where your mouth is …" This year we sponsored a tent and brought some of the Capitalogix team to enjoy the festivities.
Here's a look at what was cooking in our tent. It had Brazilian "churrasco" flair.
Our Grill Master was Blake Carson, who took a traditional Brazilian Steakhouse cooking style – and innovated upon it – creating the Carson Rodizio kit (which started as a Kickstarter project). It is a multi-rotisserie rack that converts your favorite backyard grill into an open and spinning Brazilian style Steakhouse. It's clever, functional, and cool… and it's been used to win multiple barbecue championships.
I love to experience an entrepreneur's mind at work.
It's not always about what you add. Sometimes, it is about what you take away. Less is often more.
Here is a one-minute interview I shot with Blake.
Innovation, like opportunity, is all around you.
It's not there for you if you don't see the opportunity, and seize it.
While many people consider Buffett to be an investor, I also consider him to be an entrepreneur.
At the age of six, he started selling gum door to door. Obviously, selling gum wasn't the key to his path to riches. So, how did he make his first million? Here's a video that explains it.
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