US M&A Deal Volume Drops 15% in March
"U.S. M&A deal activity decreased in March, going down 15.4% with 946 announcements compared to 1,118 in February. Aggregate M&A spending decreased as well. In March, 51.3% less was spent on deals compared to February." -FactSet
Turn PAA Questions Into Subheadings for SEO Wins
Most bloggers ignore this goldmine: “People Also Ask” (PAA) Every question in the PAA box is a ranking opportunity. Take those questions, turn them into subheadings, and answer them directly. Now your post is optimized for: • Featured snippets • More SERP real estate • Higher authority...
UK Braces for Food Shortages Amid Iran War, CO2 Crunch
UK prepares for food shortages caused by Iran war CO2 crunch https://t.co/qFnOtL67qw via @AlexJFMorales https://t.co/bHzHKpAe8F
Optionality Turns Warehouse Execution From Fragile to Resilient
Most companies think their warehouse execution is optimized. But they break under changing conditions – daily operations these days. Good breakdown from @TompkinsVentures on how optionality supercharges your WMS. https://t.co/DXNL1gMLtq #WarehouseExecution #Logistics https://t.co/I8tZUUS61n
Current NHL-to-Atlanta Proposals Are Impossible, Utterly Unrealistic
There is zero chance of this happening. None of the current NHL-to-Atlanta proposals are feasible. This is silly.
Blockade Targets Iran's Oil Lifeline, Forces Negotiation
Great piece by @PatcohenNYT in today’s @nytimes on what the blockade means for Iran’s economy. Oil exports are the life blood of Iran’s economy, so choking those off is a good inducement for the mullahs to negotiate in earnest and...
Fed's Rate‑Cut Dilemma: Weak Economy vs Rising Inflation
Normally a weaker economy might lead the Fed to cut rates. But if inflation is also rising, rate cuts risk adding fuel to the price problem. Two goals, one instrument, lousy trade-off.
Underpriced Inflation Risk: 2021 Gas Surge From Refill Delay
Still think this is an underpriced inflation risk, not due to the ME situation per se, though it doesn't help. In 2021, gas prices rose strongly too in the latter part of the year on the eve of the...
IMF Growth Forecasts Too Pessimistic, Revised Upward After Conflict
One year ago, the IMF put out its growth forecasts (blue) right after Liberation Day. Those forecasts were far too pessimistic and were revised up 6 months later (red). It's the same with this week's forecasts if the war -...
Prioritize Meaningful Conversations and Relationships for Effective Leadership
"If you want to lead well, organize your day around the conversations that matter and the relationships that need attention. That’s what compounds." - Randall Stutman (EP.497) With thanks to @AlphaSenseInc, @CanoeAI, and Ridgeline.
Trump Seeks to Turn Fed Win Into Prolonged Defeat
President Trump seems to be trying to find a way to turn an easy win on the Fed into a long slog of a loss. My latest column: https://t.co/K1glC171IN
U.S. Launches First Day of Iran Blockade
The blockade of Iran has officially begun. The first day was a bit slow, but this remains a monumental move by the U.S. Full Newsletter: https://t.co/IHDSzOzsGV #iranwar #straitofhormuz #geopolitics https://t.co/1fzk2tvwUx
AI Supercharges Growth for Diligent Startup Founders
AI is giving a lot of hard-working founders the growth they deserve. Every couple days I hear about another startup that was working hard and doing ok but not great but has now had its growth accelerated by AI.
Iran War Market Impact Mirrors April‑May 2020 Covid Shock
To the extent Covid is the analogy for the war in Iran’s impact on markets, it might be April-May 2020 rather than February 2020.
UK Growth Surged Pre‑Iran War, Highlighting Middle East Impact
The UK economy was expanding quickly in the weeks leading up to the outbreak of war in Iran, revealing the extent to which conflict in the Middle East has changed British fortunes https://t.co/98fS2AXHPL via @irinaanghel12 https://t.co/UzfESDAIWx
Spirit Airlines May Cease Flights This Week, Sell Assets
Spirit Airlines Could Stop Flying This Week And Sell Off Its Assets - View from the Wing https://t.co/145CNkriZg
Aleph Bets on Early-Stage, Capital‑efficient Contrarian Investing
And this is why @aleph remains focused on early stage investing and cares about capital efficiency. Today, that is 100% Contrarian and non-consensus.
Can Private Data Platforms Sustain Eka Ventures’ Pre‑Seed Edge?
Do VCs with private data platforms find the best pre-seed deals? Eka Ventures was early with proprietary tools, but can it keep its edge? https://preseednow.com/p/eka-ventures-camilla-dolan
5 Real Writing Rules Behind 1,200+ Posts
I've written 1,200+ social media posts in the last year. here are 5 writing rules I actually follow. none of them are "use hooks" or "add emojis."
Doubling Business With Zero Capital Through Vendor‑Financed Acquisition
the acquisition that doubled my business: not through: – more marketing spend – more staff – more locations – more effort through one deal: – motivated seller – vendor financed – zero personal capital
Booster-Backed NIL Deals Face Scrutiny; Know Valid Business Purpose
Every booster-backed business paying athletes is going to face additional scrutiny. What is a valid business purpose in an NIL deal, and what kinds of deals don’t qualify? I walk through this in my book NIL 101: The House Settlement Currently 40% off https://t.co/yBVisUkFCL https://t.co/VpmFopICjh
Germany Faces Asymmetric Risks: Small AI Gains, Large Shock Losses
Good Morning from Germany, where the risk map is brutally asymmetric. Oxford Economics says an AI boom would add just 0.1ppts to annual growth over the next 3 years. A tech downturn would cut 0.6ppts, and a worst-case trade war...
AI Accelerates FP&A Only With Strong Data Governance
AI speeds up decisions — and weak data foundations too. David Vega, Strategic Finance Leader, argues FP&A needs platform strategy and governed data products before scale turns inconsistency into noise. 🔗 https://t.co/hyI6I1HKk5 #fpatrends #aiinfpa https://t.co/a6UUjUWN0M
Jim Simons' Five Principles for Business and Life Success
The late billionaire trader Jim Simons shares his five principles of success for business and life: https://t.co/isBafKbZVx
Leverage Departing Employees for Referral-Based Hiring
When A Loyal Employee Departs – Get Their Help In Finding A Replacement (Using departing employee referrals) @DrJohnSullivan https://t.co/CECK7DIIqN #HCM #HRM #HumanResources #HRTech #CHRO #FutureofHR
Leadership Is an Infinite Game: Keep Innovating Forward
Leadership is an infinite game. The goal is to keep improving, keep innovating, and keep moving forward. Video from ServiceTitan's North Star Summit
Eurozone's 2.5% Inflation Becomes New Normal
An in the Eurozone 2.5% is the new 2%; it was before the war in Iran. I think this can be explained in part, by a simple macro framework via the interaction between looser fiscal and tighter monetary...
Winning Growth Comes From Intent, Not Mere Reach
Reach is a vanity metric dressed up as a growth strategy. Everyone's optimizing for impressions. The ones winning are optimizing for intent. Reach tells you how many people saw you. Intent tells you how many were ready. Those are not the same thing. Ran cold email...
China Q1 GDP Hits 5% Amid Tech Surge
China collapse fans will not be pleased.... China's Q1 2026 GDP just came in at 5.0% YoY — beating expectations, matching full-year 2025, fastest pace since Q2 2025. Services surging, semiconductors up 20.6%, industrial robots up 24.4%. Yes, property still a drag. Yes,...
Powell's Exit Odds Slip, Warsh's Confirmation Odds Hit Record Low
The odds of Fed Chair Jay Powell leaving the Fed's board by May 30 have fallen to 31%, according to Polymarket. The chances of Kevin Warsh getting confirmed to be the next Fed chair by May 15 have fallen to...
Meta's Low Valuation Meets Rapid Growth, Poised for Ad Supremacy
$META trades at 21.7x forward earnings. $AAPL trades at 29.7x on 9% growth. $TSLA trades at 173x. Meta is growing revenue at 27%. About to overtake Google as the world’s #1 ad platform. Full deep dive: https://open.substack.com/pub/dralexkoh/p/meta-deep-dive-the-discount-nobodys?r=4zq7nk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
ERP Tension Sparks Innovation: No One-Size Solution
The industry grapples with ERP systems: monolithic giants offering integration vs. composable solutions promising speed and flexibility. This healthy tension fuels innovation, with no single answer emerging. #ERP #TechTrends #BusinessSolutions https://t.co/SE3zcUpR4X
Strong Growth, High Cash, but Overvalued Post‑IPO
#TBTG "Revenue and Profit growth exceeding expectations". Net Cash £40.8m. ShareScope has fwd p/e 19.8 falling to 14.2; quite low rating if cash stripped out. Recent IPO and interesting. I don't hold.
Zuckerberg Emails Rivals with Unconventional Perks, Not Cash
In 2024, Google and OpenAI stole Meta's top engineers. Instead of recruiting new talent, Zuckerberg started personally emailing rival employees. His offer? Not $1 million. Not $5 million. Here's what he's giving them instead:
When Nods Hide Misalignment: 5 Warning Signs
5 signs your team isn’t aligned even if they’re all nodding. https://t.co/cO7jegZ7Ou #leadership #employees #management
Energy Prices Far Below 2022 Peaks, Economy Remains Stable
On a serious note, this utter nonsense from Luke doesn’t pass the simplest of reality tests. If you look at weighted prices across oil, gas, electricity, etc. in the West, we remain miles below peak 2022 prices - and those prices...
Lee Jae Myung Redirects Housing Funds to Boost Industry
1/9 The Economist discusses the determination of South Korea's president, Lee Jae Myung, to expand RoK industrial policy aggressively. "His plan involves diverting capital from the housing market to... https://t.co/KKRJiuWb4E
China’s Renewable Growth Dwarfs World, Contradicting Trump’s Claim
At the World Economic Forum, Trump claimed China makes renewable equipment but doesn’t use it. Reality: Over the past few years, China’s growth in wind and solar usage has exceeded the rest of the world COMBINED. TRUMP'S RHETORIC RARELY MATCHES REALITY. https://t.co/SGRBqnFkj6
AI Cuts Keyword Research From Hours to Minutes
Would you rather spend 8 hours researching keywords manually or let Claude analyze 500 competitor pages in 3 minutes and find gaps you missed?
Investors See War Relief, Yet Market Remains Uncertain
While no one has a crystal ball to foresee the exact future outcome, investors seem to be starting to think that the worst of the US-Iran war is over. As evidenced by yesterday's S&P 500 closing price. That said, I...
China’s New‑home Prices Dip 0.21% in March, Easing Pressure
1/3 Bloomberg: "New-home prices in 70 cities in China dropped 0.21% in March, the second consecutive month of easing pressure and the smallest decline in 11 months." https://t.co/OQEWA9QELf
Iran Conflict Undermines Gulf Oil Leaders' Stability
The Iran war complicates life for the custodians of the Gulf’s oil fortunes @TheEconomist https://t.co/VapxyZ5JLr
No Viable Alternative: $2 Trillion
There is no alternative (TINA). Or put it another way, where would you hide USD2trn? Not in HSI...
China's Q1 2026 Imports Surge 19.6%, Exports Rise
1/4 On Tuesday China reported that the total value of exports in the first three months of 2026 was RMB 6,846.7 billion yuan, up 11.9% year on year, while the total value of imports was 4,991.3 billion yuan, up 19.6%. https://t.co/5TDMdkLpCw
BOE’s Greene Confirms Traders Correctly Cut Rate Hike Bets
BOE’s Greene says traders were right to trim rate hike bets https://t.co/TDPziGklgr via @irinaanghel12 @flacqua https://t.co/UsKWcSk4T7
Major Sports and Entertainment Updates:
#ICYMI •Report: #PIF may end #LIVGolf funding •Fed jury: #LiveNation/#Ticketmaster operated as monopoly •#MLBPA fire James+O'Neill for cause •McGonigle-#Tigers re-up •Robinson+Kustok+Miller-#NBC #WNBA •#UCL: #BayernMunich+#Arsenal adv •Moore-#Tyrant •#NCISNewYork spinoff
Turkey's Loose Money Policy Drives Lira to Record Low
#TurkeyWatch🇹🇷: The lira hit a record low of 44.7/USD — down 17% over the past year. Turkey's M3 is growing at 39.9%/yr, well above Hanke's Golden Growth Rate of 23.4%/yr, a rate consistent with hitting Turkey’s inflation target. TURKEY’S MONETARY POLICY IS...
Government Aims to Retain 51% Stake Post‑merger, Reassuring Investors
Merger Progress & Ownership Structure: Recent reports (April 7, 2026) indicate the government is actively exploring ways to maintain a 51% stake in the combined entity following the PFC-REC merger. This clarity has reassured investors about the entity's continued status...
Startup Failures Are Timing Issues, Not Talent Flaws
The startup failure rate isn't 90%. Most ventures don't die dramatically. They fade. Cash, customers, and conviction run out at the same time. That's a timing problem — not a talent problem. Most failures are recoverable if you catch them early enough. Know your...
China Q1 GDP Hits 5%, Growth Imbalance Worsens
1/8 China’s first-quarter GDP grew by 5.0%, faster than the 4.8-4.9% most polls suggested, but the composition of the growth was more unbalanced than ever, especially in March. https://t.co/Wa8M2mo1rR