Cross‑disciplinary Knowledge Creates Unbeatable Competitive Edge
Michael Bloomberg: "There might be better traders than me and there might be people who know more about computers. But there's nobody who knows more about both." Most people try to be the best at one thing. That's hard. Bloomberg’s overlap is where he built a $100B+ empire. He was never the best trader or the best technologist. He just understood both deeply enough to see what everyone else missed. Knowledge that's standard in one field looks like magic in another. Talk about optimizing AI algorithms to a finance crowd and they look at you like you're from the future. Say the same thing at an SEO conference and people yawn. Flip it around. Explain the math behind roll-up strategies to a group of SEOs and suddenly you're the most interesting person in the room. The knowledge didn't change, just the audience. Here’s how I use this. 1) If I’m building from scratch This overlap is basically my filter. If I'm entering a market where my only edge is "I'll work hard and figure it out," I'm competing against thousands of people with the same plan. The competition is just too brutal without some kind of compounding advantage, and two overlapping skill sets that rarely show up together is the most reliable version of that I've found. 2) If I'm investing in someone When I'm evaluating an operator who wants to acquire a company, "I spent 10 years in logistics and I also understand SaaS metrics" is a way more interesting thesis than "I went to a good MBA program and I'm looking for a business to buy." The logistics person sees operational waste a generalist buyer literally cannot see during diligence. They know which KPIs are vanity metrics and which vendor relationships are load-bearing. Then the SaaS brain gives them a framework for systematizing *real* improvements post-close. That combination at a B+ in both creates something an A+ specialist in either field can't replicate. The math: The mistake is grinding from the 90th percentile to the 99th in one discipline. That last 9% is brutally expensive in time and capital. Meanwhile, getting to the 75th percentile in a complementary skill might take less than a year, and the combination puts you somewhere few others are standing.
EBITDA Compares, Not Values: Beware Cash Flow Gaps
Charlie Munger famously said: "every time you see the word EBITDA, you should substitute the words 'bullshit earnings'." He's half right. (yah look at me contradicting the eternal god of wisdom) But for real investors mess up when they try and use EBITDA...
Embrace “Good Enough” Speed, Focus, and Delegation
"What would an incompetent CEO do that would still outpace me?" I added this one question to my morning planning/journal sesh and it's had an impact. It spurs thoughts that I probably wouldn't have otherwise: - They'd say good enough, ship it, improve...
Software PE Firms Facing Near‑total Equity Wipeout
Just how bad a shape are software-focused private equity firms in? My napkin math says that if going by public comps, then for many, most of the equity has now been wiped out.
Bootstrapped SaaS Thrives on Trust, Not Code
Gah such a great take. I don’t invest in large SaaS plays, but on the micro end, especially for bootstrapped founders, it’s still a fantastic place to build.