Anti-Capitalist Cafe Goes Broke.
Imagine opening a business but hating money so much that you chose to run an anti-capitalist cafe. Well, you don’t need to imagine anything because that’s exactly what Gabriel Sim-Fewer did, and it worked out just as you’d expect it to… He couldn’t afford to hire anyone and couldn’t make any profit. Gabriel, who opened […]
Do you thrive in conflict and disagreement?
One of the greatest assets a business owner can have is a team that will disagree with you. And while I know that sounds counter-intuitive, it’s worked for every great leader I can think of. Abraham Lincoln is remembered for building his cabinet full of worthy rivals who could go toe-to-toe with him. Likewise, JFK […]
How the Nobel Peace Prize Became A Laughing Stock
This is the second email in a two-part series that I never intended to write… but due to popular demand, here it is. If you missed the first one, you can read it in the archives here (scroll down a bit, the subject is “The Merchant Of Death Is Dead.”) ===== When Obama won the Nobel Peace […]
Why values on a wall suck
Once upon a time, I remember reading in a book that it was important for every business to have a set of corporate values. Eager to “do the right thing”, I hurriedly got to work, opening up a Canva doc and listing out what embodied us at the time: INTEGRITYHARD-WORKENCOURAGEMENT… I saved my creation as […]
The merchant of death is dead
One of the most famous true stories about regret from a man who did not take action is that of Alfred Nobel, the dynamite inventor and the Nobel Prize founder. In 1888, Alfred Nobel’s brother Ludvig died in France. And a French newspaper mistakenly published an obituary for Alfred instead. The obituary headline read: “The […]
Commitment and Convenience: Pick one.
The team and I at AA are currently faced with a dilemma. It applies to us all, so I wanted to share it with you. This dilemma centres around something that every gym, clinic and fitness business owner has to face at some point, and it asks this question: “Do I optimise for convenience or optimise […]
The Facility Fallacy + More
Jordi and I had a cracker conversation on the podcast yesterday. It went in many directions, but was full of nuggets of gold, like: – The fallacy of the fancy facility, and why prioritising aesthetic is a mistake for most. – The real reason your members stay (and it’s probably not what your website says)… – […]
What do Musk, Bezos and Jobs all have in common?
One of the most important lessons I’ve had to learn the hard way is this: “How you run your business in the good times will determine how well you manage the bad times.” And speaking honestly, I’ve likened the last ~12 months of running AA to feasting at the dinner table over Christmas – food […]
You’re not stupid and you don’t suck
You need to have realism, scepticism and self-criticism as a business owner to survive. This is something I call ‘healthy paranoia’ (not to be confused with the manic, ‘monster in the closet’ kind). The reason I call it healthy is that the alternative is blind optimism, and that will have you eaten alive by the […]
The little things make the big things
One of the most underrated entrepreneurs of all time is Truett Cathy. He’s like a supercharged Ray Kroc (the Mcdonald’s guy) but with the temperament of Warren Buffett. While you may not have heard the name, you’ve probably heard of what he built… Chic Fil-A. Each Chic Fil-A store makes about 3x more than a […]
