And You Think Your Portfolio Stinks… The Real Story of Thanksgiving
Investing always involves some risk. But, this was ridiculous.
The investors were betting on a company that didn’t even have a product. They had a few ideas. Maybe they would trade commodities, like grain or tobacco. Maybe they would trade precious metals–that move paid off for some Spanish entrepreneurs.
Some of the investors weren’t impressed with the entrepreneurs or their management, either. Oh, they were visionaries alright. They had a glorious elevator pitch: they weren’t just going to create a new industry; they were going to create a new world. But they had a habit of pissing people off. They were a bunch of separatists, actually.
After examining the business plan more closely, some investors had a problem with distribution. Trying to get the products to market would be a problem. You could say there was an ocean between the factory and the market.
Investors got even more bad news when they found out that company morale was pretty low after a series of mistakes and accidents left the band of entrepreneurs far off their planned destination. Storms had destroyed their supplies. Sick leave was at an all-time high. (Don’t even get me started about the death leave policy.) And office politics had reared its ugly head in a big way.
About the only thing going for the company was that they made an excellent joint venture. These partners knew the lay of the land and were wonderful project managers. They had already mastered the domestic market. With this partnership in place, the company re-couped some its losses and started to ship back product.
They even showed a profit the next year. And with some of the profit, they had a company-wide celebration.
And that’s why, even today, we celebrate the first-ever company picnic.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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- Four Real Dangers Of An Economic Recovery
- When Genius Failed: The Story of Long Term Capital Management
- A Buy and Hold Success Story
- Lie: It Takes Too Much Time And Effort To Manage A Portfolio
- Rules For Revolution: Love Hurts (Your Portfolio)
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is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
