After writing about Zappos yesterday, I remembered a few interesting things that I didn’t mention in the post about the company. I had heard about the wonderful customer service and company culture about 3 years ago. So I decided to do a little experiment. I called the customer service line to talk with whoever answered, to find out what it was like to work at Zappos.
Tony Hsieh, Co-founder of Zappos
I had heard about what a great company Zappos was, but I was a bit surprised when I actually talked to the customer service representative. Before I tell you what happened when I called Zappos, let’s think back about what a “normal” customer service call is like.
Read more…
Business Strategy, Dreams Come True, Success
Amazon, business, customer service, happiness, shoes, Success, tony hsieh, zappos
Now I am reading Delivering Happiness
by Tony Hsieh. Tony is a co-founder of Zappos, the online shoe company that was recently sold to Amazon for $1 billion. I highly recommend this book because it is entertaining and fun to read.
Yet it is also filled with some deep meaning. Tony shares his story about how he sold his first company, Link Exchange, to Microsoft for $265 million. His own share was $40 million. But here’s the interesting part. He would be paid $8 million for staying with the company for one year.
Read more…
Business Strategy, Dreams Come True, Great Books, Internet, Money, Success
Amazon, billionaire, customer service, entrepreneur, fun, millionaire, Money, Success, tony hseih, zappos
Here at Online Investing AI, we are dedicated to using new technology to develop Automated Trading systems. But there is one small problem with a purely programming approach. It does not allow us to leverage off the best trading strategies that people have already developed. That’s where you come in.
Are you a successful trader? Are you looking for ways of using new technology and Artificial Intelligence to improve your trading strategies? If the answer is yes, then we are looking for you.
Read more…
Accelerating Technology, Automated Trading, Business Strategy, Success
AI, Automated Trading, backgammon, business p, chessrtner, Money, partnership, Success
Here is the second installment about my new investment system. So far, I explained some trades in silver and gold. This post is about trades in the currency markets.
Unlike many currency trading system, this system is not an intraday system. I expect the trades to last for several months, at least. They are based on global economic policy, and the massive printing of U.S. dollars. These trades are based on the belief that the Indian and Chinese economies will perform better than the U.S. economy in the near future. Read more…
Investing, Money, Success, US Economy
currencies, dollar, forex, Money, risk, rupee, stop loss, Success, US, Yuan
After reading about 25 books on investing, trading and automated trading, I finally came up with an investment system. Hopefully it will help crystallize your own investment philosophy.
Although there is an unlimited amount of information available about investing, it is a real challenge to find the good stuff. What is the good stuff, anyway? I think “good” information about investing (and in general) has the following characteristics: Read more…
Automated Trading, Investing, Money, Success
401k, eft, gld, Investing, methods, Money, plan, retirement account, slv, Success, system
After writing yesterday’s post about the True Cost of a Car, I took a look down and saw my cell phone. I thought about how much a cell phone really costs, in the context of financial freedom.
A $45,000 Cell Phone
How much does a cell phone really cost? How much do you pay? For a cool phone like an iPhone, it costs $299 for the phone, plus $36 for an activation fee. Then, it costs about $110 per month for calls, data and text. Add taxes and other fees and it comes out to about $135 per month. Divide the startup costs by 24 (months), and the average monthly cost is $150.
Why does it cost $45,000?
Read more…
Dreams Come True, Investing, Money, Success
android, cell phones, crowds, ERE, iPhone, Money, spending, status, Success, waste
Like most things in life, we usually make snap decisions about buying a car. We go to a dealership to “look at cars”, and two hours later we are excited to discover we are driving our shiny new car home. Has this happened to you? It has to me.
Unfortunately, this is the worst possible way to buy a car. $250 per month may sound affordable, but nothing could be further from the truth. $250 per month does not come close to the cost of owning and using a car.
Read more…
Dreams Come True, Investing, Money, Success
car, cost, debt, ERE, groceries, Investing, Money, payment, retirement, Success, work
I recently received a call from a recruiter, and he sounded like the guy from Idiocracy
. Have you seen this movie? If not, you really need to see it. It is about the dumbing-down of America and the lowest common denominator of human being. It’s about drinking Gatorade and eating fast food.
The Guy from Idiocracy
After talking to the recruiter for a few minutes, I actually thought it was a joke. Why would anyone trust him to find good people? Why would anyone even bother to talk to him? His diction was so poor I didn’t really understand what he was saying. I could tell he knew absolutely nothing about programming. I just kept remembering the frustrations of the main character in the movie when he tried to communicate with the “normal” people.
Read more…
Dreams Come True, Money, Success, US Economy
dumb, fast food, future, government, idiocracy, Money, politicians, singularity, Success, tax check
After reading this article about Hedge Funds Buying Gold, I remembered so many of the reasons that it is such a great investment. I have posted about gold numerous times in the past. Many individuals think that gold is overvalued because it has quadrupled in the last 10 years. But if you consider many different metrics, it is actually undervalued.
Gold Price 2000 - 2010
What kind of metrics would you use to figure out how accurately gold is valued? I think the best one is its ratio to the money supply. There is a relatively fixed supply of gold. When governments (like the U.S.) start printing money at a furious pace, then the price of gold is going to rise. Since gold is priced in dollars, more dollars naturally makes the price of gold rise.
Read more…
Great Books, Investing, Money, Success
gold, government, hedge funds, Investing, job, Money, Success, trends
As Social Security begins to collapse and the millions of baby boomers begin to retire, many will wonder where all the money went. It was only last year when would-be retirees lamented,
“My portfolio is down 50%, so I can’t retire. I don’t even open up those statements anymore”
Dow 2006 - 2010
Did you see these people on the news? I remember them clearly. But now that the market has recovered, they are long forgotten. And the lesson was not learned. Most people have their entire retirement account invested in mutual funds. As soon as the market goes down again they will be in the same unenviable position.
Read more…
Investing, Money, Success
Investing, Money, mutual funds, retire, risk, social security, stop loss, Success, train wreck
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.
