“This is a historical lesson of immense significance and should be kept in mind by anyone who thinks his refusal of Bitcoin means he doesn't have to deal with it. History shows it is not​ possible to insulate yourself from the consequences of others holding money that is harder than yours.”

How did it work? It was pretty simple: people just swapped things. It worked fine, except if you didn’t have something your neighbor needed. Once people figured out you could exchange universally valued objects for goods, everything changed.From there, we’ve gone from all kinds of currency to valuable metals, and now paper printed by governments. But since we ditched the “gold standard” of money and started relying only on easily manipulated paper money, we’ve seen a century of boom and bust and increasing debt.

The World Before Money

<ul><li>What makes good currency is that it is salable or easily sold. With the technology of smelting metals, early pre-Christian civilizations could make highly salable coins that were also extremely portable.</li><li>The preferred type of coin was gold.</li><li>When transportation and communications boomed from the 18th to the 20th centuries, nonphysical forms of payment like paper bills and checks became justified. The way they convinced people to trust these pieces of paper was by backing them with gold.</li><li>Britain led the way with this standard to back bills with gold, known as the “gold standard.”</li></ul>

What Makes Good Currency

A good’s salability across time refers to its ability to hold value into the future, allowing the holder to store wealth in it. For a good to be salable across time it has to be immune to deterioration.Similarly, with money, it was inevitable that one, or a few, goods would emerge as the main medium of exchange because the property of being exchanged easily matters the most. A medium of exchange is not acquired for its own properties, but for its salability.Monetary status is a spontaneously emergent product of human action, not a rational product of human design.

Salability

<ul><li>Money has come in all shapes and sizes throughout history, but there’s only ever been one truly sound system: money backed by gold.</li><li>The “gold standard” underwrote an age of prosperity and stability. That all changed in the early 20th century when European governments abandoned gold and fiscal prudence to fund their war efforts.</li><li>The world hasn’t been the same since, and we’ve endured decades of rising debt and boom-and-bust cycles.</li><li>Bitcoin, like gold, it’s a highly effective unit of exchange. But the digital currency will have to overcome some teething problems.</li></ul>

Money Backed By Gold

<ul>
<li>Different currencies were simply different weights of physical gold, and the exchange rate between one nation’s currency and the other was the simple conversion between different weight units, as straightforward as converting inches to centimeters.</li>
<li>In the same way metric and imperial units are just a way to measure the underlying length, national currencies were just a way to measure economic value as represented in the universal store of value, gold.</li>
<li>Each country’s money supply was determined by the natural working of the market system.</li>
</ul>

The Gold Standard

The fatal flaw of the gold standard was that settlement in physical gold was heavy, expensive, and insecure, which meant it had to rely on centralizing physical gold reserves in a few locations—banks and central banks—leaving them vulnerable to being taken over by governments.
Although gold was supposedly demonetized fully in 1971, central banks continued to hold significant gold reserves, and only disposed of them slowly, before returning to buying gold in the last decade.

The Flaw of The Gold Standard

Money whose supply is hard to increase is known as hard money (sound), while easy money is money whose supply is amenable to large increases (unsound).<ul><li>The easy money trap: anything used as a store of value will have its supply increased, and anything whose supply can be easily increased will destroy the wealth of those who used it as a store of value.</li><li>Money that is easy to produce is no money at all, and easy money does not make a society richer; on the contrary, it makes it poorer by placing all its hard‐earned wealth for sale in exchange for something easy to produce.</li></ul>

Hard Money, Easy Money

<ul>
<li>It protects value across time, which gives people a bigger incentive to think of their future, and lowers their time preference (this is what initiates the process of human civilization and allows for humans to cooperate, prosper, and live in peace.)</li>
<li>Sound money allows for trade to be based on a stable unit of measurement, facilitating ever‐larger markets, free from government control and coercion, and with free trade comes peace and prosperity.</li>
<li>A unit of account is essential for all forms of economic calculation and planning, and unsound money makes economic calculation unreliable.</li>
</ul>

The Importance of Sound Money

Time preference for money is an individual's preference for possession of a given amount of money now, rather than the same amount at some future time. The time preference for money is generally expressed by an interest rate. This rate will be positive even in the absence of any risk. The natural implication of this process is to reduce savings and increase borrowing.
Individuals will consume more of their income and borrow more against the future. This will not just have implications on their time preference in financial decisions; it will likely reflect on everything in their lives.

Time Preferences of Money

The 20 century’s binge on conspicuous consumption cannot be understood separately from the destruction of sound money and the outbreak of vilifying savings and deifying consumption as the key to economic prosperity.<ul><li>The reduced incentive to save is mirrored with an increased incentive to spend, and with interest rates regularly manipulated downwards and banks able to issue more credit than ever, lending stopped being restricted to investment but has moved on to consumption.</li><li>Credit cards and consumer loans allow individuals to borrow for the sake of consumption without even the pretense of perf<warningtag>orming investment in the future.</warningtag></li></ul>

Consumption Is Key

After the First World War, financial deficits forced European powers to drop the gold standard. They introduced fiat money, which was backed by decree instead of gold. This switch led to an age of unsound money where governments could intervene in the economy to stabilize the value of their currencies. 
Unsound money causes a myriad of problems, like recessions and debt. Interventions of governments distort markets and cause boom and bust cycles. The only solution would be to establish a new gold standard. This is where Bitcoin comes in.

The New Gold Standard

... because it is scarce, secure, and unique.
<ul>
<li>Bitcoin has a fixed supply— there will never be more than 21 million in existence. </li>
<li>They also have a stable supply because, like gold, bitcoins are mined.</li>
<li>Bitcoins are the only good defined by absolute scarcity, which makes them immune to manipulation. </li>
<li>It’s also incredibly secure. The public ledger, known as the blockchain, keeps a record of all recent transactions. Everyone can see it, and it is backed by every computer on the network, making it near-impossible to manipulate.</li>
<li>The best part is you don’t even need a central authority to oversee it.</li>
</ul>

Bitcoin Could Replace Money As We Know It

<ul>
<li>Bitcoin can thus be understood as a technology that converts electricity to truthful records through the expenditure of processing power. </li>
<li>Those who expend this electricity are rewarded with the bitcoin currency, and so they have a strong incentive to maintain its integrity. As a result of attaching a strong economic incentive for honesty, Bitcoin’s ledger has been practically incorruptible for the period of its operation so far.</li>
<li>By relying entirely on verification, Bitcoin dooms fraudulent transactions to failure and obviates the need for trust in anyone for transactions to be completed.</li>
</ul>

Verification > Trust

Bitcoin can be seen as the new emerging reserve currency for online transactions, where the online equivalent of banks will issue Bitcoin-backed tokens to users while keeping their hoard of Bitcoins in cold storage, with each individual being able to audit in real time the holdings of the intermediary, and with online verification and reputation systems able to verify that no inflation is taking place.This would allow an infinite number of transactions to be carried out online without having to pay the high transaction fees for on-chain transactions.

Bitcoin As a Reserve Currency

We know it is incredibly promising, but of course, there are challenges.
<ol>
<li>One of these is price volatility. This volatility is mostly due to demand, and because it’s so new, demand is highly variable. People wonder how it can be reliable if it fluctuates.</li>
<li>Bitcoin needs to grow. But eventually, Bitcoin would need to rely on centralized institutions to continue growing. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a viable way around this: the more transactions that happen, the more copies of the ledger need updating. All of this requires higher transaction fees and more processing power.</li>
</ol>

Bitcoin: The Challenges

Crypto? Blockchain? NFTs? Let us decrypt..

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Cryptocurrency

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

Getting started with Cryptocurrency

A deep dive into the role money has played across history and how Bitcoin fits in.

A comprehensive and authoritative exploration of Bitcoin and its place in monetary history When a pseudonymous programmer introduced “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few people paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications. While Bitcoin is an invention of the digital age, the problem it purports to solve is as old as human society itself: transferring value across time and space. Author Saifedean Ammous takes the reader on an engaging journey through the history of technologies performing the functions of money, from primitive systems of trading limestones and seashells, to metals, coins, the gold standard, and modern government debt. Exploring what gave these technologies their monetary role, and how most lost it, provides the reader with a good idea of what makes for sound money, and sets the stage for an economic discussion of its consequences for individual and societal future-orientation, capital accumulation, trade, peace, culture, and art. Compellingly, Ammous shows that it is no coincidence that the loftiest achievements of humanity have come in societies enjoying the benefits of sound monetary regimes, nor is it coincidental that monetary collapse has usually accompanied civilizational collapse. With this background in place, the book moves on to explain the operation of Bitcoin in a functional and intuitive way. Bitcoin is a decentralized, distributed piece of software that converts electricity and processing power into indisputably accurate records, thus allowing its users to utilize the Internet to perform the traditional functions of money without having to rely on, or trust, any authorities or infrastructure in the physical world. Bitcoin is thus best understood as the first successfully implemented form of digital cash and digital hard money. With an automated and perfectly predictable monetary policy, and the ability to perform final settlement of large sums across the world in a matter of minutes, Bitcoin’s real competitive edge might just be as a store of value and network for the final settlement of large payments―a digital form of gold with a built-in settlement infrastructure. Ammous’ firm grasp of the technological possibilities as well as the historical realities of monetary evolution provides for a fascinating exploration of the ramifications of voluntary free market money. As it challenges the most sacred of government monopolies, Bitcoin shifts the pendulum of sovereignty away from governments in favor of individuals, offering us the tantalizing possibility of a world where money is fully extricated from politics and unrestrained by borders. The final chapter of the book explores some of the most common questions surrounding Bitcoin: Is Bitcoin mining a waste of energy? Is Bitcoin for criminals? Who controls Bitcoin, and can they change it if they please? How can Bitcoin be killed? And what to make of all the thousands of Bitcoin knockoffs, and the many supposed applications of Bitcoin’s ‘block chain technology’? The Bitcoin Standard is the essential resource for a clear understanding of the rise of the Internet’s decentralized, apolitical, free-market alternative to national central banks.

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History

Discover the world of business and economics.

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Economics

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Books

A comprehensive and authoritative exploration of Bitcoin and its place in monetary history When a pseudonymous programmer introduced “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few people paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications. While Bitcoin is an invention of the digital age, the problem it purports to solve is as old as human society itself: transferring value across time and space. Author Saifedean Ammous takes the reader on an engaging journey through the history of technologies performing the functions of money, from primitive systems of trading limestones and seashells, to metals, coins, the gold standard, and modern government debt. Exploring what gave these technologies their monetary role, and how most lost it, provides the reader with a good idea of what makes for sound money, and sets the stage for an economic discussion of its consequences for individual and societal future-orientation, capital accumulation, trade, peace, culture, and art. Compellingly, Ammous shows that it is no coincidence that the loftiest achievements of humanity have come in societies enjoying the benefits of sound monetary regimes, nor is it coincidental that monetary collapse has usually accompanied civilizational collapse. With this background in place, the book moves on to explain the operation of Bitcoin in a functional and intuitive way. Bitcoin is a decentralized, distributed piece of software that converts electricity and processing power into indisputably accurate records, thus allowing its users to utilize the Internet to perform the traditional functions of money without having to rely on, or trust, any authorities or infrastructure in the physical world. Bitcoin is thus best understood as the first successfully implemented form of digital cash and digital hard money. With an automated and perfectly predictable monetary policy, and the ability to perform final settlement of large sums across the world in a matter of minutes, Bitcoin’s real competitive edge might just be as a store of value and network for the final settlement of large payments―a digital form of gold with a built-in settlement infrastructure. Ammous’ firm grasp of the technological possibilities as well as the historical realities of monetary evolution provides for a fascinating exploration of the ramifications of voluntary free market money. As it challenges the most sacred of government monopolies, Bitcoin shifts the pendulum of sovereignty away from governments in favor of individuals, offering us the tantalizing possibility of a world where money is fully extricated from politics and unrestrained by borders. The final chapter of the book explores some of the most common questions surrounding Bitcoin: Is Bitcoin mining a waste of energy? Is Bitcoin for criminals? Who controls Bitcoin, and can they change it if they please? How can Bitcoin be killed? And what to make of all the thousands of Bitcoin knockoffs, and the many supposed applications of Bitcoin’s ‘block chain technology’? The Bitcoin Standard is the essential resource for a clear understanding of the rise of the Internet’s decentralized, apolitical, free-market alternative to national central banks.

Saifedean Ammous

The Bitcoin Standard

The phrase ‘the early bird catches the worm’ isn’t lore–it has very real-world repercussions. Most millionaires (and, naturally, billionaires) get their game face on as early as 5:30am.

Start The Day Early 

The biggest marker of a person slated for success? The desire to keep learning. Only the arrogant truly believe they know everything there is to know. The people who know the most, however, always believe there is much more they don’t. Example: Former chairperson and chief executive officer of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi believes that no amount of questions is too many to ask. “I spend so much time on details that from the outside it can seem crazy,” Nooyi told Huxleў in a 2021 interview. “But the details are most important in the management of the organisation. So dig deep. Be curious.

Stay Curious

Even though they might seem like risk-takers in every possible way, most millionaires are creatures of habit. Their day usually follows a format; one that optimises for their time and productivity. From an early start to a set bedtime, to designated time for exercise, emails and down-time, most super-successful folks have their day charted out in advance.Mark Cuban has specified times for everything; from cardio to TV. Warren Buffet goes to bed at 10 pm every night, reading for about 30 minutes before sleeping at 10:45pm.

Make–And Follow–A Routine

‘Dream’ is a buzzword that is bandied about a lot in motivational speeches, but the most successful people know that the real distinction is not to have dreams, but goals. A dream is a general idea, a wish for something that you desire personally or professionally.A goal, however, is a clear feat you want to accomplish; and it comes with a path to getting that you need to create. Equally important is setting goals for yourself that are a challenge; that push you a few inches further out of your comfort zone each time.

Set Clear Goals

It takes a village to make a person successful, and anyone who’s got to the top of their field will back that statement up. Not to take away from the hard work of the millionaires that have risen through the ranks, but success is never a single-player game.As Dr. Majid Kazmi, CEO of uGen Group puts it, “It may sound paradoxical, but strength comes from vulnerability. You have to ask the question to get the answer, even though asking the question means you didn't know.”

Ask For Help

There’s a lot less that separates you from the average millionaire than you think. I mean, sure, it's a few zeros in your bank balance and a few vintage cars in your garage, but a lot of the people you admire right now started out not too far from where you are. 

Rewiring your thinking could be what makes you rich

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Productivity

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Personal Development

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Time Management

5 mental habits of millionaires that will help you become successful

In the first half of 2021 alone, Corporate Venture Capital funds (CVCs) around the world inked more than 2,000 deals worth more than $70 billion. It’s an increasingly prevalent alternative to traditional funding options such as VCs and angel investors — but how can entrepreneurs determine whether a CVC is a right fit for their startup? To build a successful partnership, founders must determine the CVC’s relationship with its parent company, the structure and expectations that will guide its decision-making, along with a cultural and strategic alignment with the key people involved.

The Right Angel Investor

Traditionally, startups have looked to three primary sources for funding: venture capital firms (VCs), angel investors, and family offices. But in recent years, a fourth option has grown increasingly popular: corporate venture capital funds, or CVCs. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of CVCs grew more than six times to over 4,000, and these CVCs inked more than 2,000 deals worth $79 billion in the first half of 2021, surpassing all previous annual tallies.

The Rise Of CVCs

In <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/organizational-structure-decision-making-corporate-venture-capital">a survey of global CVC executives</a>, 61% reported that they didn’t feel like the senior executives of their corporate parent understood industry norms. In addition, because of their parent companies’ business imperatives, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOStnEM8wBOZhBEWbiDc_iMAiFY3EY2p9">many CVCs</a> may also be more impatient for quick returns than traditional VCs, potentially hindering their ability to provide long-term support to the startups in which they invest. Moreover, even a patient, veteran CVC can pose problems if other existing investors aren’t on board.

The Stats

A strategic CVC prioritizes investments that directly support the growth of the parent. For example, Henkel Ventures is upfront about its focus on strategic rather than financial investments.This approach works well for startups that require a longer-term perspective.

Four Kinds of CVCs: 1. Strategic CVCs

Financial CVCs are explicitly driven by maximizing the returns on their investments. These funds typically operate much more independently from their parent companies, and their investment decisions prioritize financial returns rather than strategic alignment. Financial CVCs still offer some connection to the parent company, but strategic collaboration and resource sharing are much more limited. A financial CVC is generally a good fit for startups that have less in common with the mission of the parent company, and/or less to gain from the resources it has to offer.

2. Financial CVCs

The third type of CVC takes a hybrid approach, prioritizing financial returns while still adding substantial strategic value to their portfolio companies. Hybrid CVCs often maintain looser connections with their parent companies to enable faster, financially-driven decision-making, but they still make sure to provide resources and support from the parent as needed.

3. Hybrid CVCs

Finally, some CVCs are in transition between a strategic, financial, and/or a hybrid approach. As the entire investor landscape continues to grow and evolve, it’s important for entrepreneurs to be on the lookout for these in-transition CVCs and ensure that they’re aware of how the potential investor they’re talking to today may transform tomorrow. For example, in 2021 Boeing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/05/boeing-to-spin-off-venture-capital-arm-horizonx.html">announced</a> that in a bid to attract more external investors, it would spin off its strategic CVC arm into a more independent, financially-focused fund.

4. Transition CVCs

Entrepreneurs should start by speaking with employees at the parent company to learn more about the CVC’s internal reputation, its connectedness within the parent organization, and the KPIs or expectations that the parent has for its venture arm. An outfit with KPIs that demand frequent knowledge transfer between the CVC and parent company might not be the best match for a founder looking for no-strings-attached capital — but it could be perfect for a startup in search of a hands-on corporate sponsor.

Explore the Relationship Between the CVC and Its Parent Company

Once you’ve determined the CVC’s place within its larger organization, it’s important to delve into the unique structure and expectations of the CVC itself. Is it independent in its decision-making, or tightly linked to the corporate parent, perhaps operating under the umbrella of a corporate strategy or development department? If the latter, what are the strategic objectives that the CVC is meant to support? What are its decision-making processes, not just for selecting investments, but for giving portfolio companies access to internal networks and resources?

Determine the CVC’s Structure and Expectations

Ultimately, the people are the most important component of any potential deal. Before moving forward with a CVC investor, make sure you have a chance to speak with key executives from both the CVC and the parent company, in order to understand their vision and culture. It can also be helpful to chat with the CEOs of one or two of the CVC’s existing portfolio companies, to get an inside scoop on issues you might not otherwise uncover.

Talk to Everyone You Can

As CVCs become more and more prevalent, entrepreneurs are likely to be faced with a growing number of corporate funding opportunities alongside traditional options. These investors can bring substantial value in the form of resources and support — but not every CVC will be the right fit for every startup. To build a successful partnership, founders must determine the CVC’s relationship with its parent company, the structure and expectations that will guide its decision-making, and most importantly, their cultural and strategic alignment with the key people involved.

The Bottom Line

In the first half of 2021 alone, Corporate Venture Capital funds (CVCs) around the world inked more than 2,000 deals worth more than $70 billion. It’s an increasingly prevalent alternative to traditional funding options such as VCs and angel investors — but how can entrepreneurs determine whether a CVC is the right fit for their startup? The authors discuss the results of a series of quantitative analyses and qualitative interviews exploring the CVC landscape, identifying four common types of CVCs and three recommendations for founders considering a CVC investment: To build a successful partnership, founders must determine the CVC’s relationship to its parent company, the structure and expectations that will guide its decision-making, and most importantly, their cultural and strategic alignment with the key people involved.

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

business

Business

Is Corporate Venture Capital Right for Your Startup?

Courage gives us strength. Courage opens doors. Courage saves lives. Courage helps us grow in small and big ways. Everyone from a college graduate entering the workforce for the first time to a world leader running a country must act with courage, not just once but repeatedly. Being courageous is a key component of strong leadership. But what exactly is courage, and how can we access it?

What Is Courage? 

Like so many complex psychological human characteristics, courage can be difficult to nail down. On the surface, courage seems like one of those “I know it when I see it” concepts. Here is the seven traits of courageous people.

How To Be Courageous

<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Intentionality: Be intentional, say no when necessary and be mindful about working on what matters most fosters courage.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Purpose: A person who has strong clarity on their “why,” and who intentionally aligns their actions with their calling, has a higher likelihood of overcoming fear and achieving courageous goals.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Curiosity And Openness: Be curious and open about new things and opportunity</li></ol>

Seven Traits Of Courageous People

4. Commitment: Be consistent on your goal, vision (Why?), no matter what challenges and obstacles your facing right now. It will boost your confidence as well as courage. 5. Embracing Risk: Courage requires taking intentional risks. And the bigger the risk, the more courage it takes (and the bigger the outcome can be). Never afraid of taking risks.

6. Adaptability: People who are able to adapt to change, embrace feedback, navigate new environments and un-learn the human tendency to lean toward comfort and predictability demonstrate a higher capacity for courageous decision making.7. Acceptance: The sooner you can embrace what is and let go of expectations you've attached to particular outcomes, the faster you can navigate life with more courage.

These traits exist within all of us to varying extents. Courage lives within us, even when we don’t feel brave. Courage is not only a noun but a verb. Anyone can "courage" a scary next step, courage their integrity, courage their future. Choosing courage as an action leads to personal growth and positive change. One way you can tap into courage at any time is to ask yourself, “How can I courage this moment?”

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Startups

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

The Psychology Of Courage: 7 Traits Of Courageous Leaders

Blockchain is bringing fast change to global trade and finance. While the application of the technology is still in the proof of concept stage, it could play a positive role in diverse industries and sectors, including banking, commerce, healthcare, insurance and government. Companies could gain near-instant global access to their funds any time and anywhere. Organisations such as banks that can harness the power of this technology can make worldwide trade and financial services much stronger.

Blockchain will bring fast change globally

A blockchain consists of individual blocks of data involving a series of related transactions linked together in consecutive order. Blockchain allows all parties to share a digital ledger across a computer network without a central authority.

How blockchain works

Blockchain can bring greater efficiency and transparency to the banking industry, such as allowing cross-border transactions in real-time. It has enormous potential implications for global trade and commerce. It can become very efficient because of the number of parties connected to a transaction in a shared infrastructure.

The promise of blockchain

How blockchain will revolutionise banking

The goal of Satoshi Nakamoto's invention of Bitcoin was to enable two willing parties to transact directly without needing a trusted third party.   The reason is that modern banks have flaws and disadvantages to the consumer. Due to their centralized nature, they can be unreliable, vulnerable to security threats, charging fees and even biased. This is why cryptocurrencies will pave the way for a better banking and payments experience in the future.

Why cryptocurrencies exist

You entrust your money to banks, and in turn, they become gatekeepers of your finances. If you use mobile banking and their servers are down, you can't access your finances unless you go to the local ATM and withdraw cash. Cryptocurrencies never go out of service as they use automated systems and are always accessible.  Cryptocurrencies are bought through crypto exchange platforms and stored in safe and secure crypto-wallets. They are decentralized and operate very securely.

Unreliability of traditional centralized banks

Banks make over $15 billion a year in overdraft fees. But fees can take many other forms, including late penalties, returns, using an out-of-network ATM, money transfers, inactivity, international remittances fees, and customer support. Cryptocurrencies don't charge you so many fees for transactions. The most common fees for crypto transactions are called gas fees, a reward given to miners for entering transactions on the blockchain or executing the transactions.

Crazy banking fees

With centralized banks, large amounts of cash or international payments can take a week or more. Cryptocurrency transactions are quick and can handle more daily transactions than traditional banking systems. The financial service issuing officer can deliberately delay transactions or even freeze your assets. Thousands of people have their life savings frozen by banks and exchanges every month.

Transactions can take a long time

Bank transactions depend on account numbers and personal information, making them open to biases.  Cryptocurrencies don’t judge or profile you. The decentralized nature minimizes human interactions, which makes them free from biases.

Bank transactions and financial services are open to biases

Many platforms today share your data with third parties.  Centralized banks can share your personal and sensitive data, such as passport or ID information, residence address, SSN, and employment information with their affiliates or partners or third-party buyers,

Data collection

According to a survey by Accenture, banks suffer an average of 85 attempted serious cyber attacks a year, and one-third are successful. As a result, some people lose large sums of cash from their accounts or get scammed. The systems are also prone to fraud and especially money embezzlement. Crypto relies on a distributed network of computers all over the world. Crypto is more secure and reliable because it uses anonymous ID numbers in transactions and is tamper-resistant.

Security Issues

Banks make over $15 billion a year in overdraft fees according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Real Problem With Centralized Banks And Why Crypto Is Inevitable

When investors deal with an exceptional event, they often say, ”This time, it’s different.”  It is more likely to happen during the formation of bubbles. For example, in 2021, investors and commentators said we were in a bubble for growth stocks and SPACs. While some said it was similar to the Dotcom crash of 2000, other investors said we're certainly not in a bubble. We were, and it started to crash from mid-2021.

Expectations during the formation of bubbles

Didier Sornette, a former professor of Entrepreneurial Risks at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, published a book,  Why Stock Markets Crash, and found that half to two-thirds of all bubbles crashed. Stock market events repeat themselves. When fiscal policy is easy, and credit comes cheap, asset prices rise. The trend inevitably reverses at some point.

Stock market bubbles

The “hot hand” fallacy is a cognitive bias that assumes a person who experiences a successful outcome has a greater chance of success if they continue.  When you invest during a bull market, you may feel like a winner on every investment or trade. But hot streaks never last. It is unsustainable if you want to build long-term wealth.

The “Hot hand” fallacy: When you can’t lose

Extrapolation is estimating the values of a variable based on known data. Scientists can look at the existing birthrate and use that data to extrapolate the future population. However, it's not a reliable method when dealing with finance and the economy.For example:<ul><li>If today is bad, you assume the future will worsen. </li><li>If today is good, you assume the future will be even better.</li></ul>Nothing lasts forever, not the bad or the good times.

The “Over-extrapolation” fallacy: The future is not the same

Long-term investing is about ensuring you can keep investing. It's not about the right stocks, taking risks, buying low or selling high. Smart investors stay in the game regardless of the conditions. They recognize patterns in the market and their own thinking, which is an important characteristic of sound investing.

The aware investor avoids losing all their money

"This time it’s different.” That's one of the investing fallacies that makes investors lose money. Here are two others to avoid.

”This Time it’s Different” and 2 Other Investing Fallacies

Growing from concept to millions requires adaptability, in mindset & skillset.Especially from the founder, who needs to shift his/her daily responsibilities with growth.See below the roadmap for bootstrappers created by Casey Clark from Cultivate Advisors. <a href="https://emojipedia.org/backhand-index-pointing-down/">👇👇👇</a>

Founders must be ready to evolve

In the early days, with no money or network, founders need to do everything.Flush with passion, the challenge at this stage is knowing how to channel energy into results.To graduate from the hustle phase, spend 70% of your time on sales.

1. Hustler

Reading too many (or the wrong) business books encourages founders to focus on the wrong things.<ul><li>You don't need systems to scale or perfect OKRs (yet) -- you need sales. </li><li>Become a master of selling & set the foundation for growth.</li></ul>

You need sales

There is no timetable for success, and hustlers understand this. They are willing to work hard, from morning to night, until they reach their goal.

You've proven that this idea has legs. Now how can you optimize your offering and your processes?
<ul>
<li>A/B test your offer</li>
<li>Add employees & vendors to fulfill tasks not in line with your strengths</li>
<li>Find ways to lower customer acquisition costs before scaling</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
Begin building processes to produce repeatable results. Establish KPIs/ OKRs so that a quick snapshot can give insights into the health of your business.
</blockquote>

2. Experimenter

Ready for scale, founders need to delegate. Probably delegating is the hardest phase because it requires putting your ego aside and empowering others to perform, but, most often, the person appointed to a task ends up being more effective.Many bootstrappers get stuck in this phase because it's uncomfortable relinquishing control.It's difficult to shake the desire to "protect" what we've built.It usually unfolds like this...

3. Visionary

With a fully functioning team, you need to add management to replace yourself.It's challenging because it's expensive, risky & will remove you from the day to day.But it's essential to pave the way toward giving the company what it needs:<ul><li>This phase includes letting others control budgets, make hiring decisions, and design processes (without your input).</li><li>On the other side of systemizing is the opportunity to scale for years to come.</li></ul>

4. Systemizer

You've built a product with demand, attracted talent & built systems.<ul><li>Amplify everything by becoming a respected voice in your industry.</li><li>Use social media to build a following. The earned authority and trust will attract customers and talent.</li><li>Position yourself to be a keynote speaker at industry events. Being an influencer gives you the inside track on acquisitions & opportunities for growth that others will miss out on.</li></ul>The power of influence can't be overstated.

5. Influencer

Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

What’s your best tip to become an effective delegator? 

Master these 5 roles to scale your startup

Price is the most delicate element of the marketing mix, and much thought goes into setting prices to nudge us towards spending more.There’s one particularly cunning style of pricing strategy that marketers use to urge you to change your choice from one choice to a costlier or more profitable one.It is called the “Decoy Effect.”

The decoy effect: how you are influenced to choose without really knowing it

Imagine you are in a movie house and now are searching for a cola drink. You have got two options. The cheapest is at Rs 200/-for 200 ml.The pricier at Rs 400 for 450 ml.Which one you select will rely upon some assessment of their relative value for money.It is not immediately apparent, though, that the costlier option is the best value. It does have over twice the amount, but what are they worth?Now consider the above choice in light of the 3rd option of Rs 300 for 300 ml.

Relative value for money.

The decoy effect is defined as the phenomenon whereby consumers change their preferences between two options when presented with a third option — the “decoy.”

Decoy Effect

When consumers have many alternatives, they often experience “choice overload.” In an endeavour to cut back on this anxiety, consumers tend to simplify the method by selecting only a pair of criteria (say price and quantity) to see the simplest value for money.Through manipulating these key choice attributes, the decoy steers you in a very particular direction while supplying you with the sensation that you are making a rational, informed choice.

How do decoys work?

The decoy effect can cause us to spend and consume more than we’d like. When a decoy option is present, we tend to make decisions based less on which option will suit our purposes and more on what seems like the most advantageous choice.

Individual effects

Decoys are a commonly used tool by businesses and corporations to “nudge” us into buying more quickly than we’d like.

Systemic effects

ven though we believe that we make all of our decisions consciously and deliberately, in reality, we are often unaware of things that have influenced our choices or how they need to affect us.Decoys justify our choice.When people make decisions, their goal isn’t to select the right option. Instead, the goal is to justify the result of a choice they’ve already made.Decoys serve to de-stress the decision-making process in additional ways than simply providing a nice-sounding explanation — they also settle the anxiety of having too many options to decide on.

Decoys work subconsciously.

The decoy effect is simplest when there are only three options in play: target, competitor, and decoy. Whether you’re out shopping, or you’re evaluating political candidates, try and notice when things take place in groups of three — there could also be a decoy within the mix.

Beware of sets of three.

Your thinking style plays a role in how likely you’re to be laid low by the decoy effect. One study, which involved over 600 participants, found that the people most affected by a decoy were those who relied on intuitive reasoning.

Don’t trust your gut.

Apple unveiled its new iPod priced16GB for $229. 32GB for $299. and 64GB for $399.In other words, double the storage for a further $70; you also get more features.However, if you choose to double the capacity (32GB to 64GB), you pay a further $100, but you don’t get extra features. Therefore, you may conclude that the 32GB version offers the most effective value for money.So, only some would buy the 16GB version and even fewer would choose the 64GB version.But, the very fact is, the 16GB and the 64GB versions are the decoys to make the 32GB version more appealing and also the best choice.

How Apple uses the decoy effect

Talks about the one of the most Important Marketing Weapon of the industry.

There’s one particularly cunning style of pricing strategy that marketers use to urge you to change your choice from one choice to a costlier or more profitable one. Imagine you are in a movie house…

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

The broad increase in the price of goods and services. This results in a decrease in customers' purchasing power. Customers buy less than what they were able to buy before. This increase is not limited to goods and services alone but also to the country's economy.

Inflation

When the cost of goods and services decreases and purchasing power increases meaning customers can buy more with less.This is caused by :• Increase in productivity of goods and services• A decrease in demand • A decrease in the supply of money and credit Although this might seem like a positive scenario it may also indicate a weakening economy.

Deflation

Inflation within the wage growth can stimulate demand, boosting productivity and increasing spending.However, when inflation surpasses wage growth it may indicate that the economy is in trouble. In a healthy economy, inflation normally ranges between two percentage points(<2%)

The Economy

When the customer demand for goods and services exceeds the supply in the market When there's an increase in the prices for raw materials and inputs for the final product on the side of the producer. Producers have to increase their prices so consumers have to pay more for the price increase.

Cause of Inflation

Consumers: lose purchasing power with the rise of prices of goods and services meaning they buy lessCompanies:Increase prices for goods and services as they lose buying power for the input material they require for finished products.

Consumers & Companies

This is how inflation is measured.• CPI measures the overall change in consumer prices based on a representative basket of goods and services over some time. • The CPI is the most widely used measure of inflation and deflation, closely followed by policymakers, financial markets, businesses, and consumers. (INVESTOPEDIA)

Customer Price Index(CPI)

Inflation in a nutshell : Credit to Karla Brown 

Inflation 

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The decoy effect: how you are influenced to choose without really knowing it

Inflation

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