Keep Running
Collaborative Fund partner Morgan Housel has a knack for elucidating important truisms through stories. This time around, the former Wall Street Journal columnist uses evolution to highlight the need for continuous change in business and investing. "Startups have their obvious challenges," he writes. "They're trying to find their niche. But once that niche is found and perfected, old companies discover a whole new minefield. They get complacent, bureaucratic, cocky, and unwilling to discard what once worked so well. There is never a point where a company can indefinitely coast along, cashing the chips of past success. Everyone has to keep running." Though exhausting, continuously running is how businesses best serve customers and remain relevant. As a counterexample, consider the April 14th edition of Beach Reads, which examined the risks associated with bailouts for industries (think airlines) that are poor at evolving (specifically, the ossification and entrenchment of such companies is a net-negative to society). So, like Housel, I hope companies keep running. I also hope that we, as investors, continue to evolve to stay current in a changing world.