Finwinwin

An Amazing Poem About Money And Modern Life

2006-04-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Thoroughly Modern Man

They tell me that
I can have thousands
of naked women
at my beck and call
slipping unnoticed
through a tiny wire
in my wall

They tell me that
I can own the treasures
of China and Europe
by driving my car
a mere five miles
to their
weekend only
parking lot super-sale

They tell me that
for $59.95
plus shipping and handling
I can quickly learn to master
my emotions
my work
my wife
my life

And they tell me all of this
with a straight face
assuring me that
if I cannot
pay now
I can pay later

In January
Or something

I am applauded
even rewarded
for being a flat-broke
perverted pack rat
with a bad marriage
and no
self-control

It is an old place,
the Vanity Fair
but its merchants
now wield ivy-league MBA’s

And its hours of operation
are no longer confined
by space and time

But only by
the imagination
and affections
of
The
Thoroughly
Modern
Man

Found via charteuse.wordpress.com at knifegunpen.com

Both blogs belong to the same person.

The Long Tail 101 (Malay)

2006-03-03T03:15:00.000-08:00

Teori Long Tail 101
Teori Long Tail menyatakan bahawa budaya dan ekonomi kita saban hari semakin berganjak daripada fokus kepada beberapa “hits” yang kecil (dalam produk-produk serta pasaran-pasaran utama) dibahagian hadapan garis liku permintaan kepada sebilangan niche-niche yang berjumlah besar di bahagian ekor garis liku tersebut. Akibat kos produksi serta distribusi yang semakin berkurangan, terutamanya di ruangan online, maka kini terdapat keperluan yang berkurangan untuk mengelompokkan produk-produk serta konsumer-konsumer kepada kelompok yang menggangap “satu saiz akan memenuhi keperluan kesemua orang.” Dalam era dimana batasan fizikal ruang kedai dan kemacetan ruang distribusi telah menghilang, produk-produk serta servis yang mempunyai target yang amat khusus boleh menjadi suatu asas perniagaan yang mempunyai pulangan ekonomik yang menarik sama seperti produk-produk serta servis-servis yang lebih mainstream.

Satu contoh yang boleh diberi ialah, ramalan teori ini yang menyatakan permintaan untuk produk-produk yang tidak boleh didapati daripada pembekal tradisional mempunyai potensi pasaran yang sama besar daripada produk-produk yang boleh didapati. Namun begitu, perkara ini sama juga untuk video yang tidak dapat didapati daripada siaran di TV dan radio. Dalam erti kata lain, potensi saiz agregat untuk pasaran-pasaran yang kecil ini dalam produk-produk yang biasanya tidak mempunyai permintaan yang baik dalam saluran pemasaran tradisional serta penyiaran mungkin dapat menandingi produk-produk dalam pasaran sediakala yang melepasi aras ekonomik tersebut.

Terma Long Tail ini merujuk secara spesifik kepada bahagian berwarna kuning dalam carta penjualan diatas, yang menunjukkan garis liku yang standard untuk sebarang industri daripada industri hiburan hinggalah kepada produk-produk yang pejal. Bahagian berwarna merah diatas pula merujuk kepada produk-produk yang “hits” yang telah mendominasi pasaran-pasaran kita serta budaya kita dalam kurun yang baru lepas ini. Bahagian kuning diatas pula merujuk kepada yang “bukan-hits” ataupun “niche-niche” yang mana merupakan sumber pembangunan ekonomi masa kini dan juga di masa hadapan.

Dalam ekonomi penjualan retail tradisional, kedai-kedai hanya akan menyimpan produk-produk yang “hits” kerana mereka mempunyai batasan ruang simpan yang mahal. Namun begitu, para penjual online (seperti Amazon dan ITunes) mampu menyimpan apa saja secara virtual, dan jumlah produk niche yang disimpan mereka melebihi jumlah produk hits mereka dalam magnitud yang berkali ganda saiznya. Berjuta-juta niche ini adalah yang digambarkan oleh bahagian “ekor panjang” juga dipanggil sebagai Long Tail, yang selama ini telah diabaikan akibat tumpuan perniagaan kepada produk-produk yang hits di bahagian “hadapan kepala yang pendek” ataupun dikenali sebagai Short Head of hits.

Apabila para konsumer dihadapkan dengan pilihan-pilihan yang infinit, garis liku graf permintaan akan dapat dilihat dengan lebih jelas. Dan ianya kelihatan lebih kurang tertumpu kepada produk-produk hits yang kita selalu fikirkan. Orang ramai lebih suka kepada produk-produk niche kerana ianya dapat memenuhi citarasa terperici dengan lebih baik. Satu perkara lagi ialah, dalam suatu aspek kehidupan kita, kita semua mempunyai minat mendalam kepada suatu bahagian yang amat unik dan bersifat niche (sama ada kita sedar atau tidak).

Projek-projek kajian kami telah cuba untuk mengkuantifikasikan teori Long Tail ini dalam tiga cara yang berbeza, iatu membandingkan data daripada penjual-penjual online serta offline dalam industri musik, filem serta buku.
1. Apakah saiz Long Tail (didefinasikan sebagai inventori yang biasanya tidak terdapat di dunia offline)?
2. Bagaimana akses kepada niche-niche yang pelbagai akan mengubah bentuk garis liku permintaan? Adakah ianya akan berganjak jauh daripada produk-produk hits?
3. Apakah alat-alat serta teknik-teknik yang menjadi asas anjakan tersebut dan yang manakah yang paling efektif?
Artikel Long Tail (serta buku yang akan diterbitkan kelak) adalah tentang akibat yang akan muncul disebabkan oleh fenomena ini: bagaimana ekonomi serta budaya kita sedang berganjak daripada pasaran yang bersifat umum kepada berjuta-juta niche. Ia meriwayatkan peranan-peranan teknologi yang telah membuatkan para konsumer lebih mudah untuk mencari dan membeli produk-produk yang niche, akibat fenomena “ruang kedai yang infinit”---termasuklah mekanisma-mekanisma distribusi yang baru, seperti pemuaturunan digital hinggalah fenomena pasaran peer-2-peer, yang menghancurkan batasan penyiaran serta kedai runcit tradisional.

Artikel yang terdapat di Wikipedia tentang subjek teori Long Tail mempunyai huraian yang lebih baik untuk pemahaman yang lebih mendalam untuk subjek ini.

A translation of an original post by Chris Anderson. Click here to learn more about the Long Tail.

GBAT (Malay Version)

2006-03-03T02:19:00.000-08:00

Ujian Kemahiran Bozofikasi Guy (GBAT-Guy’s Bozofication Aptitude Test).

Jika senario-senario yang disenaraikan dibawah menggambarkan organisasi anda, sila berikan satu markah untuk setiap senario.

1. Dua perkataan yang paling popular dalam syarikat anda adalah “rakan sekutu” dan “strategik.” Lebih dari itu, perkataan “rakan sekutu” telah menjadi kata kerja, dan perkataan “strategik” digunakan untuk menggambarkan keputusan-keputusan serta aktiviti-aktiviti yang tidak masuk akal.

2. Bahagian pengurusan memutuskan untuk mengadakan pertemuan di tempat-tempat seperti Ritz Carlton untuk memperbaiki saluran komunikasi syarikat serta untuk membuat pernyataan misi syarikat.

3. Pernyataan Misi syarikat diatas mempunyai lebih daripada dua puluh perkataan---yang mana dua daripada nya ialah “rakan kongsi” serta “strategik.”

4. Bahagian pentadbiran CEO anda mempunyai badan pentadbirannya yang tersendiri.

5. Ritma bio kawasan meletakkan kereta anda kelihatan seperti ini:
* 8:00 am - 10:00 am—Kereta Jepun melebihi kereta Jerman
* 10:00 am - 5:00 pm—Kereta Jerman melebihi kereta Jepun
* 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm—kereta Jepun melebihi kereta Jerman

6. Jabatan Sumber Manusia anda memerlukan ijazah MBA untuk sebarang jawatan; ia juga memerlukan lima hingga sepuluh tahun pengalaman bekerja dalam suatu industri yang hanya wujud empat tahun lalu.

7. Masa kini dianggap lebih penting daripada wang hinggakan anda mempunyai kafeteria syarikat, kelab kesihatan, serta servis kecantikan untuk binatang kesayangan pekerja. Lebih dari itu, perkara pertama yang ditunjukkan oleh para pekerja kepada para pelawat ialah kafeteria syarikat, kelab kesihatan, dan servis kecantikan binatang tersebut diatas.

8. Artis yang mempunyai musik yang di jual di kedai online ITunes muncul dalam persembahan untuk parti Krismas syarikat.

9. Seorang pekerja dibayar gaji khususnya untuk menulis blog.

10. Beberapa pekerja membaca blog tersebut untuk mendapat maklumat tentang isu-isu semasa dalam syarikat tersebut.

11. Anda lebih ternggangu oleh kejayaan syarikat saingan anda berbanding dengan situasi dimana anda kehilangan seorang pelanggan.

12. Pengurus pengurus di bahagian pertengahan anda pernah bekerja di syarikat-syarikat produk konsumer. Zoli Erdo

13. Anda mengupah firma konsulting terkemuka yang membawa masuk MBA-MBA yang hanya mempunyai setahun pengalaman untuk membuat rombakan strategi korporat anda.

14. Syarikat anda menyukai beberapa MBA ini dan menawarkan mereka jawatan dalam firma anda dan meninggalkan firma-firma konsulting terkemuka diatas.

15. Para pekerja di meja hadapan menjadi lebih menawan namun begitu dengan kompetensi yang lebih rendah. Jeff Barson

16. Anda hanya dapat melihat kelibat CEO anda apabila anda menonton CNBC. Laurie Sefton

17. Anda menonton CNBC di siang hari tanpa sebarang perasaan bersalah.

18. Nisbah jurutera kepada peguam di firma anda jatuh dibawah 25 hingga 1. Margerite

19. Syarikat mula mencetak poster “Falsafah Syarikat.” George

20. Frasa-frasa “Menggunakan leverasi kompetensi utama” serta “Memaksimumkan pulangan pemilik saham syarikat” mula muncul dalam dokumen-dokumen rasmi syarikat, dalam perenggan yang sama.

21. Eksekutif-eksekutif yang baru memulakan kempen untuk memperbaiki suatu produk sebelum memahami sepenuhnya bagaimana caranya untuk menggunakan produk tersebut. Bill Liao

22. Syarikat anda menggunakan penyumberan luaran untuk membuat pernyataan misinya. PUnk.

23. Kerusi CEO anda adalah lebih mahal daripada kereta pertama anda. JoeC

24. Anda mempunyai lebih dari dua eksekutif dengan perktaan “Ketua” di nama jawatan mereka. Gautam

25. Firma anda menjadi punca pembuatan item-item remeh-temeh yang mempunyai logo syarikat: pena, beg, pad nota, beg-beg penghantaran. Hadley Stern

Jika item item berikut benar untuk situasi syarikat sila berikan dua mata untuk setiap pernyataan.

26. CEO anda menulis buku
27. CEO anda dijemput ke Forum Ekonomik Dunia di Davos, dimana dia memberi nasihat kepada para president negara-negara Eropah Timur.
28. Syarikat anda memiliki kapal terbang jet nya yang tersendiri.
29. Syarikat anda mengupah seorang atlit professional yang yang bersara sebagai penceramah motivasi.
30. Syarikat anda mengupah seorang ahli politik yang telah bersara sebagai penceramah motivasi.
Markah maksimum yang boleh didapati ialah 35 point. Semoga tuhan menolong diri anda….

A Quick Tip To Teach Money To Your Kids

2006-02-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Categories: Financial Literacy, Money, Kids

I want share with you a success story of teaching money to kids. David Bach, author of the Automatic Millionaire column shared the secret of his financial success.

He attributes his success to his grandmother who taught him as a kid to develop the mindset of an investor and not merely a consumer. I have reproduced a small part of this wonderful article here. Please go through it and enjoy. And if you wish to read more click the link at the end of this post.

My grandmother, Rose Bach, was an amazing woman. A career woman at a time when most women weren't, she eventually became a self-made millionaire by teaching herself how to invest in stocks. She also changed my life by teaching me at a very young age how to invest, thus starting me on the road to financial success.
I received my first lesson from her when I was seven. We were having lunch one day at McDonalds's when she put down her Big Mac and said, "David, I want you to go ask the woman at the counter if McDonald's is publicly traded."
Publicly what?
I didn't know what she was talking about, and I had no intention of asking the woman at the counter such a weird question
But Grandma was adamant. "Go ask, and I'll give you a buck," she said. Back then, a buck was a lot of money, so I ran to the counter to find out what she wanted.

The woman at the counter didn't know what to make of a seven-year-old asking, "Are you publicly traded?" So she got the manager. He asked me what the problem was, and when I explained that Grandma wanted to know if McDonald's was publicly traded, he said, "Well, let's go talk to her."
He escorted me back to Grandma, introduced himself, and explained that McDonald's was publicly traded -- on the New York Stock Exchange, no less.
My grandmother smiled. "I know," she said. "I just wanted my grandson to learn how to ask!"

"I just want him to learn how to ask"

This is such an inspiring article. I wished when I was growing up that I had a grandmother like that. If only I started early to be responsible with my finances, I am sure my life would be much more different. Luckily its not too late for me yet.

"I just want him to learn how to ask"--that is such an inspiring question. I think we all should follow the example of grandma Rose. This question is worth more than all the money you could give to your kids. This could help him or her to be more financially responsible in life.

I end here for today...but here's the link to the rest of the article quoted above (click here).

1 Thing That Malaysian Politicians Lack

2006-02-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

There is an write-up on a Malaysian entrepreneur Dr. Nik Mohd Zain Omar at www.Malaysiakini.com. This is what the article teaser stated (in Malay),

Orang politik perlu membabitkan diri dengan perniagaan bagi membolehkan mereka menjadi pemimpin yang berkesan, kata pemilik syarikat perkapalan Nepline Berhad, Datuk Dr. Nik Mohd Zain Omar. [click here for more]

Let me translate it in English,

Politicians needs to involve themselves in business to enable them to be effective leaders, says the owner of shipping company Nepline Ltd, Datuk Nik Mohd Zain Omar. [click here for more]

In Malaysia, the general perception is that there is already tremendous participation of politicians in the business space of the country. And it is usually in the form of corruption and cronyism.

But this is not what this Malaysian entrepreneur probably meant. I think he is trying to point out the fact that many of the government public enterprises failed and are failing are due to the lack of real world business experience of our leaders. Most of them were thrust into administrative positions that requires them to run multimillion ringgit worth of assets.

They often fail to perform because these responsibilities require a business savvy individuals. More entrepreneurial spirit. Getting popular votes for the elections does not necessarily one becomes a good leader overnight. I think Datuk Nik Mohd Zain Omar has a good point here.

I would like to add, maybe most of them has no business to be part of the elected representatives too. Maybe they would do the whole country good if they just stay at home and mind their own business.

Categories: Politics, Entrepreneurship

5 Reasons Why This Blog Is Not Really About Money!

2006-02-16T00:15:00.000-08:00

Some of you would be turned off by the words "Money Mastery" of my blog title. But if you think this blog is only obsessed about making money then you are wrong.

Below are my personal reason to embark on a Money Mastery Quest:

1. I value TIME more than money. I believe time is more important than MONEY. It's really important to buy back my time. Right now, I am chained to the reality of needing a 9-5 job. That takes away 8 hours of my life. I want to buy that time back. I don't want to keep growing older having less and less time for my family.

2. I value RELATIONSHIP more than money. Many relationship problem rise due to conflicts in the way we manage money and money expectations. If I value my relationships, I must be able to master my personal financial habits. I also need to master a way of talking about money to the people that I love. I must find a way so that money conflicts becomes a starter of open discussions about money decisions and not something that divides two people in love.

3. I value PURPOSEFUL work more than money. Purposeful work is a job that you cherish and are passionate about. Many people are in a job because they need the money. They are scared to go out solo and start their own thing.

The idea of being stuck in a job, will never exist if more and more people are enterprising. But entrepreneurship is risky. It's safer to be in a job, whether it is purposeful or not. But being stuck in job you hate is like being stuck with a girlfriend that you don't love. Or married to a spouse you never cherished.

Thus, I believe if I wish to have a purposeful and passionate job, I must start a business and be more entrepreneurial. For that I need to master money because many business fail in the first five years due to financial mismanagement. Heck, if I mismanage my personal finance is it rocket science to see that I would bring the same cancer to a business?

4. I value CHARACTER more than money. I realise now that the discipline of managing money in a right way...do spill over to other areas of my life, turning me into a better student, work associate, family member. It forces me to hold closely the principles of personal integrity, discipline, delaying gratification. For example, making budgets forces me to prioritize my needs and wants and discipline my impulse for quick gratification.

Yes, mastering money can build character.

5. I value MONEY. Surprised? Yes, money do have value. Since childhood I keep hearing people say that money is evil. But now I see, money is not evil but rather the heart of men. Money has it's own value. There are things that money can and cannot buy. I want to understand this invention of man called money. If I understand the value of money, I would be a master to it and not a slave to it.

Categories: Financial Literacy, Money Reflections

Spiderman Needs A Financial Planner

2006-02-14T17:02:00.001-08:00

Spiderman 2 was released about nearly two years back, but even a repeat viewing does not diminish its entertainment value. It was one of the rare movie sequels that was better than its first installment.

Watching it again prompted me to make a few observations.

1. I sincerely feel Peter Parker really do need a financial planner. Our friendly neighbourhood superhero seems to have "never ending woes" when it comes to money management.

Perhaps if he is more careful with managing his money he won't be in such a bad shape trying to always hide from his landlord when it comes to paying rent, and other financial obligations that a young adult has.

2. I also believed that if the Super Villain, Dr. Octopus knew how to invest his money, he won't need to steal money from the bank to further support his research work.

If they can't afford the money, I think grabbing a book by Robert Kiyosaki, or Suze Orman would surely help them see how important money skills are to achieve their goals in life. Money skills are critical survival skills today that is more important than jumping over buildings, fighting masked men in public and wearing spandex costumes.

If I ever meet these guys...I would give Spidey a copy of "The Richest Man In Babylon." And to Dr. Octopus "The Millionaire Next Door."

Maybe I am stretching too much "money talk" for the movie. Anyway, I must confess that, Spiderman 2 really is one hell of a movie. Highly entertaining. Full of action. On second thought, if these two masked character had financial planners---it probably won't be this entertaining!

Categories: Financial Literacy, Reflections, Pop Culture