Walt Disney gained worldwide fame with the animated film ‘Steamboat Willie,’ but Disney’s first studio went bankrupt. By the mid-1930s, he had produced over 400 animations, most of which suffered heavy losses. In 1938, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made $8 million in just the first half—more than ten times the earnings of other films. Meanwhile, with this animation, the company paid overdue wages to its employees and recovered the losses it had sustained. An unusual event that changes everything is called a “tail event.” 40% of publicly listed companies in the U.S. stock market lose nearly all their market capitalization 10 years after going public. Business and investing, after all, are based on probabilities. No one knows what the “tail event” will be. Therefore, to succeed, you need to try small, steady, many times with little impact, even if you fail. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
A big supermarket can do business in the suburbs because of wheels. If someone asked me what is one of the greatest inventions in human history that civilization has ever developed, I would say "wheels." The automobile is also a wheel. Shopping carts are also wheels. Without wheels, how many people would go far and carry heavy loads? Mass distribution is possible because of wheels. To do bulk sales, you have to have a lot of inventory. That means you need a lot of storage space. It also means you need cheap real estate. The trivial circle, the wheel, is the key to solving all these constraints in one shot. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”