Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Warby Parker, an eyewear brand renowned for its direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model, and Allbirds, an eco-friendly shoe brand that went public on NASDAQ in 2021, exemplify innovation in connecting manufacturers directly with consumers without intermediaries. This model promotes a positive image by endorsing an eco-friendly business approach. However, the disclosure of the companies’ financial statements revealed that both had accumulated losses greater than anticipated. While it would have been ideal for manufacturers to supply products directly to consumers, the burden of inventory increased along with rising administrative and marketing costs. Distributors in the middle shared profits, but they also shouldered the financial burden. Choosing eco-friendly options often incurs higher costs due to the search for alternatives, which can lead to accumulating losses. Pollution negatively impacts both consumers and suppliers, and business deficits further inflict additional damage that c...

When an organizational leader is busy, the organization is at risk. There is a high probability that work is abnormally concentrated on the leader or that the tasks currently being pursued are unsuitable for the organization. If leaders fail to address the right issues due to their own busyness or if tasks are not properly distributed within the organization, a crisis will soon arise. Being busy does not equate to sincerity. Instead, we must recognize the warning signs of limitations to survive. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

No matter how smart you are, if you don’t exchange values, you’ll starve to death. For one thing, being self-sufficient enables survival, but self-sufficiency is only possible if you have your own assets and can borrow from others. However, even with existing assets, one can only survive through minimal labor and effort, which means engaging in productive activities. Thus, having great intelligence and applying that intelligence to productive activities are two different things. Even if you aren’t brilliant, you can survive if you are productive. It’s essential to identify the productive activities in which I excel and those where I need improvement. If I understand that, I must act without looking back. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Some people live because of ‘doubt,’ others because of ‘confidence,’ and some because of ‘guess.’ Often, people make a living based on the positive factors we think of, but the opposite is also true. In fact, there are instances where positive factors threaten livelihood. Some people thrive on accuracy and certainty, while many live amid the unsettled and uncertain. The world is not always bright. There are many different ways to live and principles to follow. What do I do for a living? - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

People often say that as one gets older, time passes more quickly, while in youth, time seems to move more slowly. The reason individuals feel that time goes by more slowly when they are young is likely due to a decline in memory. As children, people have limited experience, so everything feels new, and they tend to remember new things well. Having less experience translates to fewer memories. Because there are so many new memories, children perceive time as passing slowly. However, as people age, experience accumulates, and they typically become better at predicting situations, making it easier to cope, resulting in fewer surprises. Since these experiences are not exceptional, they tend to forget them, and when reflecting on the past, there’s little to recall, creating the sensation that time flies. Among the aspects of aging, what is scarier than the decline of the senses is the deterioration of expectations. If the flavor of food becomes predictable based on accumulated experience, ...

Wealth is the state of accumulating added value. Most of us consider money a tool for accumulating value, but there are many other forms in this world. However, all other values are typically expressed as ‘price,’ which is a value compared to goods in terms of money. Therefore, a preconceived notion exists that most means of accumulating value are strictly monetary in nature. Nevertheless, various tools for accumulating value are available, such as jewelry, luxury goods, bonds, and real estate. The value of goods produced by labor is referred to as ‘price.’ Labor can only be directed toward production when the price level is slightly higher than the value of money. Hence, it is normal for prices of goods to continue rising. If they rise excessively, it leads to inflation; on the other hand, if they fall below their value, it results in deflation. There is a problem between the gaps. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Production and processing create added value. Wealth is the accumulation of this added value. Distribution shares this added value among economic entities. Cultivating coffee trees generates added value for green coffee beans, while roasting those beans adds further value to the coffee product. Grinding the beans and extracting them with water creates and consumes the added value of a cup of coffee. Finance enables the distribution of the added value generated by this production and processing through the use of money, facilitating the easy accumulation of that value. However, finance can leverage its power only because there was prior production and processing. The challenge arises when the compulsory circulation power of currency enables the ownership of labor and resources that underpin production and processing, along with real estate, which is foundational to its existence. If production, processing, and distribution are dictated by money’s compulsory circulation power, who will g...