Of course it creates strong attention and turmoil when Jeff Bezos (Founder at Amazon.com) makes a move, such as buying the Washington Post. Gabe Stein writes on fastcolabs.com; “It’s not a coincidence that billionaires keep buying newspapers. Warren Buffett has been buying them up for the last year, and last week, Red Sox owner John Henry bought the Boston Globe.” That is an interesting “thing”, but what is the point – seen from the link between psychology and business angle, what can you learn from it?
Make the investment right
Let me get straight to the point! Business is not about finding the right investment, its about making our investments right. How to make the investments right of course has several key factors, but most important is to get what is means, to make our investments right.
Sense of how to impact
Making the investment right starts with perception. How do we see the world? When someone with a vision invests in something, they have a clear idea of how they want the world to develop in the future. They have some sense of how they are going to impact the world in that direction, and they NEVER buy the status quo. They are not buying to wait, they are buying to act. This is how an investment is made right!
What are you having in mind
So when Mr. Bezos is investing in the Washington Post, and we trust him to be a visionary, he is not buying what you and I see – he is investing in his vision, and that will contain something different. But one thing I think is worth having in mind, is that newspapers contains something similar to books, but in a different shape, human knowledge!
So the point for anyone who did not buy the Washington Post is the following; what do you know that can make you make you investments right?
When no one else wants it
When trying to replicate the successes of Bezos, Buffett, Gates, Jobs and other business messiahs, we are actually doing the total opposite of what they are doing – we replicate instead of create! I mean Bezos is buying Washington Post when “no one else wants it” – when the talk in general is writing of newspapers. The present owners of “The Post” had to realize, 2013 will the 7th year in a row with declining business. He is minding his own business, not being part of the general trend, but BEING the trend. Suddenly newspapers are the exciting news. What happened to newspapers? Nothing – it’s all about psychology and how it links to business.
What is the value of that
Making the investment right claims true knowledge, not just the ability to analyze the here and now conditions. Look at the Facebook stock. What happened? The stock came out, big fuss; a lot of opinions and talks about the company’s ability to sell adds and create revenues? The current and stagnated mindset of online earnings is centered around selling adds and if the “great visionary” is on, the knowledge Facebook has on everyone of us. But what about the impact Facebook has on our lives? What about the emotions the product provides to the social network market? What about the connections people create being part of the Facebook? And what about the people working at Facebook ability to making the investment right? What is the value of that?
Most important
So can Bezos make something right out of the Washington Post? Time will tell! But most important, are you systemizing your knowledge and putting it into action in a sense that makes the world believe your business and your products is the right investment?
Good reads
http://www.fastcolabs.com/3015344/jeff-bezos-bought-the-washington-post-for-one-thing-distribution