What I spend is someone else’s income. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs discussed every morning at breakfast with his family about buying a set of Miele washing machines and dryers from Germany for two weeks. Why? Of course, it was to teach their children about economics and to illustrate a lesson about opportunity cost, a common trait among wealthy people. If you buy this washing machine, you cannot buy that one. That is the opportunity cost. It’s a form of relative value, based on the idea that choosing one option means sacrificing another, so the value of each can be compared within those limits. Wealth begins with training in understanding even trivial opportunity costs. To succeed in business, you need to learn how to measure opportunity cost first, rather than just how to make money. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
Can we sell pesticides to the Maasai? In Maasai culture, flies represent wealth. Ranching and livestock inherently attract flies. If someone arrives and removes the flies, there is no Maasai to welcome them. The focus of the business is not on selling products but on conveying “meanings.” - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”