4 ms·

The core (flawed) assumption is that a thousand year business is desirable. As a business owner and a worker I don’t want to work in my great, great grand pappy

The core (flawed) assumption is that a thousand year business is desirable. As a business owner and a worker I don’t want to work in my great, great grand pappy’s toothpick company. I want to have opportunities to create my own business, make profit, enjoy profit, hand modest generational wealth to my descendants and die without regrets. Thousand year business are not the way to achieve my goals and my goals are not incomplete with debt. I hold debt on my house. My future is tied to that debt and I wouldn’t have it another way (I mean unless you want to pay off my house).

CaptainZapp 3y ago
Maybe Japan and the Japanese have some different values than our fast charging Western world? Let me introduce the Shokunin (translated as Artisan, when you look it up on Wikipedia, which isn't quite right). What a Shokunin produces is, sort of, the antithesis of what you can order from Temu. A rather interesting blog post[0] explaining the concept: "Shokunin is more than just a craftsperson or artisan. It represents the devotion and lifelong commitment of craftsmen who dedicate themselves to perfecting their art. They embody the values of dedication to craft, excellence in craftsmanship, and masterful work. Shokunin believe in meticulous attention to detail and uphold the highest standards of quality and skill in their work." For us Westerners it's not fathomable to work 20 years, or a lifetime, ro achieve a perfect product. Who's to say that this concept is wrong? And I think it has a lot to do with a society who believes that a 1000 year old company is not only desirable but a virtue. [0] https://tobyleon.com/blogs/art-design/shokunin-japan-artisan-craftsmanship https://tobyleon.com/blogs/art-design/shokunin-japan-artisan...
its_ethan 3y ago
So you're saying his assumption is incorrect because you want something else? You should read some of this guys other stuff - a point he's made many times is that most disagreements in financial advice come from "people with different experiences in life, different time horizons, different risk tolerances talking over each other". There's a lesson in there for you. You don't want to work at your grandpa's company, fine. This advice may not be for you then. That doesn't make his premise any more flawed than your own. And FWIW a thousand year old company does not require that it stay within the same family - which is from your (flawed) assumption. In your own example of "creating a business, making a profit, and handing down wealth to your family", one of the ways to make that profit is to sell your business to someone else, who may sell it to another (on and on for... a thousand years). So not only are you claiming he's wrong based on an opinion you have, your opinion isn't even contradictory to the point he's making.

CaptainZapp 3y ago

Maybe Japan and the Japanese have some different values than our fast charging Western world? Let me introduce the Shokunin (translated as Artisan, when you look it up on Wikipedia, which isn't quite right). What a Shokunin produces is, sort of, the antithesis of what you can order from Temu. A rather interesting blog post[0] explaining the concept: "Shokunin is more than just a craftsperson or artisan. It represents the devotion and lifelong commitment of craftsmen who dedicate themselves to perfecting their art. They embody the values of dedication to craft, excellence in craftsmanship, and masterful work. Shokunin believe in meticulous attention to detail and uphold the highest standards of quality and skill in their work." For us Westerners it's not fathomable to work 20 years, or a lifetime, ro achieve a perfect product. Who's to say that this concept is wrong? And I think it has a lot to do with a society who believes that a 1000 year old company is not only desirable but a virtue. [0] https://tobyleon.com/blogs/art-design/shokunin-japan-artisan-craftsmanship https://tobyleon.com/blogs/art-design/shokunin-japan-artisan...

its_ethan 3y ago

So you're saying his assumption is incorrect because you want something else? You should read some of this guys other stuff - a point he's made many times is that most disagreements in financial advice come from "people with different experiences in life, different time horizons, different risk tolerances talking over each other". There's a lesson in there for you. You don't want to work at your grandpa's company, fine. This advice may not be for you then. That doesn't make his premise any more flawed than your own. And FWIW a thousand year old company does not require that it stay within the same family - which is from your (flawed) assumption. In your own example of "creating a business, making a profit, and handing down wealth to your family", one of the ways to make that profit is to sell your business to someone else, who may sell it to another (on and on for... a thousand years). So not only are you claiming he's wrong based on an opinion you have, your opinion isn't even contradictory to the point he's making.