Clayton thumb

A capitalist’s dilemma – by the world’s top management thinker

Clayton thumbIn this superb Op-Ed in the New York Times, the man rated as the world’s top management thinker, Clayton Christensen, says the winner of the presidential election must face “the capitalist’s dilemma.” Christensen, A professor at Harvard University, is the author of the international bestseller The Innovator’s Dilemma.

In many ways, the answer won’t depend on who wins on Tuesday. Anyone who says otherwise is overstating the power of the American president. But if the president doesn’t have the power to fix things, who does?

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The Star

First shots fired

The Star

First shots fired in the bidding for Independent Newspapers South Africa

Newspapers might be dying, but they still carry enough legacy to attract good money. Warren Buffett has changed his mind and started scooping up US papers. And this week in South Africa bidding began for Independent Newspapers, the willing cash cow that’s kept on giving to its embattled Irish parent.

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maggie thatcher

What SA needs is leaders with the grit of a Maggie Thatcher

maggie thatcherWith a hectic work and social schedule since getting back to Johannesburg, scraping away time for a night at the movies is a challenge. Seems when we do want to visit the big screen, there never seems to be anything available at a convenient time. Thank heavens for Box Office. Like yesterday afternoon when our lazy Sunday afternoon became a special one. Courtesy of Meryl Streep’s brilliant portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

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cyril ramaphosa

Cyril’s Mensis Horibilis

cyril ramaphosa

Ramaphosa’s Mensis Horibilis isn’t getting any better

You have to feel for Cyril Ramaphosa. Until Lonmin hosted the spectacular explosion of the festering sore that is mining labour relations, he seemed blissfully unaware of a nasty human trait called envy. Allowing his mind to drift to a thought that his time at the top was coming. The Presidency of South Africa. One day not too far away.

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ABH and Nassim Taleb

About Alec Hogg – the founder of Biznews.com

Alec Hogg (53) is a South African financial journalist and media entrepreneur. His career kicked off in 1980 when he was employed as a trainee financial journalist at The Citizen newspaper. After progressing through senior positions at national newspapers and magazines, Hogg started his first business, a financial news agency, in 1988. After an unsuccessfully publishing … Read more

index

The rise and fall of Sacoil

index

May 28, 2011

This article uncovers the way in which a predator feasted on over-optimistic small investors led by a hero to the punting class, Greg Blank.

In the share market, fact is sometimes stranger than fiction. Take the case of the JSE-listed oil exploration company SacOil Holdings, which in the past year rocketed from oblivion to stardom – but this week showed signs of falling back into obscurity.

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Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs Commencement Speech – Stanford 2005

Steve Jobs, 14 June 2005

Thank you. I’m honoured to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college and this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months but then stayed around as a drop-in for another eighteen months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife, except that when I popped out, they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking, “We’ve got an unexpected baby boy. Do you want him?” They said, “Of course.”

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mare and foal

Cable thieves end our horse breeding dream

mare and foal

The day I never expected has finally arrived. Today we started the paying forward of our breeding dream.

I pleaded with the TBA and managed to squeak late inclusions into the July 12th KZN Broodmare and Weanling Sale. There’s a sense of finality when you send in a payment committing to the dispersion of a carefully gathered small herd. An appreciation that the decision has been made. Finally.

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Why Allan Thomson resigned from the JSE

Looking back, Allan Thomson admits he was “incredibly stupid” and admits to being caught up in the chase – he is well aware of JSE’s rules about trading.