Controlling the key value adding activity in the business otherwise you will be squeezed by your suppliers/providers- Netflix acquires WB,

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Netflix acquires Warner Bros in $82.7 billion deal

When we I was a panelist in entrepreneur class for AdeMu undergrad, I asked a precentor as who will be the cook/chef in the unique resto they were to establish.  She said it was going to be their yaya.    And this post objected how come you will enter into a business you do not have control of -  your yaya does.

So if you do not know or control your business (maybe other stockholders or partners or key personnel will better not or exit the business.

It happened to Netflix early in the business when they were squeezed by the content providers.  Rents or rights to film being streamed regularly were increased by providers at exorbitant rates.  And they were bleeding.  Thats when CEO decided to buy in a movie production and streamed this for most of the episodes.  And they became blockbuster.    Ever since  Netflix went into its own production to control its cost.   

And now they did the ultimate buying into one of the biggest content providers.  Together they will go together in a business  they call story telling.

For us, we must control:

1.  JV projects

2.  IP on how to make memorial parks

3.  Marketing

For your business, what are the key activities and resources which you must have full control of?  Otherwise you will be caught in a squeeze play

Money is not wealth, production of something of value is - how Spain lost its empire despite gold and silver horde

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This example is about Spain which discovered hordes of silver, and silver flowing into their country contributing to 400% inflation.  Money flowed from Spain to say France where goods were cheaper.  Spaniards became populated by Hidalgos, who had plenty of money but did not work.  They had plenty of silver coming from Peru and Mexico  This wrong belief led to the demise of Spanish empire.

Many think and even in our family that money in the bank is wealth.  It is just a medium of exchange to produce more goods and services.   Not an end in itself

Jack Ma's experience with rejection; how it made him a billionaire.

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rejection brings out the best in us.   It is a lesson

*THE “REJECTED ROOM PRINCIPLE”

How Jack Ma Turned a Humiliating Moment Into a Billion-Dollar Mindset**

Before Jack Ma became one of the richest entrepreneurs in the world,

he experienced something that would have crushed most people.

He applied for job after job.

Rejected.

He tried to join the police force.

Rejected.

He applied to KFC when it opened in his city.

Twenty-three people interviewed.

Twenty-four applied.

Twenty-three were accepted.

Jack Ma was the only one rejected.

But the moment that shaped him most happened inside a tiny classroom.

Jack Ma applied to Harvard ten times.

All ten times they rejected him.

By the tenth letter, the admissions office didn’t even send a long explanation.

They simply wrote:

“You are not suitable.”

Most people would have quit.

Jack Ma did the opposite.

He printed every rejection letter, pinned them on his wall, and said:

“These are reminders to build a world where people like me do not get left behind.”

That mindset became the foundation of Alibaba.

Years later, when investors laughed at his idea for an online Chinese marketplace, he remembered the classroom that pushed him out…

and decided to build a digital room big enough for everyone.

Alibaba became one of the largest companies on earth.

Taobao became the biggest e-commerce platform in Asia.

Millions of entrepreneurs got their start on his platforms because one man refused to let rejection define him.

THE BUSINESS LESSON

Most people fear rejection.

Great entrepreneurs use it as direction.

Jack Ma realized something simple:

Rejection is information.

Rejection is positioning.

Rejection is redirection.

The world saying “no” does not mean you are wrong.

It means you are building something the world does not understand yet.

This is why Jack Ma teaches his teams:

• Your value is not defined by acceptance

• Your vision is not validated by approval

• Your future cannot be decided by someone who does not see it

Alibaba did not grow because everyone believed in Jack Ma.

It grew because he believed despite everyone else.

THE NERDY TAKEAWAY

The “Rejected Room Principle” teaches this:

Rejection is not a closed door.

It is a sign pointing you toward the room you were born to build.

Jack Ma did not get invited into Harvard’s room.

So he built a digital marketplace where millions could thrive.

Sometimes the rooms that reject you are the ones you were never meant to sit in.

You were meant to build your own.