Learning from Julian Richer: the ethical capitalist (Masters Invest, The Economist)

+ The little-known story of Julian Richer illustrates that even in an age where brick and mortar retailing is changing at an ever-increasing pace, there is room for success if you play the game the right way. Here are our top takeaways for running a successful operation from 'The Richer Way':

1. Customer obsession leads to customer loyalty:

"“We should be aiming to keep a customer for life, not for one transaction. Ultimately, I do believe that companies that fail to serve their customers well do not last.”"

"“Every transaction should be a reciprocal arrangement that benefits both the seller and the purchaser.”"

2. A company's culture is formed by its standard of ethics:

"“Creating an ethically minded company is not something that’s achieved the moment a list of company values has been put together. It’s a process that involves very hard work and requires constant attention. It also has to permeate every action that a company takes, which is why for me this process of creating an ethical company begins right at the very beginning of the job cycle - with the recruitment ad - and not only continues through recruitment, the setting of pay and conditions, ongoing staff welfare, and so on, but also requires regular maintenance and improvement. If one link of this complex chain is weak, or is allowed to become weak, ultimately the chain will break.”"

3. People, not just profits, are the key to success:

"“In a good company, what motivates people to turn up for work each day is much more than the amount in their wage packet. Their job satisfaction is much more likely to derive from getting on well with their colleagues, feeling part of a team and seeing customers happy.”"

"“Of course businesses need to be profitable, or else they will go bust and jobs will be lost. But the pursuit of profit before everything is not the key to business success. If profits are only gained by paying employees and suppliers the bare minimum and giving customers a bad deal, in the long run the business won’t survive.”"

4. A company gets what it incentivizes:

"“Rewarding people simply for carrying out a transaction, regardless of the wisdom of that transaction, is a recipe for disaster.”"

How Amazon squeezes the businesses behind its store (New York Times)

+ Partnering with Amazon as a seller can be both convenient and disastrous. This story shows the depths to which the behemoth is willing to go to control its seller ecosystem. "“We are dealing with a partner,” he said, “who can and will disrupt us for unpredictable reasons at any time.”"

How Hallmark took over cable TV (The New Yorker)

+ "The Hallmark Channel is a cable network owned and operated by the greeting-card company. This year, the channel and a sister network, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, produced a hundred and three original movies; forty are about Christmas. Since 2011, from late October to January, Hallmark has broadcast Christmas movies nearly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. (The Hallmark Movie Checklist app, which helps guide viewers to new films, has 1.5 million users.) "

There are more single working women than ever, and that's changing the US economy (CNN)

+ "Working women contribute more than $7 trillion to America's economy. By 2030, 45% of working women aged 25 to 44 in the United States will be single. That will be the largest share in history, according to research by Morgan Stanley (MS), using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2018, single women made up 41% of working women in that age range."

Amazon's cash flow (Behind the Balance Sheet)

+ Amazon, despite its lofty valuation, generates less cash flow than you may think depending on various 'add backs' employed.

Everything you need to know about advertising on Amazon (adweek)

+ This piece wades through Amazon's maze of advertising solutions for sellers on its platform.

I was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s why I left. (Ross LaJeunesse)

+ A company's culture is its starting point, its raison d'etre. But when it violates its most sacred ethic in pursuit of profit, blow back almost certainly awaits. 

History's largest mining operation is about to begin - underwater (The Atlantic)

+ "Mining companies want access to the seabed beneath international waters, which contain more valuable minerals than all the continents combined."

There is now a NIMBY index (Marginal Revolution)

+ "Comparing our new data to that from a previous survey finds that the housing bust associated with the Great Recession did not lead any major market that previously was highly regulated to reverse course and deregulate to any significant extent. Moreover, regulation in most large coastal markets increased over time."

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