Lessons from Berkshire Hathaway

I like the idea of artificial intelligence because we’re so short of the real thing.
 
~Charlie Munger

The Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting combines business education, entertainment, shopping, and fellowship into one weekend-long event. Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have held the gathering every year since 1966. This year’s meeting, held on Saturday, May 6, 2017, attracted over 38,000 participants. Omaha’s CenturyLink Center was filled to the rafters.

What draws people in? I think it’s a combination of straight talk, savvy humor, and a shared mission.

Technology in a Flat World

Change is Real

Change has always been with us. When change happens in the business world, companies can either adapt or die.

Flatness Defined

The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman was published in 2005 and rapidly became a bestseller. Friedman defines a flat world as one where intellectual work and intellectual capital can be created anywhere and delivered anywhere.

How does a business decision-maker lead a team to benefit from flatness? A few thought-provoking ideas are presented here.

Animated Graphics in Ruby

There is nothing like a good problem to spark the synapses, is there? To open the mind to new possibilities, new ways of seeing things. Of course, one must always confront self doubt and fear. But that is a small price to pay for the exhilaration of finding the perfect solution.

~Kurros, Think Tank
 Star Trek Voyager, S5E19

Josh Cheek likes to wrestle with good problems. In a single week, his mind might race between software development, quantum physics, music, and mathematics. Last Friday, Josh tweeted about some of his animated graphics experiments in Ruby. He linked to a GitHubGist with source code for the sine wave animation displayed with this article.

This post lists Josh’s code, along with the steps required to install the dependencies and make the snippet run.

Hustlepreneur Video Series

Abhinaya Konduru is in her senior year at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she studies finance and mathematical computer science. One of her career goals is to become a venture capitalist.

Abhinaya interviews entrepreneurs and other leaders as part of her Hustlepreneur video series. I was honored when she invited me to participate a few weeks ago. Here’s the result.

M-Pesa Blends Fintech + Mobile in Kenya

I rarely go to the bank nowadays.
 
~Taxi driver in Nairobi, Kenya speaking to
a 60 Minutes reporter about M-Pesa

M-Pesa is the mobile payment service that dominates Kenya. M-Pesa runs on mobile phones, and you can use it to pay for almost anything. M-Pesa is used by Kenyans regardless of income level, technical skill, or location (urban or rural). In 2015, 42% of the Kenyan GDP was processed through M-Pesa.

“Pesa” is the Swahili word for money, and the “M” stands for mobile. “Lipa na M-Pesa” means “purchase with M-Pesa”. My first M-Pesa experience happened during RubyConf Kenya in May 2016. So many developers at the conference raved about the service that I had to try it.