chowyonghan Author

Stock as a bond with an unknown coupon rate

(Extracted from University of Berkshire Hathaway by Daniel Pecaut and Corey Wrenn) Buffett explained that buying a business is much like buying a bond with no maturity and with a blank coupon. You must write...

March 10, 2020| Investing Read More

Book value is what you have put into the business

(Extracted from University of Berkshire Hathaway by Daniel Pecaut and Corey Wrenn) Buffett also noted that book value is seldom meaningful in analyzing the value of a business. Book value simply records what was put...

March 10, 2020| Investing Read More

Communicate practical knowledge to the masses vs deepening the depth of knowledge

(Excerpt from The Edge Singapore Issue 923, 9 Mar 2020, by Howard Yu is a Professor of Management and Innovation at the IMD Business School in Switzerland and Singapore and director of IMD’s signature Advanced...

March 9, 2020| Curse of Knowledge Read More

Why are there more Indians than other Asian races as American companies’ CEOs?

(Extracted from The Economist 29 Feb 2020 edition) Some 11% of associates at American law firms are Asian, but only 3% of partners are. In technology Asians makeup over 30% of the workers but less than 15% of bosses. In...

March 7, 2020| Machiavellian, World Read More

Happiness mean reversion theory

It is not acceptable for someone to laugh loudly in the library. But most were empathetic when someone cried loudly. There’s an average level of happiness in a group. When someone is too happy, we want to bring...

March 3, 2020| CYH Read More

Why the lottery makes people happy

(Excerpt from Motherfucking Monday by Mark Manson 2 Mar 2020) A new academic study published last week looked at why the lottery makes people happy, despite the fact they’re essentially setting their money...

March 3, 2020| Life, Self-serving Bias Read More

3 things I knew about medicine that were wrong

I always thought that doctors know exactly what was wrong with me and could definitely give me the right treatment. It was when I was older that I realised diagnosis is never 100% accurate or sure. Many illnesses have...

March 1, 2020| CYH Read More

Easy and hard things

Giving ideas is easy, executing is hard. Taking on new projects is easy, completing them is hard. Giving promises is easy, keeping them is hard. Publishing books is easy, selling them is hard. Reading is easy, applying...

February 27, 2020| CYH Read More

What Heliocentrism can teach us about business

My elder son loves astronomy and I am forced to read books on this topic before he sleeps. I was reminded of Copernicus, who was known to defy the convention and said the Earth revolves around the Sun (heliocentrism)...

February 24, 2020| CYH Read More

Leaders shouldn’t delegate communications

Delegation is a form of leverage. A leverage of labour, time and expertise of others. This is a repeated mantra of many leaders and the constant emphasis on getting the best people you can. Recently I realised that...

February 24, 2020| CYH Read More

↑