Post by clarencebunsen on Dec 13, 2022 14:41:22 GMT -5
We spent several hours traveling on I-90 yesterday and many of the trucks on the highway reminded me of the worst financial decision I ever made.
One day last century last century I read a filler article in the business section of my daily newspaper (remember them?). The news clip was about the initial public offering of a start-up company whose business model was to sell books on-line. We were a leading edge family family at the time. We had home computer at a time when not many families had them. It had it's own desk in our spare bedroom and connected to the internet with a dial -up modem (remember them?). The room also had a tall bookcase with a set of Encyclopedia Britannica (remember them?) so our kids could look stuff up without going to the library. Since we only had one phone line (what middle class family had more than one phone number?), we limited our time surfing the web until after the kids went to bed.
I looked at the numbers in the article and quickly concluded that the owners were putting a valuation on their book selling operation greater than Barnes & Nobles even though their business model was limited to just selling books on-line with no stores. I quickly concluded that it was way too risky for me to invest in.
I wonder what my life today would be like if I had been crazy enough to take a second mortgage on my house and invest in a start-up Amazon? No wonder their trucks have a smile painted on them.
One day last century last century I read a filler article in the business section of my daily newspaper (remember them?). The news clip was about the initial public offering of a start-up company whose business model was to sell books on-line. We were a leading edge family family at the time. We had home computer at a time when not many families had them. It had it's own desk in our spare bedroom and connected to the internet with a dial -up modem (remember them?). The room also had a tall bookcase with a set of Encyclopedia Britannica (remember them?) so our kids could look stuff up without going to the library. Since we only had one phone line (what middle class family had more than one phone number?), we limited our time surfing the web until after the kids went to bed.
I looked at the numbers in the article and quickly concluded that the owners were putting a valuation on their book selling operation greater than Barnes & Nobles even though their business model was limited to just selling books on-line with no stores. I quickly concluded that it was way too risky for me to invest in.
I wonder what my life today would be like if I had been crazy enough to take a second mortgage on my house and invest in a start-up Amazon? No wonder their trucks have a smile painted on them.
