My Ledger

Nassim Taleb, the author of The Black Swan and Antifragile, often illustrates the dangers of unforeseen events with a story he calls the “Turkey Problem.”

I thought I had found the perfect strategy.

Let me tell you about my first time at Trader Joe’s.

Couple of months after my daughter was born in 2022, my wife told me that she has had enough of me, and things looked bad.

Charlie Munger never sought the spotlight.

I once heard a story about a fisherman who lived in a small coastal village.

Imagine facing a monster with multiple heads.

Every time we invest, aren’t we hoping the price will go up?

It’s a common sentiment: we’d die for our kids.

Warren Buffett once posed a thought experiment to a group of students.

Growing up in Pakistan, cricket was my thing.

Ever wonder how a small-town rubber company became a global tire giant?

Have you ever achieved something significant, only to feel like you don’t quite deserve it?

Ever wonder how a 52-year-old milkshake mixer salesman became the mastermind behind one of the world’s biggest fast-food empires?

Life often seems to present us with either-or choices.

A few years ago, I was involved in an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) implementation.

Matthew Dicks is right — every one of us has a story to tell.

Most of us, myself included, are drawn to financial markets.

Ever wondered why some businesses thrive while others struggle?

Ever felt like the world’s out to get you?

Have you heard the story of the Chinese bamboo tree?

Derek Sivers didn’t set out to start a business.

How important is it to understand what you invest in?

What is the cost of making an incorrect prediction?

In the movie “Gladiator,” do you remember the scene where Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, reveals his identity and faces Commodus?

A degenerate gambler down on his luck.

It’s 2018, and XPO gets hit with a “short” report.

When Bayes’ friend Richard Price was sorting through his papers, he stumbled upon an essay with an intriguing title: “An Essay towards solving a problem in the Doctrine of Chances.”

People are destined to suffer when communication from leadership is misdirected, unclear, or misunderstood.

Let My People Go Surfing is part biography, part company memoir by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.

The Outsiders by William Thorndike Jr. is a master class in how to allocate capital.

The Cat Inside the Box Imagine a cat is placed inside a sealed box, and inside the box, there is also a bit of radioactive material, a Geiger counter (a device that detects radiation), a hammer and a small vial of poison.

Josh Waitzkin the inspiration for the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, is no stranger to creating change in his life.

Have you ever wondered why you reach for the chocolate bar instead of the apple, even when you know which one is healthier?

Let’s talk about this amazing book, “Thinking in Systems” by Donella Meadows.

A decade back, I met this girl named Sana.

Poor Charlie’s Almanack is a strange name for a book.

The personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as The Oracle of Omaha.

Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a story rich in wisdom about the dangers of vanity, pride, and the fear of appearing foolish.

George S.

Morgan Housel’s Psychology of money is about our relationship with money.

Life is full of decisions, from the seemingly trivial to the monumental.

Costco operates with the lowest gross margins among major US retailers but boasts the highest returns on invested capital.

There is a story of a stalemate in Uber’s corporate history.

In another lifetime, a younger version of myself watched as my father, a man who had devoted the best years of his life to military service, faced a calamity that would redefine our future.

In the 1997 film “The Devil’s Advocate,” a memorable scene unfolds around a chess game between the two main characters, Kevin Lomax (played by Keanu Reeves) and John Milton (portrayed by Al Pacino).

While listening to David Senra and Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s podcasts, I am struck by a recurring term: ’life’s work.’

For the past five years, I’ve been diligently investing in ETFs through dollar-cost averaging, much like I persistently try to improve my fitness levels, though with noticeably more financial sweat than physical.

In my quest to grasp the undercurrents of human behavior, I stumbled upon a realization that has altered my perspective: our actions are largely shaped by incentives, often overshadowing the black-and-white notions of right and wrong.

In the challenging economic landscape of post-World War II Japan, the Toyota Motor Corporation stood as a modest automotive manufacturer, grappling with inefficiencies and uncertainty – a reflection of the nation’s broader struggles.