The Devil's Advocate

11

Wait for the tide to go out

It’s hard not to feel like a Luddite. I read in the newspaper that Instagram has been bought for $1 billion. I see companies taking on legions of staff despite having no discernible source of revenue. And all the time, the industry trendsetters chastise me for not ‘getting it’, or understanding that ‘this time, the rules have changed’.

So do you have the guts to sit the dance out, while everyone makes shedloads of money?

Sit on your hands. As the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett says, ‘It’s only when the tide goes out that you see who’s been swimming without any trunks.’

Just as there is the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ there is also the stampede mentality of the herd. Hold close to your heart the dictum that ‘If things ...