15 Lessons Learned from the Dinner Table MBA | RP 101

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The Dinner Table MBA: 15 Lessons from My Parents

Growing up, dinner table conversations revolved around our employees, real estate, or the state of USD and CNY. (My mom doesn't even know who Lionel Messi is.)

After spending thousands of hours with my parents and their (even more) successful friends, here are 15 of the best business tips I learned from these dinner table MBAs:

1. Never let your money sleep. My parents park their cash in real estate. Not to flip. But to have rent cover inflation.

2. Simple and analog works. Our 15-year old business grew to over 7-figures in revenue with just spreadsheets and index cards. We didn't even have a chart of accounts until this month.

3. B2B > B2C. B2C might have more volume, but B2B has higher deal sizes and less market volatility.

4. Leave money on the table. Don't participate in downhill races for prices. It hurts the industry in the long run.

5. Demand first. Don't build a solution then create demand. Seek to fill existing needs.

6. Hire people with families. My parents love hiring folks with kids. They work harder and smarter.

7. Pay well. Don’t wait for people to ask for a raise. If you don't have room to promote, give them raises on a regular schedule.

8. Treat people well (but not too well). Never punish your team for prioritizing family over work. At the same time, you are not their therapist. Nor are you meant to solve all their personal issues.

9. Sell once, profit forever. Pick a product that serves B2B customers that will always need that thing. Spend time on systems to deliver it well. Even just 1 more new customer could 2x revenue.

10. Deep work is BS, at least at the manager level. A manager succeeds if they get stuff out of the way of independent contributors. Following this...

11. Master sourcing. Get used to asking for help. When a problem comes up, get used to thinking "Who can I ask for help?". This saves time.

12. Unsexy business = sexy life. My parents own a B2B trading company. It's not as sexy as SaaS or a B2C ecommerce business... But it lets them keep a lean team, live wherever, and travel whenever they want.

13. Work revolves around life, not the other way around. Committing to being present for family and friends, pursuing passion projects, and travelling are all excellent forcing functions for outsized productivity.

14. Arbitrage opportunities are great short-term moneymakers. Exploit them while you can but don't rely on them indefinitely.

15. Pay your friends. Don't ask for discounts.

If you’re interested in learning more about what rich people teach their kids about money, then check out an essay I wrote entitled, “Why Asians Aren’t Drowning in Debt (But North Americans Are)”. It’s all about my story growing up as a Filipino-Chinese immigrant to Canada.

Which of these tips resonated with you?

😉 You're welcome

A selection of interesting links & fun recommendations.

• ⚙️ Ultimate Ears BOOM 3. I’ve bought over half a dozen Bluetooth speakers and each one of them has failed me in some way… Until now. Completely waterproof, insanely reliable, and a rich loud sound, I love my BOOM 3. Bonus points for being able to daisy chain with my friends’ BOOM 3s for some insane house parties.

• 📚The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd. From Amazon: “This book is a personal journey of awakening and is an ideal companion for people considering leaving their jobs, embarking on a new path, dealing with the uncertainty of an unconventional path, or searching for better models for thinking about work in a fast-changing world.” Paul’s book has been a comfort for me over the past 2 years as I fully embraced the fact that I was built to be an entrepreneur and therefore, a frustratingly unemployable individual.

• 🐦 Nicolas Cole’s post-travel checklist. I travel a lot — I’m leaving for Ottawa in 30 minutes as I write this — so adopting a post-travel checklist like Cole’s has been an essential reset to get back into my routine.