Author - semi retired business entrepreneur leader who is now a senior citizen. Current posts are about his current business experience and learnings. A former lecturer at a top GSB in the PHL for more than a decade. We had great successful entrepreneur graduates
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
After mental exercises and various forms of communication team building strategy does not move and is in doldrums. Sometimes you need forcefulness and bringing in a new personality who exhibits force and things get done.
It reminds me of the definition by Roger Enrico (former head of Pepsi who propelled Pepsi to the top did the ads with Michael Jackson) of leadership who said " It is taking a point of view and experessing this FORCEFULLY. "
Walmart crushes Target on prices. They cant compete. They are declared dead Bob the boss says they compete on other areas. The boss wants Target to be an aspirational go to store.
Michael Graves - design products for Target; good design for every one. ($40.00 that looks like $400.00) then other designer product lines. Clothing lines. Luxury line. Made is aspirational
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
Maybe we do not know know or even disdain business principles of the rich like the Chinese or Jews. But they are so rich. In US there may be just 2% of total US population but control 30% of the wealth At Israel, these rich fund the wars vs their neighbors.
They must be doing a lot of great things that MBA and Ivy Leagues do not know or not teaching (When I was teaching MBA, this post asked students to make report on Business and the Bible, Money is mentioned 300+ times in the Bible. Surely God wants us all to succeed.
Here are 7 principles mentioned by the author:
1. Guard your reputation
Your networth is your reputation.
Your reputation is the funnel where cash flow comes in
Employ honest weight and measurement. Be honest and truthful
Be like the Chinese and the Jews who seal the deal with handshake
Their words are the hardrock foundation of any deal
Find in your business gaps where you are not keeping your word and correct this ASAP
2. Do not muzzle your ox
Share your earnings, your wealth with those contribute to your wealth building. Chinese and
Jews practice this.
We practiced this through incentives and profit sharing. But succeeding generations are not
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
Be honest and square in your deals. Not always gaining the upper hand. No insider trading secret deals.
Be transparent with your customers and suppliers/sellers.
Build a reputation. Be transparent Not a one time deal that favors you. Be the one to to go because you are fair honest and minds others interest too. Not yours alone
Think of long term 10- 20 years and even about your own death. What will people tell you about you as businessman 20 years down the road and even eulogy at your death.
This concerns about a ROW issue with one of the big landowner who let us pass through their properties. About 3 decades back. My successors had issue with them and filed cases in the court regarding an alleged mischief and destruction of property by the grantors of the right of way. I was a signatory to the grant of right of way.
The court called me to testify. What do I do: side with my siblings who now run the corporation, or side with the truth.? What was the grant of right of way all about? Did we have exclusive right to the property or did the grantor have equal right to the right of way.
This post sided wth the truth because no one would like to do business with me anymore if I twisted the truth
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
This was the principle that one of the Rotschild, Mayer employed in dealing with his customers as a finance expert. He gave the best term to one of the customers a prince: lower interest rate, flexible repayment terms so that later on he was the go to person when finance was involved. Lest it not be misunderstood that the customer made him rich, it was the other way around
This post thought that when he was in the finance business it was the goal of the company to make the customer prosperous, not bleed him/her dry. But to make him grow rich and prosperous so that both of the businesses grow. And any business. We solve customers problems. We make him gain, remove pain.
You cant maximize. You have to make it fair. If you make money, let others make money too. It is their right and opportunity to profit from your ideas and the deal you are closing. Being too greedy makes it hard and leaves a negative feeling at the other end. Making money flow into the others coffers make it equally easy to let money flow freely end lessly into yours.
If the others are unhappy with the deal or sale, return the money. Make amends.
If your goal is to gouge your customer you are nothing more than a thief or pirate or a govt tongpats. Flood control expert...
Genesis: 14 - 18-20
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
Customer retention is more profitable but the system rewarded speed vs Customer Service. So the reward system has to be changed. Employees can be blamed for the wrong behavior because the system rewarded this.
Continuing business is the goal of every business. So that has to be encouraged...
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Disciplined thoughts, action (execution) confronting brutal facts. Placing the right person in place
One week executive can destroy executive
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
There are are urgent activities confronting executive. What truly matters now.?
Focus is needed. Asking what the situation needs
The 77 Laws of Great Leaders by Phon Piseth
Management enters the architecture of power and authority. (what happens when people start looking
at the leader. Judged also on emotional weight of the authority. If they hesitate. Weakened by
wrong delivery. Authority is not merely exercise of power Can people move despite decision. People are sensitive to signals. Emotional architecture under pressure
Silence carries enermous authority. (Many words strike differently) Defending early too many words
weakens the executive
Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
Execution follows meeting KISFREK Who now owns the decision
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Disasgreements : how do they affect decisions. Do you want comfort or clarity after disagreements
Talk about Abraham LIncoln on how he navigaged disagreeements
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
The Outsiders by William Thorndike
Long horizon thinking, delayed decisions. Capex Quiet decisions not noisy decisions.
Live with strong leaders.
Fortunate to have read 3 of the 7 books in my life as a businessman
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
This can help numerous would be, entrep wannabees:
Most of what is being written is learn to avoid so that we
Principle1: Avoiding Ghost Towns
Principle 2: The Passion Dilemma
Principle3: Understanding Business DNA
Principle 4: Building High Walls
Principle1: Avoiding Ghost Towns
This challenge is the result of the University system. We live a real life of divergence but the University is convergence. Questions are preformed and no one dare question the question. Sometimes we solve problems no one needs. And there companies financed by VCs, 48% of them dont return money. So many put up restaurants in ghost town..
This is exemplefied by a wall to where we bike frequesntly built in the middle of nowhere and surely this is a failure. This often happens.
Principle 2: The Passion Dilemma
Follow your passion and you dont to have to work the rest of your life. So says Steve Jobs to follow passion but that does not necessarily work. Follow your effort
For passion its mostly about art. And there are numerous artists painters and actors. And since there are many the value of the talent goes down.
Principle3: Understanding Business DNA
The business DNA:
1 The product they physical goods. The cash trap You need plenty of cash. Supply chain in
investment
2 The software use massive amount of cash for the development. Ai helps this. Build the MVP
before taking massive investment. Convince yourself that you have buyers.
3. The service use of time and talent New product types and can run without you
4. Marketplace (trading ) Hyperfocus on one niche
5 Media you are selling attention. You have to keep on running. Build direct connections vs
having yourself on a platform
6. Capital DNA - renting money: banks, hedge funds. Trap: one bad investment. can wipe you
out
7. Asset DNA investing requires massive amount of cash.
Be sure you and your busienss DNA match. If the business is the right vehicle for you
Principle 4: Building High Walls the walls, the moats you need to build so that the competition cant get into you. The franchise
1. Economies of scale barrier. If you have large purchase
2. Network - every new user add value to existing network. Like VISA - plenty of merchants and
user Even if I introduce of new card (but zero user and merchant)
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
The illusion of the free.
What if you are renting hotel at $150.00 and the competitor drops to $120.00 and he plans to drop to $110.00 The consultant stops the hotel owner. and suggests: $180 hotel room with free meal. worth $`100.00 (which cost only $25.00)
So you make: $80.00 + (100 - 25) 75 = $155.00 much more than if you sell room at $150.00
So you keep your hotel full, and the restaurant full. Additionally, the hotel occupants order desert or cocktail and pay the $30.00 extra. How many times you spend more on the free. The free is a custom built ATM for you
See how they tempt you at casinos while riding buses with free $50.00 gambling credits and above the WD free dining and drinks
The sales advice was probably adopted from the lines taught at Machiavellis Prince
There are 5 tactics:
The Illusion of Choice Technique (advanced closing strategy) ✔️ How to create scarcity and urgency in sales ✔️ The power of psychological triggers in marketing ✔️ Narrative control and authority positioning ✔️ The Strategic Retreat Method (reverse psychology in selling)
1. The illusion of choice
Control the choice. Do not give the customer unlimited choice
But actually the choice has been made. By employing the good
better strategy. Good is the more expensive and then presenting the
more affordable. It is often a used word: decision becomes inevitable
2. Creating scarcity:
Fear sells. It is better to be feared rather than loved
Either by telling shortage in inventory, or time frame. When there is risk or danger, a person rush to make decision We are adopting this in Temu marketing promos beginning March 16. Limited promo items, and campaigns running 4 weeks at most.
FOMO (fear of missing out)
3. Psychological triggers
Mask of authencity. Perceived authencity. Skill appears trustworth.
One who can give a good advice to build trust.
Appear to be one with them, but actually pushes own agenda
4. Narrative control of authority
Ask question vs defending. Stay on offense.
Appear to be the expert
5. Strategic withdrawal
Dont be desperate. Appear to be not needing tthe agent.
1. Now is not the best time
2. Maybe you need to have more research
Do you appear to be manipulative? But are you not selling everyday. ?
Most people fail in sales because they view it as a transaction of goods. In reality, sales is a transaction of power. To stay "nice" is to stay broke. The 1% understand that every interaction is a battle for the frame, and those who cannot control the perception of value are destined to be exploited by those who can. To dominate the market, you must stop being a petitioner and start being a sovereign. "Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times." — (Inspired by Niccolò Machiavelli, on the necessity of adaptability and the strategic manipulation of circumstances). In the hyper-saturated marketplace of 2026, traditional "customer service" isn't a strategy—it's a cloak for the weak. This video dismantles the soft, ineffective sales tropes of the past and replaces them with the cold, calculated principles of Machiavellian influence. This is your tactical guide to mastering the psychology of persuasion and seizing the lead in any industry. 👇 Inside You'll Discover: -The Machiavellian Frame: How to position yourself as the prize to be won, rather than the salesman begging for a moment of time.
-The Illusion of Choice: Master the art of "guiding" the prospect's will while making them believe the decision was entirely theirs.
-Strategic Boldness: Why the "Lion" approach secures high-ticket deals while the "Fox" approach navigates complex corporate bureaucracies.
-The Law of Scarcity & Power: Using the threat of your absence to trigger the primal fear of loss in your competition and clients.
-Emotional Detachment: Shifting from "needing the sale" to "commanding the outcome"—the ultimate psychological leverage.
-The Art of Pretense: How to project an aura of inevitable success that attracts resources, trust, and capital. ⚠️ The Brutal Truth: The market does not reward the "hardest worker"; it rewards the most strategic manipulator of value. If you are waiting for people to "fairly" recognize your worth, you have already lost. In sales, as in power, you do not get what you deserve—you get what you take.
Selling here results because it is the inevitable choice after you have framed the same. to be.
Dark secret it is manipulation.
1 You are the authority. You command respect. You project as if you
nor projecting power (but you act as if you are the authority
2 You do not appear desperate. At times you appear you appear as if
you are walking away from the deal
3. You even appear selective. You pre qualify in person if they would like
working with you.
4. In closing, do not appear as if you welcome the idea that its a yes or
no to the deal. You ask:
How do we proceed (but it boils to the idea that you have closed the deal. You all ready own it:
1. Proceed at once to roll out?
2. Or go on a 3 mos staggered period.
3. Sign the paper work now and pay us after 30 days
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
While I was in Region 1 attending to the challenges of our sbus a phone call came through from a daughter telling me that our aborted nego in October 2025 was coming back. We upped our offer from P2M to P5M, then to 555M. Until they walked out on us. Because they were being offered cash by a well known memorial (now known to have scammed their way in the stock exchange by bloating their inventories 5 fold).
So presumably they did not have deal because now the said company could be having cash flow difficulties (and shamed they are facing penalties and call outs from SEC) and now they presume we have a continuance?
How could there be? We were left, nothing was in writing, and there was no face to face meeting. Some etiquette is order. Not because we are not an MV company....we will just be left and then come back for continuance....
And they are demanding terms out of the continuance.
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
That seems to be the trend. We know Samsung is investing $7 Billion in CPIP Calamba city, tired of uncertainity in China and India (that is P420 billion in local currency, 1/2 of what was looted by top officials)
We are going to host the future of manufacturing and prosperity.
Philppines moving forward inspite of corruption and ineptness of the top officials (and their scandals)
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
1. Visioning
1 Draw of a picture of what your projects would look like when completed: entrance, office, landscaping, workspace
Troy to do this comprehensively COMPLETO INCLUSIVE Be alive be motivated energized by this picture. You can do a an
great one by working with the architect or designer to complete your vision
2. Draft you VMBP
3. Draw a road map
2. BE violently insane obsessed with customer service Be like SJ (Steve Jobs, when it comes to CUSTOMER SERVICE he is passionately fiercely obsessed.
observing simplicity, efficiency functionality as key features. Improving customer experience. Look is important the satisfaction of 5senses. Want satisfaciton
CS and COBS
3. Some billionaire tidbits
1. Entrepreneurs go into their own venture to establish control of business and independence
A tradesman was working hard and was asked why working so hard/ He said he wanted to earn so much to buy tools so that he can have his own
contracting company.
But the billionaire said: you are still a working man at the control and service of somebody else: the general contractor and the owner.
Why not: seek contract, consolidate workers and trade and be a general contractor yourself: you dont need tools manpower. All you do is negotiate
contracts and you get clear profits. Adds ons % etc.
2. On securing funding from vcs and other funders
They sound so important because of mumbo jumbo but a clear paradigm injected into every ones start up mind. Input first before business
You need capital first before you can put business. What do you need the capital for: initial hires, ads, software, office equipment
But the billionaire said to Arthur who wants a $200,000 start up funding said focus on 3 S: (YOU MIGHT NOT NEED THE $200, 000)
SYSTEM
SERVICE
SCALE
So Arthur went home went into a deep reflection problem solving mode. What does he have, who is market.? What can he offer them?
So Arthur concluded that he is skillful in logistics and there is one logistics problem he is working on. So he has a list of 300 logistics company whom he
emailed offering his solution. One replied. They had a deal. If he can solve the company problem by Friday, he gets paid $6,000. And they did. Arthur
got the bank transfer of $6,000. He spent the $2,500 for someone to code him a program, spent $500 for supplies and saved the $2,000
So he went into scaling up. He made videos of his achievement for the first user and sent the gmail again to the rest of 299 addresses 3 replied. He offered
$2,000 lease of his software for their solutions. He got 3 and got contract for $6,000 monthly revenues.
After 3 months Arthur was grossing $80,000 a month, enough to gross him $1,000,000 a year
He met VAnce the billionaire again after 3 months. Would Arthur still need the VC assistance? Naw. You are right with your 3s.
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
We know how many zillionaires came to being: by correctly predicting the next big thing: Bill Gates that the software is more valuable than hardware in the PC market, Steve Jobs that the next central platform for entertainment: shows music knowledge would be via mobile phone (not PC or TV as billion dollar investments were poured into this)
Predicting correctly the trend in the future gave them the big bucks (or did they create the future?)
There was a knowledge platform Megatrends before (what happened to this) that focussed on changing socio economic trends to predict the next big thing. Now we have the AI hype but which is now showing mix results. Others say we will have more leisure time, but most will be out of job. But even minor tasks being assigned to the AI like writing a business plan, marketing plan is showing a lot of mistakes.
Generals kings before consulted oracles before going into a large batttle. How we wish there were oracles of Delphi before making a big bet on new technology or next big thing
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
1. You are the business. You have your own story, your brand, your grit, your energy. Show your face
2. Raise the bar, or burn the bar down SJ was violent about standards, simplicity That is why customers love Apple. What habits are you tolerating low standards? Be careful of what you tolerate.
3. From star wars. Build the parts of your vision before it happens (Eg Lucas - who built their sets for the galaxy that never exist. Can you do that for the business you envision)
4. Conviction beats consensus. E. g Bernard Arnoux (LV) 50 year vision
5. Delete before you improve (Schumpeterian - you have to destroy before you build)
Destroy before you start. Return to basic principles.
A E Del
Automate
Eliminate
Delegate
A Del2 (Automate, Delete, Delegate
6. Energy of start ups build empires (Alexander the Great)
7. Draw the dream and build the machine. Eg. Disney Land. Drew the dream and built it.
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
You can build your wealth through compounding. That is doubling your money every x years using the rule of 72. (72 /9 = 8 years to double your money). That is why higher yields (less risk) make you double your money faster.
Compounding is one of the greatest feature (others say invention) of modern finance. Others say returns on stock investment is marvelous but there could be bad days/months. Psei again returned to 6,000+ level. How many were slaughtered at Phil stock market My daughter stopped talking about her stock portfolion several years ago
Rule in investing - DONT LOSE. Is paramount.
However taxes can take a bite of your returns, Lower the returns and the compounding slows down and takes longer At todays rate at banks, if in savings this will take 144 years. At 3% on time deposit (gross) 2.4% net, this will take 30 years.
This video outlines several tips on how to beat the tax bite on returns so that your PHP can compound:
1. Tax free investments - There used to be CBCIs I wonder whether there are still available There seems to be none
2. Borrow still die strategy - Borrow against your stock sleep on it, pay off interest with your dividends. Dont sell or liquidate.
3. Hold off selling and pay capital gains when you do. Those who sell and who are on salary basis pay cgt year after year.
However for RE in PHL it seems to be a losing battle for real estate flippers. Its because of the regular increase in Zonal Valuation and having the real property classified as capital goods subject to 12% vat. No wonder, leases are popular, and flipping is slow, as seen in the 3 years worth of inventory of condos. No wonder a fmr senator Sec of DOF gets so much hated Mr. Tax Man. Mr VAT
There was this condo offered in Cubao for mere P7 m (market was 12) But after computing for cgt, interest, and CUSA, the margin for the flip in case was merely P500,000 or just a little over 10%
which was minimal. We could get that return elsewhere.
4. Depreciation in commercial property.
Though there is capital appreciation commercial properties can charge depreciation for 10 20 years And thus, tax due is lesser and ROI becomes bigger.
5. Tax free employee plan for retiremen;
Tax free income for retirement fund, stock options and the like
6. Index fund - several transactions gathered togehter as fund, lesser CGT or transaction tax.
7. Wrappper, corporate veil by placing your investment under a corporation, holding company, or trust, you shiled our personal risk via a corporate veil. Only the corporation, trust or holding company gets the hit.
8. Geographicala arbitrage - Lesser tax bureden abroad, lesser cost of living, lesser cost of investing in the Bahamas, Switzerland, Cayman islands, lesser cost of livng in Thailand, the PHL,
Vietnam
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
1. You can do stock transaction in 10-15 minutes and only one deal either buy or sell
2. Real Estate is more complicated and takes a lot of time You deal with the owners who could be varying in ideas about the property and one complication lead to another. It takes time to sell real estate: you have to find agents, you have to list this, nego for the dp, arrange for the bank financing, and it takes time. One issue leads to another. There could be dead owners, unpaid electircity bills, etc. It is complicated. It is not a simple business transaction. It is a lot of head ache
(We have a case of seller suing us for alleged fraudulent docs They received the full payment. what is there to sue for?)
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
When this post was starting out as a businessman, it was an advice to hold on to somebody as a role model. And one of my lodis was Jack Welch. I bought books about GE, Jack Welch. And the whole world idolized him. He made GE a mega business
But lately, there are news and allegations that actually destroyed GE. His moves did not make GE unsustainable And by making 50% of GE more of a finance company via GE Capital GE was exposed to financial and capital market risk that required more than a hundred billion bail out.
Nation building via learning and being the best in business
The billionaire saw the farmer working so hard - selling vegetables and competing hard on price. Racing to the bottom.
Build business around value. Sell solutions instead of products
The billionaire advised the farmer that instead of selling vegetables, he sell the source. Many urban dwellers want to raise vegies in their apartments. Why not sell $20/bag of soil branding Organic Heritage Soil. He automated the soil packing. Marketed via internet. And made $300,000 a year.
