Existential Musings on Business and Law

1. Anyone who's willingly alive wants to survive (by definition).

2. There's surviving, and then there's surviving.

3. To get a softer berth, you have to take some responsibility. Make promises. Promise and perform repeatedly.

4. The softer the berth, the bigger the promises you have to make.

5. To reap the benefits, you need people who will keep their promises to you.

6. You own things and you have income. Income from work and income from letting others use what you own.

7. Some of the things people own are businesses. Businesses own other things, make promises, and pay people to perform those promises.

8. Someone who owns a business may want to sell it. Maybe he made income from the business by working at it, but now he's decided to make all his income from letting others use his money. He wants to swap his business for money.

9. In selling a business, there are two forces to be controlled: uncertainty about price and exposure to liability. Uncertainty about price: I want to be sure of coming away from the deal with this much money. Exposure to liability: I want to leave the promises of the business behind; keeping those promises is not my problem anymore.