Evaluate Your Business Idea

Knowing the investment of time, money and emotion that goes into starting and building a business, you’d be well advised to follow these steps to get some insight into what lies ahead...

There’s no guarantee that one’s business will succeed – there are so many factors that one has to take into account. However, if you have scrutinised your business idea and put it through a thorough "reality check" before launching into it, your chances of failure are substantially less. Too often, entrepreneurs get caught up in the excitement of a prospective opportunity, and fail to take a step back to work through the finer details. Knowing the investment of time, money and emotion that goes into starting and building a business, you’d be well advised to follow these steps to get some insight into what lies ahead...

Three Things I’ve Learned From Warren Buffett

I’m looking forward to sharing posts from time to time about things I’ve learned in my career at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation. (I also post frequently on my blog.)

Last month, I went to Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. It’s always a lot of fun, and not just because of the ping-pong matches and the newspaper-throwing contest I have with Warren Buffett. It’s also fun because I get to learn from Warren and gain insight into how he thinks.
Here are three things I’ve learned from Warren over the years:

7 Rules Of Life

Rethinking The Responsibility Of Business Leaders

What is the primary responsibility of business leaders today? Is it to make a financial return for their shareholders? Or is it to contribute more broadly to the welfare of employees and society as a whole?

This question has always been important, but it takes on greater significance as we seek to recover from the worst contraction since the Great Depression. How business leaders respond, and how they prioritise different stakeholders, will have a major impact on the speed of recovery.