August 5, 2017
[ICC] The Red Balloon
FYI - I'm currently off-grid at a lodge on a lake in a remote corner of Maine. I'll be back in the saddle on Monday, August 14th. In the meantime, here's a popular post from the Inner Circle Collection:
The Red Balloon
Sent on September 19th, 2016
Why would Alice want trade her green balloon for Bob’s red one?
Is it because the red balloon cost more to make, and therefore it is intrinsically worth more?
Of course not.
It’s because Alice likes red better than green.
Lucky for Alice, Bob likes green better than red and agrees to the trade.
What has happened?
- Both Alice and Bob are happier after the trade.
- Both Alice and Bob are better off than they were before.
- Both Alice and Bob have made a profit.
The red balloon is worth more to Alice than the green one, and the green balloon is worth more to Bob than the red one. This is value creation - when both parties in a transaction profit, wealth has been created.
And oh by the way, the same principle applies if instead of balloons, Alice had $250,000 to trade for Bob’s WordPress website development service.
This scenario is a bit more protracted because a service is delivered over time and therefore requires trust on Alice’s part. But if we assume that Bob understands what Alice wants and delivers as promised, both parties profit from the engagement.
Does this mean that Bob’s WordPress website development service is worth $250,000 to everyone? Heck no. But if it’s worth $250k to Alice, that’s all that matters.
Yours,
—J
P.S. Would you like to read through the entire back catalog of messages? The Inner Circle Collection is now available (use code DAILY25 at checkout for 25% off any volume) -> https://jonathanstark.com/icc