100 episodes
Beginning Balance Jesse Mecham
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- Business
Jesse Mecham and Mark Butler teach you how to manage your business cash flow, hone your business model, and not freak out about money.
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You Are Money, Money Is You
In today's episode, Mark and Jesse discuss money as a concept, why it exists, and how trade (using money) has created tremendous value for humans throughout history. On the YNAB Podcast, Jesse has spoken about money being far more than a tool, however, and really an extension of one's self -- one's energies and desires. Mark and Jesse then attempt to connect the dots to our modern monetary system, where debt and inflation loom large. What exactly is it about money is essential to human flourishing?
Mark Butler, Virtual CFO
The Money School: https://moneyschool.works
https://markbutler.com
https://letsdothebooks.com
YNAB
https://www.youneedabudget.com -
You Need Core Values, Not Strategy
Mark kicks off today's episode with a handful of words, hoping to weave them into a broader discussion: vision, goal, strategy, plan, and tactics. Mark and Jesse discuss how many small business owners look for tactics first, various tasks focused on operations: posting on social media, starting a YouTube channel, building an email list. These may or may not be worthwhile activities -- you really need a strategy to understand the big picture of where the business is going (or needs to go), and then select the activities that will get you there. But even then, strategy is hollow, Mark argues, unless there's a why behind what you do. Unless the company has a clearly defined core identity, it will struggle to adopt a good strategy.
Mark Butler, Virtual CFO
The Money School: https://moneyschool.works
https://markbutler.com
https://letsdothebooks.com
YNAB
https://www.youneedabudget.com -
Systems: Not as Boring as They Sound!
In today's episdoe, Mark and Jesse discuss the importance of developing good systems, not just in business but in life! Mark shares a recent experience in which his wife left for a few days on a retreat, leaving Mark to handle her usual duties. Mark was faced with a lack of systems in day to day tasks, and enough friction to sit her down after the retreat and have a talk about family systems. Kate agreed, and, within a few weeks, became a systems expert, looking for every avenue she could find to create better processes.
Good systems aren't just for increasing business profit, they're for improving quality of life, relationships, and family harmony too!
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox
https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement-dp-0884271951/dp/0884271951/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
Mark Butler, Virtual CFO
The Money School: https://moneyschool.works
https://markbutler.com
https://letsdothebooks.com
YNAB
https://www.youneedabudget.com -
Signs of Success: When Business Growth Plateaus
Mark and Jesse ponder the question -- what do you do when growth slows and the business plateaus? Mark recalls a story about a successful businessperson who failed at several ventures before striking gold, and notes that the "gold" business was never hard. It grew a lot early on, and continued to grow steadily from there. He juxtaposes this result with some of his clients who spend hundreds or even thousands of hours working on a business, yet never really take off. There were signs of sucess early on in the good business, and likewise there were not signs of success in the failed ventures. Looking for signs of success is a good indicator of whether a business has legs or not. If you don't see any, it's a good indicator that your time is spent elsewhere!
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto-ebook/dp/B0083DJWGO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=JMRX5RI5RNZ8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.C3e4IagEiQHRzgC0W8S0KkU1s2tYPbhDWivIreUIOtwe2xEXBRSw7sYgY8vGAZxpOF13z-5F3MCQJ00OZnI2iuM5RFHBnnqqX5yeUs348hp-T297HGOx2e0-cQ-XPjqTBF2D8WYJx5Kt0LCnHhsFfmbdwGDgxb3pwniTQYHi71ahb0q4CkhWvUHmByV0dJqUkoIHy2PEFt18GVXgLjePclPH4zK4uOKDXX14x9cdoAc.MlGqTaeOx35qrIkulkswcuGJuF4GOAXfSoFOGSpA4z8&dib_tag=se&keywords=antifragile+by+nassim+taleb&qid=1710465424&sprefix=antifragile%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-1
Mark Butler, Virtual CFO
The Money School: https://moneyschool.works
https://markbutler.com
https://letsdothebooks.com
YNAB
https://www.youneedabudget.com -
Is College Worth It Anymore? Looking for the Value in Education
People have been hemming and hawing over the value proposition of college for years now, and in 2024, the value that a bachelor's degree offers is more questionable than ever. Mark and Jesse, both with teenagers staring down the barrel of college (or not) in the next few years, share their thoughts on the subject. As Jesse argues, the purpose of education is "to learn how to do something, when you don't know how to do something." As Mark points out, the resources for self-education are more prolific than they've ever been, meanwhile critical thinking in school appears to be as low as ever.
Mark Butler, Virtual CFO
The Money School: https://moneyschool.works
https://markbutler.com
https://letsdothebooks.com
YNAB
https://www.youneedabudget.com -
Strategic Stress: Discussing Morgan Housel's "Same As Ever"
We usually talk about stress as something you need to reduce, or recover from. But there are different types of stress -- good stressors and bad stressors -- and sometimes stress drives us to accomplish things and innovate when we otherwise wouldn't. To that end, Mark and Jesse discuss Morgan Housel's book Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, in which Housel outlines the way stressors and risk taking drives us to grow achieve new things. Mark also shares a recent story about how the stress of a bookkeeping sprint at work provided the spark for him to write new software to automate a key process in his business, and save a lot of time as a result.
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Endurance by Alfred Lansing
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Mark Butler, Virtual CFO
The Money School: https://moneyschool.works
https://markbutler.com
https://letsdothebooks.com
YNAB
https://www.youneedabudget.com
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