Business insights
One insight per session, newest first. Open one to see where it came from and what it cost.
Q♥
Session 24
Pressure pays off not for what you hold, but for what your opponent can't be holding
When you apply pressure, don't pick the hand you won't miss; pick the one that leaves your opponent the fewest strong answers.
session result −$71.30
J♥
Session 23
A winning strategy loses almost every other day
Don't count the share of winning stretches; count how many losing ones your win rate says there have to be.
session result −$15.34
10♥
Session 22
The wider the gap between yes and no, the more the decision matters
Before you think a decision over, ask how far apart the answers are, not how much is at stake.
session result −$34.41
9♥
Session 21
The stronger you feel, the less you see of your opponent
Goliath was stronger than anyone with a sword, and lost to the first man who came with a sling.
session result −$5.10
8♥
Session 20
If you always give in under pressure, you invite more of it
Count how often you give in under pressure.
session result +$30.60
7♥
Session 19
The most surprising thing about a result is rarely what caused it
Before you pin a success or a failure on its most unusual feature, work out what that feature would have been worth on an ordinary day.
session result +$83.40
6♥
Session 18
Pointless regrets lead to bad decisions
Regret only the mistakes that, once fixed, make you better starting today.
session result +$36.61
5♥
Session 17
The best hand almost always wins and almost never gets paid
Look for deals where the other side has something at stake too: only there does being stronger pay off.
session result +$53.30
4♥
Session 16
How to choose among several right decisions
When the options are equally promising, take the one whose worst outcome you can live through.
session result −$81.42
3♥
Session 15
The arithmetic of a planned loss
There are places where money is taken from you before you have decided anything. Anyone who expects a profit from them usually ends up giving away more.
session result −$32.62
2♥
Session 14
How much are you willing to pay to keep being right?
Discipline is not just turning down the opportunities you doubt, but also paying up where the price on offer is fair, and taking the loss calmly, knowing you were right anyway.
session result +$26.16
A♠
Session 13
You lose the most one step short of winning
The most expensive question is not "Is this good?" but "Is this good enough to win?" and it has to be asked before the price goes up.
session result +$62.50
K♠
Session 12
A reputation is built faster than the case for it
Before you argue with someone's opinion of you, count how many instances it is built on.
session result +$76.99
Q♠
Session 11
You will never learn whether you were right about most of your decisions
Write down what you decided and why before you learn the answer: otherwise your experience will be assembled out of the big stories only and will ignore most of the small ones, which are what three quarters of business and of life are actually made of.
session result −$24.56
J♠
Session 10
Caution takes fewer steps, and each one costs more
Cut the size of the bet, not the number of attempts.
session result −$241.44
10♠
Session 9
If you get to choose, be the marketplace, not one of its users
Count not only your own result but the cut of whoever stands between you and the money: he collects his on every trade, and you collect yours only when you turn out to be right.
session result +$8.21
9♠
Session 8
A move out of turn says something about you that you did not mean to say
The money is made not by the voice out of turn, but by the answer to someone else's move
session result +$124.29
8♠
Session 7
Don't pay more for an answer you were offered cheap
So when the other side is the one offering to let you find out for a small amount, the first question to ask is why you'd want to pay more.
session result +$5.80
7♠
Session 6
When your logic is visible from the outside, someone else finishes it for you
Nobody re-checks a conclusion he reached himself: there is nobody to argue with, so there is nothing to doubt.
session result +$105.12
6♠
Session 5
Walking into the room is not the same as owning it
The first gets you a seat at the table. The second decides how much of the table is yours.
session result +$75.42
5♠
Session 4
Sometimes you name a price and hope nobody takes it
So the question to ask is not how many will say yes, but which ones – and what they know that you do not.
session result +$131.66
4♠
Session 3
Results and decision quality are kept in different books
Both books have to be kept.
session result +$50.01
3♠
Session 2
What strengthened everyone strengthened no one
One question matters: what is left after you subtract what everyone got.
session result −$136.10
2♠
Session 1
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight
The decision not to take part is the only free one: it costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
session result −$118.79