I loved this tweet from my friend Brian Norgard on the subject of product development:

Time invested in developing a product is an unreliable, often misleading metric.

We overvalue things that take time and effort.

We undervalue things that happen swiftly and effortlessly.

All that matters is the end result.

The same can be said for public and private companies of this era. It is hard to come to terms with how fast companies are being formed and growing (and of course being shut down).

Smartphones, open source software, network effects, machine learning, a global, mobile and socially connected world have created this fuel that has Wall Street and main street confused.

The US public markets are strong led again (of course) by technology stocks.

The speed of the December ‘glitch’ and the 2019 recovery are incredible. Did everything change or did nothing change?

Going slow at times like this is frustrating because the markets and the connected world are not going to slow down while you or I stop to rest and think. But, I have found that slowing things down is essential.

I have been doing a lot of writing while overseas. I am putting some bigger strategy thoughts to paper and organizing my thoughts on trends I see and how I see the landscape in the areas I am looking to invest.

From my current slowness, I am confident that some clarity and speed will emerge.

PS – Today, I am off to visit some history of speed and beauty at the Ferrari headquarters and factory in Modena, Italy. Chris Bruno, founder of Rally Rd and collector car expert/enthusiast will be along for the ride. I am excited to experience it with a true fan.