Business

Diamonds are rare, there haven't been any major finds for over 20years, and there are no major mines on the horizon. Demand- particularly in China and India- is growing rapidly, and in the very near future we will see demand outpace plateauing supply.

The truth is nobody needs a diamond. You don't need a diamond to heat your home, run your car or power your cell-phone. As a business, it's clear to us that there is only one source of value for diamonds- and that is the consumer's desire for the product.

The business plan is about management not exposition, it shows commitment to milestones.

Founder of Palo Alto Software and business planning expert

The plan is the lists, milestones and responsibilities- not the document that describes them.

Founder of Palo Alto Software and business planning expert

By far the most common is underestimating expenses. When industries do barely double-digits if their lucky, business plans ought not to be showing EBIT or EBITDA of 50-70% – that doesn't mean people are smart, it means they haven't understood the industry.

Founder of Palo Alto Software and business planning expert

All forecasts are wrong- all business plans are wrong- but they're very useful for management. It's not just a one-time picture, it's an on-going story. You're looking for lines not dots about how a company proceeds.

Founder of Palo Alto Software and business planning expert

The end of an X-Prize is the beginning of a new market, or a new market opportunity. We are nothing more than a distinct channel to that market.

What I mean by that is compensation systems- especially for traders- that created go for broke incentives. If you won big, you became fabulously wealthy- and if you lost big- you got a comparative slap across the wrist.

Prominent Economist & Former Vice Chair of Federal Reserve Board

There's a disease shared between individuals who consider themselves the smartest people in the room that makes them think they'll be the ones that get out just in time, while others are left holding the bag. That was true for a few people, but in general… someone will always be left holding the bag.

Prominent Economist & Former Vice Chair of Federal Reserve Board

If corporate profits are high, it suggests performance has been terrific… you can't then complain that governance is broken! You can't have it both ways…. if corporate governance was better, profits would be even higher!

University of Chicago finance professor specializing in private equity and leveraged buyouts

So not only has average pay gone down, but the job has got riskier.

University of Chicago finance professor specializing in private equity and leveraged buyouts

The average pay, inflation adjusted, has dropped more than 40% – yet the Gretchen Morgenson's of the world want to write that it's going up and up… that's just wrong.

University of Chicago finance professor specializing in private equity and leveraged buyouts

We're taking capability from NASA that used to cost billions of dollars, and we're doing it for tens of millions of dollars. We want to learn that critical information necessary to develop those resources.

Our mission is to expand the economic sphere of influence of humanity off the surface of the planet and into the solar system. Currently we have a vibrant economy in space that goes out to the geostationary belt- where the communication satellites are- and it stops.

There is nothing really so bad about a recession. A recession is very much an economy pausing for breath to re-evaluate where it stands and to assess where to go next.

...in the long-term, random investment strategies provide gains comparable to those seen where technical strategies are applied.