Warren Buffett is widely regarded as the world’s greatest investor — but what isn’t common knowledge is how he created his fortune. His skill isn’t just investing in great companies. That’s only one half of the equation. The other half was his access to billions of dollars of cash at…

A financial tear-down of Australia’s Fintech darling — I have a love-hate relationship with Afterpay. The patriotic version of me is proud to see an Aussie fintech unicorn taking on the world. A brand that is changing the way consumers use credit. On the flip side, the fiscally responsible accountant in me despises it. A company that profits…

I write, advise, record, invest, and teach. Here’s how my economic engine fits and works together. In the diagram below, the dark blue lines represent the current flywheel. The dotted blue lines represent future additions. Stark Naked Media — starknakednumbers.com Stark Naked Media is our content and digital product business. The mission of this business…

Picture this. A brand new, 300 location burger restaurant chain launches OVERNIGHT. The company’s companion app hits #1 on the app store charts and does over $15M+ in revenue in the space of 48 hours. On launch day, the company actually pays you to eat their food. Wads of cash…

A Financial tear-down of the millennial's homeware retailer. — My suspicions arose on the third consecutive day he visited the house. The overly friendly man. Pearly white teeth, charming smile. He comes bearing gifts. Gifts for my wife. She awaits this mysterious man every day, constantly checking her phone and emails for updates. She leaps with excitement as he…

“Rent money is dead money” is the default response by most people on the ‘rent vs buy’ debate. Especially in Australia. Owning your home is a cultural icon. The great Australian Dream. What do you own if not your own abode? Better yet, why just have one? Why not accumulate…

A financial teardown of the fitness brand powerhouse — I am probably the least fashionable person you’ll see at the gym. My workout attire is what most people regard as ‘home clothes’. You wouldn’t know if I was off to do a tip-run or 30mins on the treadmill. I never really understood why people bought clothes specifically for the…

You can’t build a business on your own. There’s simply not enough hours in the day to do everything — from sales, marketing, product and operations. You need to surround yourself with managers that can own these various functions in your business. Accordingly, founders should keep company with domain experts…

If you want to build wealth, focus on creating leverage. Leverage can have negative connotations. A power dynamic that gives you an ‘upper hand’ in negotiations. Or, from a financial lens, loading up your balance sheet with debt. This isn’t the type of leverage I’m talking about. To me, leverage is creating assets and maximising their utility. In other words…