Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

On learning to ride, Bro D's marriage story, and why Google hires Olympians.

Hello guys,

Hope you are doing well. I’m okay, Alhamdulillah.

Last week Tuesday, I was walking on the street and navigating directions on my Maps app when I got a pop-up on my phone. My bro SM was calling. In a rush, I declined his call and continued walking. If I didn’t find my appointment venue soon, I would have been late. I hate being late.

A few minutes later, I was at the landmark location (just-in-time!) in a shopping complex and the person I was supposed to meet was late. Sigh. I got out my phone and dialed SM.

Me: Hey man

SM: How’s it going bro?

Me: All good bro, what’s up?

SM: Nothing much, I wanted us to talk about xyz…

Me: Ah sounds good, but I can’t right now. I’m taking classes to learn how to cycle.

SM: Bro you’re what? 😂😂

Me: Bro I can’t ride a bike 😂…I can try but I suck and can’t go 50 metres without falling 😭😭

SM: You should have told me, I can teach you…

Me: But you don’t have a bike…

SM: Yeah we could have rented and learnt in a park somewhere

Me: Ahh no worries, I signed up for this already. My instructor just arrived. Will call you in maybe 2 hours?

SM: Okay man, sounds good

Me: Alright bye

SM: Bye

If you are a normal person, then the idea of taking classes to learn how to ride a bike must sound absurd. 😂 😂

But that is exactly what I did last week. Growing up (and spending primary and formative secondary school years) on the streets of Somolu, riding a bicycle just never felt like an option. I never had one, and never really needed or wanted one. As the years went on, I tried my hand at riding some of my friends’ bicycles a few times, but I never quite got the hang of it.

I struggled to balance, I could not turn (without landing on my backside), and I could go perhaps 50 meters at best before giving up - I sucked. It was not important, I figured. Who needs to ride a bicycle in Lagos anyway?

But in the past few weeks, for whatever reason, I kept thinking about it. I’m in my twenties and can’t ride a bike. It’s a basic skill that makes mobility much easier, depending on where you live x how you commute.

If I didn’t learn it now, would I ever learn? Would I be too ashamed to learn at 40 or 50? If I could not ride a bike, how would I teach my kids? Would they also never learn?

I had to do it. I had to do it now. I ran it by my bro Olaniyi, and after a little hesitation, he agreed. Do it now.

Like many other aspects of my life, I needed the minimum stress method to solve the problem in the shortest time.

I could buy/rent a bike and practice? Nah, too long…

I could look for someone to teach me? Difficult. Not many people are available and it would have to be on their own time. Besides, knowing how to ride a bicycle is not the same as knowing how to teach riding a bike.

I eventually found a professional online and bit the bullet. It was probably the best decision I’ve taken in the last few months. Being able to ride a bike does not change my life in any serious way. But the fact that I can now cycle more than 50 meters without falling on my bottom is a big reassurance for my confidence :)

If I can learn this now, I can learn anything. It’s never too late.

—————

You probably know this already, but I am a content junkie. Some people like podcasts, some people prefer watching on YouTube. Some people like short articles, some people dive deep into long books. Some people like one-off movies/documentaries, some others diligently follow a story/series for years on end.

I am all of the above. It depends on many many things. 😅

I spend more time than I can reasonably explain chasing down rabbit holes on Obasanjo’s internet, and then excitedly bombarding Malik with more messages than he cares to receive at 5 am in the morning. 😂😂

And people who send more content my way, love them. I might add it to my Watch Later list or save it to Pocket and not get round to it for several weeks or months on end, but love them all the same.

One thing that was recently shared with me (sadly don’t even remember who) is a thread by Sahil Bloom, talking about 10 lessons he learnt from Warren Buffet.

I had come across quite a number of them before, but one stood out to me.

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

Seek out situations where there is a clear disconnect between price and value. This applies to investing, but it’s more broadly a mental model for life. Identify disconnects. Exploit them to your advantage.

When I read this, I paused.

Like I often do when trying to process something, everything else could wait. I needed to take a few minutes to think about it and figure out if it made sense. To investing? Sure. But to life? How?

And then it clicked.

The Oracle of Omaha - Image from Dallas News

Sometimes in life, you can ‘purchase’ something and receive full value while paying very little (below typical ‘purchase’ price) because you exploited a disconnect.

Let’s run through one or two examples together.

Bro D’s fictional marriage

Let’s say Bro D is a 30-year-old Yoruba x Muslim young man who lives in the US and plans to get married soon. Not immediately, but maybe in the next 1/2 years. He has checked with his friends and family to find babe, but only one person appeals to him.

Let’s call her Shade. Bro D and Shade are friends - not super close but they talk fairly regularly and vibe a lot. He knows that she’s hell-bent on doing her Master’s in the US and has started making plans to travel by next year.

This is where things get tricky.

Bro D knows that if he proposes to Shade now, she will probably become his financial responsibility going by their families’ Yoruba x Muslim culture. He will have to assist with her school search, Visa applications, and even be responsible for her $30k tuition!

Why? He knows what the family will say…his wife, his responsibility.

Butttt, if Bro D decides to stay friends and keep quiet for just 1 extra year, Shade will arrive US (with her father paying her tuition) and then maybe he can discuss entering a serious relationship then.

He and Shade will still be together by next year, and all the amazing things to look forward to for the rest of their lives are the same. But if he can afford to be a little patient and bear the risk, then he saves extra responsibility of $30k! The money he doesn’t have anyway!

In this option, he will still get 100% of the ‘value’ of Shade but only pay a reduced version of the ‘price’.

******* Long side note *******

I was very reluctant to use this example.

First, it might give the impression that Shade is a commodity that is being purchased. To perceive any human being as a commodity would be going back to the Stone Age. The storytelling with this fictional example here is only for illustration purposes, as I really do think it will help understand how to apply Warren Buffet’s idea to a real-life scenario.

The other reason I was initially reluctant to use this example is that things like this are very tricky, often blurring lines of what is morally acceptable. I personally am quite naive - found this out in the last 2 years - as I realized that many of the relationships in careers, workplaces, and business dealings are so delicately and cunningly cultivated to help someone derive maximum benefit from another person or group of people.

While it goes against my personal ethos, we would be burying our heads in the sand if we pretend that things like this do not happen. So I decided to share anyway.

******* end of long side note/rant *******

Now, let us talk briefly about something more mainstream.

Google Hiring Olympians

I have heard and read repeatedly that Google loves to hire Olympians. I think I first learnt about it when I read David Vise’s The Google Story when I lived in Port Harcourt and was bored out of my mind.

The basic idea is this. What do professional athletes do after retirement from the Olympics?

If they reached superstar status like Usain Bolt or Tyson Gay, then dem no get problem. There would be dozens of endorsement deals, charity foundations, and international organizations willing to snap them up. Or they could even get advisory roles in national sports ministries or places like IAAF.

But what happens to low-status Olympians?

Think of maybe someone that once won a bronze medalist for javelin for an obscure country. The options then are much more limited. They may work as personal trainers for young talent, hang around the sports commentary scene, or engage in something else entirely to earn a living. Nigeria’s Chioma Ajunwa, the very first African lady to win Olympic gold, returned to her job as a police officer.

There just isn’t so much else to do.

So the guys at Google began to aggressively hire former Olympian athletes for their sales teams. At face value, it makes no sense. What does a high jump Olympian have to do with a search engine?

Nothing. Bhe Google guys were quick to realize that there is an immense level of dedication, drive, and competitiveness that goes into becoming part of the 0.0013% of athletes that become Olympians. And they were willing to bet that these traits would serve them well in dealing with clients and driving sales efforts at Google.

Afterall, they didn’t have much else to do anyway.

Again, this is the same concept of paying little price (compared to what it costs to get the top 0.0013% of Tech sales professionals) for a huge amount of value.

Warren buffet is a wise wise man.

As you begin a new week, I hope you keep an open eye to find which opportunities around you can provide immense value for very little price. And if there are any important personal life gaps you somehow still haven’t learnt, just start now.

It’s never too late.

—————

Breaking regular format to remind you to subscribe x share.

Hameed

** Jara content:

"Work is my vocation. It gives me purpose, it makes sense to me, it bends to my will. Love comes and goes, but work never disappoints. And I would say this even if I hadn’t been fired five times. Wait, six." - Cathrin Bradbury

Have a great week. ✨