{"id":5121,"date":"2024-07-25T11:28:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T00:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/?p=5121"},"modified":"2024-07-25T11:28:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T00:58:08","slug":"beware-buzzwords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/beware-buzzwords\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware Buzzwords"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has some interesting takes, not all of which you may agree with. But he said something back in 2015 which was bang on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI\u2019m always sceptical of sectors and trends. People always ask me what some trends are that I see happening in the future, and I have never liked the question because I\u2019m not a prophet and I don\u2019t think the future is fixed in that sort of way\u2026 At this point, I think all trends are overrated\u2026 if you hear the words \u2018big data\u2019 and \u2018cloud computing\u2019, you need to run away as fast as you possibly can. Just think \u2018fraud\u2019 and run away.<br><br>\u201cAll these buzzwords are a tell\u2014like in poker\u2014that the company is bluffing and undifferentiated\u2026 We\u2019ve heard the buzzwords before, and so if you\u2019re the nth company in a category that\u2019s well established, that\u2019s problematic\u2026 Conversely, I think the things that are underrated are the ones where there are no buzzwords and it doesn\u2019t actually fit into any pre-existing categories\u2026 Of course, the challenge is that even the people who are running these companies will describe them in terms of existing categories because that\u2019s so much easier to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How many ASX companies have tried to win investor favour by hitching their wagon to the latest thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the latest example of a sexy thematic that everyone is piling into, but&nbsp;there&#8217;s always something new and sexy that&#8217;s capturing the market&#8217;s attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not that these technological trends aren\u2019t genuine, or have no potential commercial application. Rather, it\u2019s that there is a hell of a gap between what is possible, and what is likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And even if a trend is indeed real, you can be sure that only a small fraction of players will ever achieve material and enduring success from it\u2026 and even then, it\u2019ll likely take many years for things to play out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The point is, as Thiel points out, if all you hear from management are buzzwords \u2013 run!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All commercial success \u2013 and I mean all \u2013 stems from a business\u2019 ability to solve a problem for someone. No matter how much technological sophistication or originality you have, if it doesn\u2019t make someone\u2019s life better (even if that be in some crass, subjective fashion), then it is little more than an interesting novelty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s nothing wrong with management talking up the potential of a new technology trend, but what really matters is how they are applying it to solve problems for their customers, and how that distinguishes them from others in the space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If they can articulate the \u2018how\u2019 and \u2018why\u2019 without solely relying on jargon and hype, they\u2019re worth paying attention to. Ideally, you\u2019d actually see some actual evidence of demonstrable commercial traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Money talks, and you-know-what walks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-very-dark-gray-color has-very-light-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background has-normal-font-size\"><em>Strawman is Australia\u2019s premier online investment club. <br>Members share research &amp; recommendations on ASX-listed stocks by managing Virtual Portfolios and building Company Reports. By ranking content according to performance and community endorsement, Strawman provides accountable and peer-reviewed investment insights. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-very-light-gray-color has-tertiary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/signup\"> Create your FREE Strawman account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\"><em><strong>Disclaimer\u2013<\/strong> Strawman is not a broker and you cannot purchase shares through the platform. All trades on Strawman use play money and are intended only as a tool to gain experience and have fun. No content on Strawman should be considered an inducement to to buy or sell real world financial securities, and you should seek professional advice before making any investment decisions<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\">\u00a9 2024 Strawman Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">| <a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/privacy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/terms\">Terms of Service<\/a> |<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\"><em>ACN: 610 908 211<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has some interesting takes, not all of which you may agree with. But he said something back in 2015 which was bang on: \u201cI\u2019m always sceptical of sectors and trends. People always ask me what some trends are that I see happening in the future, and I have never liked the question because I\u2019m [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beware Buzzwords - Strawman Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/beware-buzzwords\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beware Buzzwords - Strawman Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has some interesting takes, not all of which you may agree with. 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