Q&A: Buying a Vending Machine, Wholesaling, and Selling an Invention

Robinhood’s user-friendly trading platform has created a fiercely loyal community of retail traders because it makes trading cheap, accessible, and fun. Critics contend, however, that the app’s focus on fun blurs the line between investing and gaming, and it encourages inexperienced traders to make risky bets they don’t fully understand.

Robinhood was fined $65 million for prioritizing its own revenue over its investors, who were attracted by $0 commissions but lost out on worse trades. Another reminder that nothing’s ever really free—you might be saving “a penny to lose a nickel.”

Have you ever wondered how platform businesses like Spotify and Amazon became so successful? In Platform Revolution, a team of economists and businesspeople—Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, and Sangeet Paul Choudary—offer some insight: Platform businesses harness their unique characteristics to drive competitiveness and transformation, resulting in profound economic, societal, and political impacts. Parker, Van Alstyne, and Choudary also highlight the distinct skill set required to operate such a business and provide practical tips for aspiring platform entrepreneurs.

In our guide, we’ll compare the platform business model to the traditional business model known as a pipeline, explain why platforms are becoming dominant, and explore their wide-ranging effects. We’ll also outline essential design and management strategies for platform developers. Our commentary will provide additional insights on economic concepts, discuss tips from business experts, and explore real-world applications of Platform Revolution principles.

A massive bestseller now in its 12th edition, Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street provides a comprehensive and entertaining introduction to the world of finance. Malkiel leverages his experience as an academic economist and former Wall Street portfolio manager to explain for the lay reader the intricacies of security analysis, asset valuation, and investment theory. He also offers a wealth of practical investment principles that will be useful for novice and seasoned investors alike.

Your Money or Your Life guides you through 9 steps to reach financial independence—not having to work for money. Unlike other personal finance books, this book is about more than budgeting. Rather, it’s about changing your entire relationship with money and, consequently, living a more meaningful life. You’ll learn to think of money as “life energy”—the time and energy you dedicate to paid work—and use this new mindset to align your spending habits with your values, purpose, and dreams.

You don’t have to choose between saving money and enjoying your life. Transforming how you think about money is the key to having both the life you want and the money to achieve and maintain it. In the 9-step program, you’ll learn to pay down your debt, generate passive income, simplify your life, and retire early.

Do you dream of owning your own business but aren’t sure how to get funding to start it? In The Minimalist Entrepreneur, Sahil Lavingia says you don’t need any. In this book, the successful business owner gives detailed advice for starting your own profitable “minimalist” business without using venture capital or spending a penny on advertising.

In this guide, we’ll explain Lavingia’s business model, from identifying a business you’ll love to run by finding inspiration in your own communities, to setting up, testing, marketing, and launching your business. We’ll also discuss how to run your business sustainably, with the ultimate goal of achieving “time affluence” for yourself, and making a positive contribution to the world.

Throughout, we’ll compare and supplement Lavinagia’s advice on starting a business with that from other books like The Lean Startup, The $100 Startup, and Blue Ocean Strategy.

Many people want to retire as millionaires so that they have the time and money to travel, buy luxury cars and homes, or visit with their friends and families. However, you don’t need to be a millionaire to do all these things. You don’t even need to retire.

In The 4-Hour Workweek, entrepreneur, consultant, and life coach Tim Ferriss explains how anyone can live the retired millionaire lifestyle by building their own business, automating it, and then collecting the income while they go off to live their dreams. In this guide, we’ll describe each of Ferriss’s steps to creating this life. We’ll also examine why some of his recommendations are particularly effective and explore alternatives and counterarguments to other suggestions.

If building a million-dollar business in a single year sounds impossible, then entrepreneur Ryan Daniel Moran has news for you. In 12 Months to $1 Million, Moran writes that it’s not only possible, but also simple: All you need to do to reach that seven-figure mark is to sell three to five products tailored to a specific audience. To help you achieve this goal, Moran shares proven techniques for creating breakthrough products, marketing your business, and developing a brand with loyal customers. By following his approach, you can turn your ideas into reality, achieve your financial goals, and run a million-dollar business within a year.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the tools and techniques for creating and launching your product line. We’ll also explore Moran’s advice for growing your sales by engaging with your audience, as well as deciding whether to scale or sell your business. Throughout, we’ll compare Moran’s strategy with that of other entrepreneurs and provide actionable tips for applying his strategy to your own business.