smart ideas from books
Apparently, American Airline miles expire after 18 months of inactivity – but I would like to speak to something broader here.
Do you have any idea about how airline miles work?
Because the truth of it is amazing!
It turns out that airline mileage programs are not a feature of airline companies.
Airline mileage programs ARE the company.
(Reminds me of Costco’s membership program.)
Watch, watch: 👇
This is one of the beauties of capitalism.
You don’t have to have the best grades, the highest IQ, or be the smartest person in the room.
You simply have to serve others with something that they willingly pay for.
(Voluntary exchange is the key.)
To the extent that you do this, you will profit.
And to the extent that you don’t, you will lose.
You can compete on price, or compete on quality (differentiation).
And you play with the same rules afforded everyone else.
For some, keeping Janis Joplin sober is all that is required for a season:
Sylvia was a tough but likable New Yorker who had moved west to enter the nightclub business and whose width, height, and depth were the same measurement. She didn’t know much about show business, having once told a ventriloquist to move the dummy closer to the microphone. She was, however, savvy about the bottom line, as evidenced by a sign in the kitchen that said: ANYONE GIVING MONEY TO JANIS JOPLIN BEFORE HER LAST SET IS FIRED! AND IF THEY ARE A CUSTOMER, THEY’RE 86’ ED!
-Steve Martin, Born Standing Up (Amazon)
