Dust on the Mountain: How a Lost Marble Taught Me to Read Balance-Sheets Before I Could Read Books
------------------------------------------------ 1. The Marble That Didn’t Exist ------------------------------------------------ I was eight, maybe nine, when I lost my only marble—literally. It rolled under a neighbour’s gate and vanished in a puff of dust. Most kids would cry; I felt the cold sweat of a start-up founder who just lost his seed round. Because in my head that single glass sphere was inventory, working capital and exit valuation rolled into one. I spent the afternoon belly-crawling through bougainvillaea thorns until I spotted the glint. When I finally held it up, sun-light fractured inside the swirl: I had recovered my entire balance-sheet. Lesson #1 (age 8): “Cash is a marble; lose it and you stop playing—find it and you can build a factory.” ------------------------------------------------ 2. Weak Players Pay in Marbles ------------------------------------------...