He has 300 bouncy houses, and his fallback line of business was the balloon men stores use to attract attention. 13 employees all devoted to lugging the things around and setting them up. All booked out months in advance due to graduation party season it seems. All canceled.
Conversation
My small business is almost as non-essential, but is more conceptually diversified, and mostly relies on zero-capex infrastructure and more robust margins. Still, it worries me that I rely as much on 2 inputs — the existence of the internet and my own good health.
3
11
He’s a Trumpie but in this case I wouldn’t hold that against him. Nobody can really prep for something like this. You’d spend all day tail-risk-proofing a business idea and never starting anything if you were to worry at this level. But still... something unsympathetic here.
1
7
I think I just don’t like economic rents. Even if it’s something as simple as an inflatable house. But rather than trying to estimate “rentishness” of a business by the vague definition of economics, I prefer to apply my own definition
1
5
A business is based on rents to the extent it does *not* require ongoing investment of thinking to keep it going. Ie if all you need is capital goods and formulaic labor that can be performed by interchangeable people, your business is based on rents.
2
4
17
Two factors can force you to think:
1. The presence of real competition (I suspect this guy was a local monopoly in Roseville)
2. The business being a knowledge work business where the basic output requires thinky labor that cannot be done by interchangeable parts people
3
1
8
Interestingly by this definition, even a super hardworking street food vendor is a rentier. Small cart capex, interchangeable formulaic labor, local monopoly on one street block. Look at say New York street food. Why do they all follow 2-3 patterns? (hotdogs, shawarma...)
2
3
I guess I have low sympathy for people who try to build businesses with the goal of being able to stop thinking at some point. This is why I kinda detest the internet equivalent — the holy grail of “passive income”
1
19
It’s okay to want to stop thinking about one aspect of a business, via automation or figuring it out once and for all, but if you seek to eliminate all thinking input, you kinda deserve the risk exposures you get. Even if you’re working 14 hour days rather than idling in Bali.
2
1
14
Replying to
I'd agree with this conclusion if income wasn't tied to labor. By this definition, every retiree, early or otherwise, is a rentier.
2
Replying to
I’m willing to make an exception for retirement, since that’s a universal future of falling cognitive capacity for anyone who continues living. It’s a bit like a disability we can all look forward to.
Ie if you try to stop thinking while you are healthy and with solid adult cognitive capacity, when you’re neither disabled in any way, nor close to retirement, it’s a problem. Creates an economic tragedy of commons where everybody is trying to free ride on capped cognitive input.
3

