Articles (General)

February 2016 Ivan Obolensky On January 29, 1886, Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen. It was an automobile fueled entirely by gasoline. Less known is that Bertha Benz, his wife and business partner, also played a significant part. After all, it was Bertha who created one of life’s finest diversions: the road trip. In 1888, Bertha Benz, unbeknownst to her husband, …

December 2015 Ivan Obolensky Why is outstanding success so elusive? People work day and night. They receive more education, attend seminars, follow gurus, and listen to mentors. Those that aspire to that level of achievement try everything and anything, but often to no avail. There seems to be only a handful of people who reach a high level of success …

November 2015 Ivan Obolensky In a televised interview on February 12, 2002, Donald Rumsfeld said the following regarding the lack of evidence linking Iraq with Weapons of Mass Destruction and terrorist groups: “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns: there are things we know we know. We …

October 2015 Ivan Obolensky Social media has been ongoing for some time. Some people love it. Others hate it. Many use it, but with reservations. It has tremendous upsides, such as being able to keep in contact with family and friends in a way that was previously impossible. It has equally large downsides. It can become addictive, waste an amazing …

September 2015 Ivan Obolensky Not many understand what High-Frequency Trading (HFT) is, and how it evolved, simply because it has grown quietly behind the scenes, out of the public eye, at least until several computer glitches and flash-crashes put it in the public spotlight. High-Frequency Trades are initiated by computer programs that operate at speeds of a millionth of a …

August 2015 Ivan Obolensky One of the most important concepts for anyone to master is called the Setup. It applies to both individuals and organizations. For a corporation, a group, or an individual to grow, it must be set up to do so. If not, it won’t. This might seem obvious, but it is a fundamental that can be overlooked, …

July 2015 Ivan Obolensky Excellence is defined as a talent, or quality, that is unusually good and surpasses ordinary standards.1 It has a tendency to be overstated. Advertisers use the word with such abandon that excellence appears commonplace. It would appear easily obtainable and observable by anyone and everyone, yet ultimately, excellence is found in the results. They are either …

June 2015 Ivan Obolensky Humans perceive the world through a small window of senses, and compared to what is available to be observed, it is a very small window indeed. Our vision, for example, is restricted to a microscopic portion of the broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, which extends up through the high-frequencies of gamma rays and down through the …