In the Art of War, Sun Tzu writes: “The potential of troops led with skill in battle can be compared to that of round boulders rolling down from the top of a mountain” and “If a falcon strikes its prey in one blow, it is because it strikes at exactly the right moment”. How to apply this in daily life? Today, we will study how to combine “momentum” (placing round boulders atop a mountain) with the opportune “moment” (to strike like a falcon). This post was written by Vietnamese writer and philosopher Dang Than. I will also copy/paste the Vietnamese text below and add my own comments. Here is the…

I came across these two slides from a marketing course for luxury brands in Vietnam. I find them really interesting, and after mulling them over for a few days, here are some thoughts and explanations of the slides. Contemporary luxury as we know it is largely a construct of the LVMH conglomerate and Bernard Arnault, who industrialized and democratized what was once a niche artisanal market. Historically, access to exceptional products came through direct relationships with artisans and family-run workshops. The shift to mass production created a hierarchy: the first three levels (Entry, Aspirational, Mature) mainly target the middle classes and the nouveau riche through volume and relative accessibility. The…

I read a text written in Vietnamese by a communication expert that I really enjoyed. Here’s my summary of it: He describes a crisis of meaning in the modern world: individuals, lost and without bearings, desperately seek to feel useful and recognized. From this thirst for importance is born a market of emotional comfort, where one can “buy” meaning through seminars, training, and products promising to “awaken your potential” or “find your life’s mission.” Two groups fuel this market: Around them hover the meaning entrepreneurs, who turn collective distress into a commercial opportunity. The most emblematic are life coaches, those “life guides” who, often in crisis themselves, sell their own…