Articles


I write about books, business, habits, and ideas that age well — the kind of insights that compound over time.

Explore the full archive below, or jump into a topic that interests you most.

Looking for a place to start?

Entrepreneurship — Lessons from building and studying businesses
Books — Notes, reflections, and curated reading lists
Friday Five — A weekly dispatch of five things worth your time

Latest Articles

  • 3 Business Lessons from Jim Clayton’s First, a Dream

    3 Business Lessons from Jim Clayton’s First, a Dream

    “If you have to swallow a frog, don’t look at it too long.” — Jim Clayton, quoting his grandfather Jim Clayton nearly lost everything. His assets were seized. He refused to waste time complaining about it or feeling sorry for himself. The morning after nearly losing it all, he met his wife and team at a…


  • Competitive Advantage: How Bloomberg Builds Moats

    Competitive Advantage: How Bloomberg Builds Moats

    “We give our customers what they need, not just what they have.” — Michael Bloomberg Today, it’s easy to look at Bloomberg and see a durable competitive advantage. But it wasn’t always that way. Far from it. In 1981, after being forced out of Salomon Brothers at age 39, Michael Bloomberg received roughly $10 million from…


  • How to Achieve Success: What Michael Bloomberg Gets Right About Small Wins

    How to Achieve Success: What Michael Bloomberg Gets Right About Small Wins

    “To succeed, you must string together many small incremental advances rather than count on hitting the lottery jackpot once.” — Michael Bloomberg If you’ve ever wondered how to achieve success, Michael Bloomberg’s answer is surprisingly simple: keep moving. In 1981, Michael Bloomberg left Salomon Brothers with $10 million and set up a tiny operation called Innovative…


  • July Reading List: 5 Best Books I Read in July 2026

    July Reading List: 5 Best Books I Read in July 2026

    “If you don’t go, you don’t get.” — Ronnen Harary A quantitative investor. A serial acquirer. A business strategist. A Hollywood power broker. A toy entrepreneur. At first glance, they have almost nothing in common. Look closer, and a pattern appears. Each spent years pursuing opportunities others overlooked. Each hit dead ends. None treated them as…


  • Dick’s Sporting Goods on Building a Good Company

    Dick’s Sporting Goods on Building a Good Company

    “We need to build the concept that will kill Dick’s Sporting Goods.” — Ed Stack Industrial carpet manufacturer Ray Anderson faced an unexpected question in the mid-1990s. A customer asked what Interface was doing for the environment. He froze. The honest answer was nothing. Interface simply complied with environmental regulations. Then one book changed everything:…


Want new posts delivered to your inbox?

I send a short email every Friday (Friday Five) with five things worth your time — books, ideas, tools, or insights from the week.

Join the Newsletter

Looking for my Friday Five newsletter?

Browse all Friday Fives


Scroll to Top
Michael McHugh
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.