I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | C-Suite Executive | Mentor, Coach, Strategic Consultant | Real Estate Investor | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
Don't forget to look at the exit
|
Once upon a time, in a European country, which shall remain nameless, but that’s known for great wine, fantastic cheese, too much pasta and good weather even if in Spain all that is better, decided to build a PPP highway connecting two major cities. The project went through the usual process, feasibility studies, tenders, and a long, complex financial close. Everything seemed on track. Tax payer money was spent, as usual, as if was nobody’s. ​ The private consortium, excited about the project, designed a state-of-the-art highway with cutting-edge tolling technology. The best of the best. The more modern. The most expensive… wining points in a weird tender. ​ There was just one small… well, tiny problem. ​ Nobody Thought About the Exits. ​ Yes, the exits in the highway… ​ The highway was built, beautifully paved, fully operational… but it had no proper exits for local towns along the way. Just the two cities. ​ Of course, this couldn’t be Spain. We like to use high speed trains in the metro, putting stops every few hundred metres so that full potential of the trains cannot be reached. ​ Well… this tiny problem, as I was saying, meant that only people traveling between the two big cities could use it, while smaller towns in between had no access unless they drove way out of their way just to get onto the road. ​ Why? Probably no election time. ​ The result? Traffic forecasts were completely wrong. Toll revenue was a disaster. The private operator had to negotiate a bailout because they couldn’t pay back the debt. ​ The Government’s Genius Solution? The government, realizing the mistake, proposed building new exits. ​ Sounds reasonable, right? But since this was a PPP contract, every additional exit was considered a “variation,” meaning the government had to pay millions more to the private consortium to fix what should have been obvious from the start! ​ Lesson Learned? Drink Spanish wine, Spanish Cheese and get a holiday home in Mallorca, and if you ever work on a PPP highway, don’t forget to look at the exits! ​ Would you like another story? There are plenty of PPP blunders below. ​
PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. ​ ​ |
Vicente Valencia
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | C-Suite Executive | Mentor, Coach, Strategic Consultant | Real Estate Investor | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
This week I’ve been quite busy. Just launching into the market two new short-term rentals. Looking at the dishwasher, some furniture, attending the internet technical guy… things like that. I could probably delegate all this, but sometimes, you want to be on top of everything. Why do I do this? Why, would you ask. Because I like it… and because I do believe that money is important. Very important. You may like it more or less, but 99% of the decisions you will make in the future will be...
When I hear this, there is a shake in my spine. I’ll try. Or worse. We’ll try. That’s a total lack of commitments. I’m not talking about common sense in the White House. No. But about commitment. Commitment is one of those things there is total shortage. Too many individuals, companies, organizations… too many fail to commit fully to their activities, duties, obligations and responsibilities. They are not on board. They don’t feel real pain if something is not achieved. To acquire success is...
Your network is your net worth, and it’s shrinking… You wake up, check your phone. Get work done, on your laptop. Buy your groceries, with a click. Order lunch and dinner, from an app. Watch a movie, on a screen. Go to bed, after one last scroll. A day of life, and you seldom have to talk mouth hole to mouth hole. If this feels normal, that’s because it is. But normal doesn’t mean good, and the data shows we’re choosing this path more than ever. • In-person socializing dropped by over 20%...