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I scored you many goals
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First week of “relax” and meetings to celebrate my well-deserved holidays. Having been for so long on the infrastructure world, logically I’ve been catching up and meeting people from banks, private equity firms and infrastructure investors, in general. In a coffee with investors talking about how I could help them in the future, I was asked something like… why would I be a good advisor for them. I was thinking that we were practising the art of conversation and coffee tasting and this caught me totally out of guard. “Because I scored you many goals” – without thinking. Not the best answer, I’m afraid, but they loved it, and we could continue our coffee. And you know that I love coffee… Well… I correct. You know that I love good coffee… And why did they like my answer? Well… This is a constant in business. If you wonder, why the FBI uses hackers to protect their IT system or help them to “spy” on others’ computers… well… I’m sure you can guess. The best security guys can perfectly be former robbers. So, I guess that someone wanting to buy infrastructure, or any other thing would love to have a seller from the other site of the table advising them. I know where all the tricks and flaws could be in an asset. I’ve delivered many. It’s like buying a house… you would love to have a former real estate agent with you. Don’t you? If so, and you want to learn a few tricks about infrastructure, you need to take a look to this. ​The 15 Top Lessons of a PPP Project Nightmare - The audiobook​ 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
Weekly insights on how to perform when it matters | High-stakes decisions. Real situations. No BS. | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
A PPP somewhere in Canada. Mid 2010s. Saturday night. Concrete poring of a key structure in the critical path of the project. Everything looked perfect on paper. Full closure approved Concrete plant booked Pumps lined up Crew ready Weather… “acceptable” 22:00 : Go time First trucks arrive. Pumps start. Concrete flowing. Then… rain. Not heavy. Not dramatic. Just enough to start messing with the surface. The kind of rain that kills quality slowly. The dangerous one. 23:30: First tension Quality...
Unless you want a horror story. Or an “insĂpida” story that says nothing. You don’t put on the market an unconnected series of projects. That’s not a vision. It’s election time in New Zealand. And every time I’m invited to a forum, I repeat the same message. Infrastructure needs a long-term story. A real one. What do we want to become in 30 years? Because it cannot change every time the government changes. That’s not strategy. That’s improvisation. Or shooting yourself in your foot. If a...
There is always another offer. You have to approach real estate investment with that mindset. It’s a trick many agents use. “There is another offer.” Aka: urgency. Bring your top price if you want it. Not sure if it’s legal or illegal… but it’s everywhere. Now. If the property is good. If the price is good. People should be bidding. That’s a good sign. Be careful with properties that look great… but nobody wants. Are you missing something? So, when an agent calls me and says there’s another...