No Such Thing as Clean Hands

In one sitting, I've seen a family member excused from any responsibility for their failures—and, in that same sitting, decide the fate of an entire organization. Whether to buy a company or sell one.

If you read, you should write. At least that's what I tell myself.

I've been in the room when a company was about to go under, and in the room when we restructured so it didn't.

I've seen nepotism wreck an organization that runs anyway—inept top to bottom.

I've seen the acquisitions, the deals, the maneuvering that happen only behind closed doors.

I've seen how it really works.

You don't build anything that lasts without the will to fight a trench war. It's cutthroat. And no one says it out loud: there's no such thing as clean hands.

There's more than business in me—other interests, other ways of taking on life, shaped by where I've been. That comes later.

So what do I write about? Everything. People ask about the family-company world, the family offices, what happens when the doors close. It's like any public company—same politics, sometimes more brutal. I've worked under management I'd follow anywhere, and management I'd warn you about. The second kind taught me more. It's better to know what not to do.

This is where I write it down. Life. Business. Power. The things you only learn from the inside—and the things some don’t like to write or speak about because it’s not acceptable, because doing so means they had their hands unwashed as well and that doesn’t look pristine to a society that values clean optics while under the hood is a fucking wasteland.

So it’s about this and life and other topics that come to mind. I honestly don’t care if you stick around to read it or not. My work ships either way..

How do you like me so far? Good.