An Unfair Advantage

I launched my newsletter "Financial Modelling Took Me To NYC" with a post on LinkedIn.

I anticipated that the post would perform well because I decided to leverage an unfair advantage.

The unfair advantage of posting a personal picture of myself with my son, with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

I've empirically learned that personal posts on LinkedIn perform well. They perform especially well if they feature kids or pets. Double the performance points if the post features both kids and pets!

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a decent picture of myself with my son and my dog, Nina, in NYC. That would have been a blast!

However, Nina was part of our move from Barcelona to NYC. She also became a New Yorker.

In hindsight I realized how reckless I was. I made an international move with a pregnant wife and a dog into the unknown. We did not have any sort of supporting network there: no friends, relatives or even distant contacts.

A double somersault backwards with a backflip. Without a safety net.

But opportunities appear when they appear. And I decided to seize this one.

All this to tell you that my welcome email to the newsletter received some kind responses.

One of them came from Juan. Thanks Juan for your kind words!

Aside from his kind words, Juan told me he is interested in not being overwhelmed by financial modelling (at a domestic level), and in how to apply financial modelling in his own life.

His words got me thinking.

Darn, this is a good point.

Financial modelling is a tool used for decision-making. Usually, financial models are used to make business decisions. But financial decisions are undoubtedly part of our domestic lifes.

My advise? Start modelling your own financial life.

Fire up an Excel spreadsheet and do the following:

Create a monthly timeline on top of it. Let's say until year end.

• Create a budget of your expenses.

• Estimate how much cash you will have at the end of each month, after all your income and your expenses.

• Define key indicators like savings and cash balances and graph them in a dashboard.

And voilà! You have started modelling your own financial life.

This is the essence of financial modelling. The same essence applies in business. It might become much more convoluted, but deep down, this is what financial modeling is all about.

By the way, if you are interested in financial modeling services, respond to this email and let me know your needs.

Financial modeling services.

P.S.: If you haven't done it yet, you can read the LinkedIn post here.

P.S.2: I have tried to prove my point that personal posts on LinkedIn receive more engagement with statistics. I asked ChatGPT, and while I could not get it to provide a specific number, it somewhat supported my point:

“Several studies and anecdotal evidence from LinkedIn influencers have suggested that sharing personal stories can lead to increased engagement. Personal stories often resonate with readers because they provide relatable experiences, insights, and emotions that people can connect with. This connection can prompt users to like, comment, and share posts more frequently.”