Volume LIII

I. Cash Cow 🐄

This one was likely the brainchild of a whiteboarding session filled with lots of “alignment” and “circling back.” The consulting firm BCG is credited with coining cash cow as part of its trademarked Growth-Share Matrix — shorthand for a business with high market share in a low-growth market.

But this wasn’t just a few partners getting cute with alliteration.

Cows produce milk over time with little maintenance. You don’t sell them for a one-time payout. You let them graze. You collect. They’re steady, reliable. Think a laundromat or a car wash.

Just be careful: learn from the golden goose. If you’re lucky enough to have a cash cow, don’t get greedy trying to turn it into something it’s not.

II. Buttercup 🌼

Buttercups are bright yellow wildflowers (genus Ranunculus) named in the 1500s for their buttery color. There’s even old folklore that cows who ate them made richer butter.

By the 1800s, “buttercup” became popular and became a cute little pet name.

That name didn’t stay cute for long. Today, if someone calls you buttercup, they’re not handing you flowers or comparing you to their cat. They’re telling you to grow a spine.

III. Could he do it on a cold night in Stoke? 🏭

A little off rhythm today, we’re putting a little English on it.

A line straight out of the punditry of Premier League soccer: “Could he do it on a cold night in Stoke?”

It’s easy to shine when the sun’s out and the pitch is pristine. It’s a different story when the wind’s cutting sideways and you’re staring at a Tony Pulis low block for 90 minutes.

Messi could score 92 in the Spanish sun, sure.

But could he do it in the cold, dark northwest, where it’s grit over glamour?

Anyone can thrive in comfort. Can you produce when the conditions turn on you? That’s the question Andy Gray made famous more than 15 years ago.

Keep on sending on. Forward to a friend.