Assorted Findings via Friends

A great thing about having friends who do all sorts of different things: you learn all sorts of different things from them.

Isuru (roommate and hedge fund analyst on energy and natural resources) on diamonds: The best way to explore for diamonds is to see what the ants dig up. Go to the nearest anthill, and inspect the composition of the sands. If the sands are from a diamond-bearing geologic zone, drill under it to find a diamond-bearing pipe.

Turns out ants do a much better (not to mention cheaper) job than a drilling rig for thorough exploration to the water table.

Tom Biggins on blogs: I love really really specific blogs that don’t spend a lot of time “thinking aloud” but instead get right to the point on something very interesting.

He points to the very excellent, graphical, entertaining, and economics flavored: Indexed. (Also great, the tech/science-themed: xkcd… I think Hugh started a movement!)

Nick Gray on sales calls: Approximately 80% of all sales occur between the second and fifth call. However, the vast majority of salespeople quit after the first call. Furthermore, only 20% of any sales force makes the third call…and that is when the majority of sales occur. (read more…)