When you start out with an education or a degree, your largest asset is time. 

You've got nearly four decades of it.

Experience is probably at zero because you're starting off.

As you add years on the job, you spend time freely, even recklessly.

But it cannot be regained.

Experience as an asset has to replace all the time you spend.

It should increase in value exponentially, faster than the time you're losing.

40 years looks reassuringly long.

You'll be surprised at how fast it disappears.

Between the demands of building a career and looking after your family, 20-30 years can go by faster than expected.

Time is a credit card. You can pay back only with experience. No other currency is accepted.

So, what does paying back involve?

Creating a storehouse of value where time does not matter anymore

You've accumulated and built a stock that works long term for you.

If you've understood the business you are in, your experience will matter.

Especially if you have delivered and built a network of people who trust you. 

The value of your experience will be exponential

And you can cash out whenever you choose.

Goldman Sachs now has its own font

For most people, words on a page look the same

And it does not matter as long as they are legible and easy to read.

Maybe they'll notice a script or calligraphic typefaces.

But to designers, fonts, as part of typeface families, have as much character as people.

Fights break out on forum discussions on the use of brand typefaces. The way the letter 'g' is crafted, for example.

You may be wondering what's the fuss about.

Designing a new font is obscenely expensive

Close your eyes. Think of Coca Cola. Nokia. Apple. Nike. Amazon. HDFC. 

Words imprinted on our minds through constant exposure

Big brands have strict rules about the use of fonts. Because they look different when blown up to a large size. Or squeezed into small spaces.

Retaining consistency so people don't notice is an art.

Whether its on a 50 ft billboard or a 5 inch mobile device

That's the challenge for all font designers. Making words equally readable and maintaining the essential character across a wide range of sizes

Goldman Sachs wants to ensure that when you see the company over time, you'll begin to recognise it.

Standing out in an ocean of words and images.

Are newsletters new media?

Newspapers and TV have a structure baked into their business models.

Editors decide lead stories on prime time or the front page.

The 24 hour news cycle has forced newspapers to reassess how they can retain their audiences

And TV channels fight the ratings game with news breaks threatening imminent collapse and people screaming at each other.

So, how do you keep track about subjects you want to know more about?

Strangely enough, the periodical newsletter.

Quietly but effectively, newsletters have made their way into inboxes and stayed there.

Once you build an audience, which takes years, it's all yours.

And if you understand the sector you write about,  a committed set of followers builds over time. All they have to do is click to open.

Email has common protocols. And everyone has to play by the same rules

It has survived the waves of smart phones,  social media and instant gratification.

You go to the customer every week or month or whatever works in your industry.

Practically anyone who starts off on a digital journey makes a first stop to get an email address.

Identify a need and serve the audience. The rest will follow.

Newsletters are the quiet engines of commerce.

Do you have one?

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