What’s In A Name?

I read Nassim Taleb’s Skin In The Game in 2021, around the time Moran & Co was being formed. Big long book with many long tangential ideas. It definitely influenced my thinking as it relates to business though, and it’s lasted.

Taleb refers to those with skin in the game ‘doers’, Individuals directly affected by the outcomes of their actions. Putting my name on the company is a way of further connecting personal responsibility (dare I say moral responsibility) and the product of the work.

It’s a business yes. It has the protections any business has, but it’s still very personal. It’s a small family business started by a person who comes from a family with a long history of small family businesses.

It’s of a burden sometimes. I think there’s fewer places to hide. We inevitably maintain a more direct personal stake in every project. It’s not just a name on a sign, it’s our name on the sign. Which is supposed to mean something, and maybe worth taking the time to briefly explain.

-Mike
5/9/2025