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Cashflow Is King
WeWork Speech – June 10, 2025
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🟡 Opening – Challenge the Assumption
“Cash is king?”
Who’s heard that?
Who thinks it’s true?
Let’s go back in time…
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🔵 Story 1 – Cash Fades
On a recent trip to London, I found my old school fee bill from 1978 — £770 for a year.
Today? That same school charges over £8,000.
That means:
Ten years of school before = less than one year today.
A 90% fall in value.
So, no — cash is not king.
It fades. It melts away over time.
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🔵 Story 2 – Profit Misleads
So how about profit?
About 15 years ago, I joined a fast-growing listed company here in Indonesia.
Great story. Great profit. Share price tripled.
But… we were spending to grow. Borrowing heavily.
Then came the turning point — we couldn’t pay.
The share price crashed.
Down 90% below the original price.
The lesson: profit isn’t real unless it’s backed by cashflow.
That experience led me to create Sharpfokus — to help others follow cashflow, not stories.
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🟢 Cashflow = Truth
So what is cashflow?
Let’s turn to a classic — Charles Dickens, 1800s.
In David Copperfield, a character named Mr Micawber gives the simplest financial wisdom:
Annual income £20, expenditure £19 — result, happiness.
Income £20, expenditure £21 — result, misery.
That’s cashflow: money in minus money out.
Strangely, in modern accounting, the cashflow statement came last.
Only added in the 1980s — after several profitable companies suddenly collapsed.
Even then, it was buried at the back of financial statements.
One company changed that: Amazon.
They moved cashflow to the front.
They made it their strategy.
From $450 million to $2 trillion in value — in just 20 years.
The fastest rise in share price ever recorded.
Because: cashflow was the plan.
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🔴 Cashflow in the Bible – Parable of the Talents
But cashflow isn’t just a business idea.
It’s in the Bible.
In the Parable of the Talents, a master gives money to three servants.
One gets five, another two, the last one.
The first two invest and double it.
The third buries his — keeps it safe.
When the master returns:
He rewards the two who created a return.
He punishes the one who didn’t.
To the one who has, more will be given.
From the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
The money is capital.
But the master wanted cashflow — a return.
⸻
⚫ Real-Life Example: GEMS vs. BUMI
We see this live today in the Indonesian stock market.
GEMS earns a 30% cashflow return on assets — and is valued at 3× its assets.
BUMI makes losses — and trades below the value of its assets.
One creates return → gains value.
The other doesn’t → loses value.
That’s the truth.
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🟢 Closing
Cash is not king.
Profit is not reliable.
Cashflow is king.
It’s the true measure of value.
It’s required. It determines who wins — and who fades.
If you want to learn more, see examples like these every week:
👉 Sign up for free Briefs at sharpfokus.com
We break down cashflow, value, and the truth behind company stories.
Any questions?
⸻
Cashflow Is King
WeWork Speech – June 10, 2025
⸻
🟡 Opening – Challenge the Assumption
“Cash is king?”
Who’s heard that?
Who thinks it’s true?
Let’s go back in time…
⸻
🔵 Story 1 – Cash Fades
On a recent trip to London, I found my old school fee bill from 1978 — £770 for a year.
Today? That same school charges over £8,000.
That means:
Ten years of school before = less than one year today.
A 90% fall in value.
So, no — cash is not king.
It fades. It melts away over time.
⸻
🔵 Story 2 – Profit Misleads
So how about profit?
About 15 years ago, I joined a fast-growing listed company here in Indonesia.
Great story. Great profit. Share price tripled.
But… we were spending to grow. Borrowing heavily.
Then came the turning point — we couldn’t pay.
The share price crashed.
Down 90% below the original price.
The lesson: profit isn’t real unless it’s backed by cashflow.
That experience led me to create Sharpfokus — to help others follow cashflow, not stories.
⸻
🟢 Cashflow = Truth
So what is cashflow?
Let’s turn to a classic — Charles Dickens, 1800s.
In David Copperfield, a character named Mr Micawber gives the simplest financial wisdom:
Annual income £20, expenditure £19 — result, happiness.
Income £20, expenditure £21 — result, misery.
That’s cashflow: money in minus money out.
Strangely, in modern accounting, the cashflow statement came last.
Only added in the 1980s — after several profitable companies suddenly collapsed.
Even then, it was buried at the back of financial statements.
One company changed that: Amazon.
They moved cashflow to the front.
They made it their strategy.
From $450 million to $2 trillion in value — in just 20 years.
The fastest rise in share price ever recorded.
Because: cashflow was the plan.
⸻
🔴 Cashflow in the Bible – Parable of the Talents
But cashflow isn’t just a business idea.
It’s in the Bible.
In the Parable of the Talents, a master gives money to three servants.
One gets five, another two, the last one.
The first two invest and double it.
The third buries his — keeps it safe.
When the master returns:
He rewards the two who created a return.
He punishes the one who didn’t.
To the one who has, more will be given.
From the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
The money is capital.
But the master wanted cashflow — a return.
⸻
⚫ Real-Life Example: GEMS vs. BUMI
We see this live today in the Indonesian stock market.
GEMS earns a 30% cashflow return on assets — and is valued at 3× its assets.
BUMI makes losses — and trades below the value of its assets.
One creates return → gains value.
The other doesn’t → loses value.
That’s the truth.
⸻
🟢 Closing
Cash is not king.
Profit is not reliable.
Cashflow is king.
It’s the true measure of value.
It’s required. It determines who wins — and who fades.
If you want to learn more, see examples like these every week:
👉 Sign up for free Briefs at sharpfokus.com
We break down cashflow, value, and the truth behind company stories.
Any questions?
⸻