$175,000 on education

> 10,000 hours of mastery wielding the business worlds most powerful tool.

I have spent nearly half my life and who knows the cost of learning how to use this powerful tool.

I have wielded this tool spanning engineering, oil rigs, construction and the halls of academia - my sharpest weapon is not some high-tech software or proprietary system.

It's Microsoft Excel

Not the flashiest answer.

But this is the most underrated, indispensable and downright most powerful tool I own.

Main Points of today's post:
1. Excel runs the world (quietly)
Peek behind the curtain of any Fortune 500 or 100 companies, and you won't just find enterprise software - you'll find spreadsheets running trillion-dollar operations. Excel is silent backbone of business, and those who wield it well have an unfair advantage.

2. In my world, I am a Shogun.
Sure, I-Bankers and CFA analysts can slice through financial models like a samurai through silk. But in construction, especially where tight margins and mistakes can sink you, Excel has made me lethal. Every estimate, cash flow projection and analysis is ALWAYS built from scratch - this give me complete control.

3. Growth requires letting go.
Here is the dilemma: How do you scale when your team can wield hammers and paint brushes?
The obvious answer it to clone me. Seriously it will require someone like me who really inderstands the numbers.

But that comes with RISK.

Because giving someone acces to my spreadsheets means giving them access to the blueprints of my business. I don't take this decision lightly.

4. Leap of Faith.
Scaling means trusting people. It means relinquishing control and believing that the right hire will build, not break.

Luckily, I have two safeguards:
- A wicked NDA crafted by the most ruthless attorney I know, Enrique Abarca, JD, MBA
- And a personal rule: Every critical model starts from a blank spreadsheet.
Ctrl + N. NO SHORTCUTS

TL;DR
- Excel isn't just a tool - it's a competitive advantage.
- Even the biggest corporations rely on it behind the scenes.
- Scaling a business means trusting others with what you've built.

Let's see how far this tool can take me.
PS: What's the one skill that gives you a competitive edge?