Here’s a business lesson from Harvey Weinstein, with his observation about Netflix (from Aly Weisman, Here’s Why Hollywood Honcho Harvey Weinstein Says Netflix Is ‘Winning‘):

“The reason why [Netflix is] winning is they have a vision,” Weinstein said at the Produced By: New York conference on Saturday. “Most executives love money; they don’t love movies … They [Netflix] love movies.”

Here’s an old version of the same lesson: A number of years ago, I hard an interview with Walter Mondale. It was during his days as Ambassador to Japan. (Sorry – this is from memory; I do not have the source). He described how, as he was touring a plant of the largest Steel Company in Japan, he asked his hosts what they thought about Bethlehem Steel. After a number of “polite comments” that were part of the Japanese way, a leader of the Japanese company asked Mr. Mondale, “Why is Bethlehem Steel buying banks?” In other words, why are American Steel executives not focusing exclusively on steel? That’s when it hit Mondale, and he said it this way (paraphrased, from memory):

“The Japanese Steel company executives loved steel; the American steel company executives loved money. And ultimately, loving steel will make for better steel than loving money will.”

The point: if the only pursuit that matters to you is money, then someone or some company that loves what it is doing at least as much as they love money will probably end up ahead.