Thread: Riding on the coat tails of those who are successful

I know I haven't posted here in a while. I wanted to post something and get a general idea how others feel about this. I have always wanted to be an investor. The idea of having money and investing in companies seemed like a great things to do. From the perspective of the company, they need your money. A couple years ago I invested in some private companies. Just recently I invested some of my time and expertise but I have been able to receive equity from these companies. From what I can tell, 2 out of the 3 companies are beginning to take off. But I have such a small interest in the company and am basically now a silent investor. I don't have any control at all with how the businesses are run. Sure I can offer up my opinions and try to be influential but at the end of the day I have no control at all.

I am not worried about it, but one of them looks to leave me with a large return in 3-5 years through dividends and a sell off. Enough to be a multi-millionaire. Another would give me a nice moderate return. The other has yet to show me anything but sure the potential is always there. It has begun to rub me the wrong way a bit though. Of course I like the idea of collecting on the money, but I am really only sitting here riding on the coat tails of the success of others. I have literally done NOTHING with 2 of these companies. NOTHING. I went to the back 2 1/2 years ago and wired money into their account and received equity.

It is not fastlane, as it follows no other fastlane principle other than it being passive income. Other than that I am just a sleezy slime ball sitting back and making my money. Why is it I can't see past this? I know they needed the money at the time so it did help the company. I have to admit this part. But when people begin to ask me how I made my money I don't feel like I have earned it.

I guess I can think of worse problems. But what is the general feeling among fastlaners and entrepreneurs about giving money to a company and collecting a paycheck off the hard work of OTHERS. I know these guys have been busting their butts for a couple years while I did nothing.

Thoughts?

Sounds like an ego problem. If you're not OK with making money off of other people's time because it's below you or something, maybe investing isn't for you. And it's true that it isn't fastlane because you sacrifice control. But it doesn't mean that it's inherently 'bad money'. I say take advantage, cuz it sounds like you've already made your bread and are now just investing what you've made.