Wow. I've been a member of this forum for 6 months and not a single post. Talk about lurking. I'd pop out every once in a while to like a post or two before returning to the shadows. I guess I felt like I lacked experience to post anything of value. Anyways, I'm 19 and from Los Angeles, California, US. I found out about this forum from reading TMF . My goals? I will create $5 million worth of value by the time I am 25. I'm excited. Lets get to it!
I was a pretty shitty high school student. Like most, I loved partying on my weekends and I did just enough to scrape by in my classes. To my defense, I ran track. So where I lacked in mental work ethic, I made up for in physical work ethic. I graduated with a 2.9 GPA. I know, I know...impressive. So community college was my beacon of light...my hope...my second chance. A year and a half later, I was sitting on a 4.0 GPA. God college is easy. Maybe cause its community college. I sat in the front row of every class, to ensure that I could hear the professor as I slept through most of my classes. 6 AM gym sessions took a lot out of me so I needed to get my sleep in somewhere. Regardless I aced all my tests and assignments. My goal? Well I'm glad you asked! Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. Maaaan was I obsessed. I watched just about every video on it. I absolutely had to be one of the 6% of transfers who get accepted. I posted inspirational pictures on my wall, took multiple trips up to Berkeley, and constantly communicated with councilors for suggestions. I made multiple bets with friends that I would get in, wrote some killer transfer college essays, and I knew I was set.
Then I stumbled across the Millionaire Fastlane . Engage self sabotage mode.
One day on a break in between two classes, I was practicing my handstands on the beautiful grass field of my college campus. Fueled by the focusing powers of an energy drink I had downed earlier, I practiced relentlessly. Falling and getting back up. Falling and getting back up. Again and again and again as I blasted Daft Punk's "One More Time" in my earbuds. Passerby's gestured at the lone retard who was flailing his legs repeatedly in the middle of a grass field. I had gotten it down to a solid 6 seconds and I was feeling pretty proud. Glance at my phone. 12:45. "Ah, class starts in 15 minutes...I should probably start heading over there." "No it's okay, I think I'll practice these handstands for longer." 5 minutes go by. And then another 5. Then the clock makes a lone ding. 1:00. I was almost angry. I was so fed up with the slow moving classes in subjects I cared nothing for. In that moment, I asked myself...what truly will benefit me more? Sitting in psychology class for an hour and a half. Or getting these handstands down?
I skipped class that day. And skipped more than half my classes for the rest of the semester. I didn't do a single assignment and dropped all studying. "Why should I care about Berkeley? So I look good to some future employer? No screw that." I could go on all day about how stupid I think college is. I stayed home and read, and worked on my business which I will expand on below. I somehow pulled off straight B's but pretty much ruined my chances of Berkeley. Not that I care. Now here I am. Luckily my parents whom I am still living with, are okay with my decision as long as I keep working my job (MMA instructor) and at least get an AA. Of course, there's a time limit. I won't still be here at 25. Or even 22. Hopefully sooner.
Then Morris found a small established clothing line which needed help with expansion. Enter our third member "Henryson". The three of us used every connection we had to host a photo shoot complete with supercars and models. All for free! It turned out fantastic and we came away with some top notch photos. We decided to call ourselves, "Full Spectrum Business Developers" although we had no idea what the hell we were doing. Things were actually going pretty decently, though we didn't make a single penny. As luck would have it, the original founders of the line bought back their stake and decided they didn't need us. Crash and burn. Failure 1.
Morris soon found a new client. A rich Turkish investor who had recently moved to the US. He needed help establishing his brand in the United States. I still don't know what kind of stories Morris told him in order to get our clueless selves into the business. But regardless, there we were with a new opportunity.
Lesson 1: Analyze all characters. Catalog those who you work with and understand exactly who they are. Then you can address issues on their own terms and predict future behavior.
As we worked with our new client, I started learning things about my partners. Morris, to put it pretty straight forward, was a pathological liar. He lied to our client every single meeting, about things we had done and things we were capable of doing for our client's brand. Not wanting to call him out in the middle of a meeting, I felt I had no choice but to remain silent. However, this dug us into a pretty deep hole. Henryson on the other hand, tended to fluctuate with work ethic. One week, it was like he had blinders and saw nothing but the work we had to do. Other weeks he had no cares for the tasks at hand.
So I made a chart. At the top: Client, Morris, and Henryson. Under each name, I wrote both the positive and negative attributes. This helped a lot as our business progressed.
Lesson 2: When it comes to making big decisions, map everything out chronologically. Pro and con lists are great but are disconnected factors. Make a timeline for your different choices, with the succeeding results of each decision.
We eventually reached a point where we were ready to sign a contract. Our client was about to agree to write a check to us for $30,000, or $10,000 for each of the three partners. Right away Morris started planning on moving to Santa Monica and making a lease agreement for an apartment. Which costs around $3,500 a month on the lower end. While the idea was appealing, it kind of didn't make sense. Writing a pro and con list in this context didn't make sense and didn't give me a good idea of how things could play out. Instead, I made a timeline. If I move, I have to re locate schools in order to avoid crazy daily driving to go to my college and job near my home. I also have to ensure that I can come up with another $32,000 to cover the rest of the year. Wait a minute...a total of $42,000 to live in Santa Monica for a year? Oh hell no. Overall, timelines gave me a much better picture of the results of my decisions.
Lesson 3: Drop liars. Regardless of what they have to offer, they will do more harm than good in the long run. Without trust, you become vulnerable to damaging lies.
Luckily, I decided not to move, because Morris soon dug us in a hole too deep to get ourselves out of. From claims of personally knowing Magic Johnson, to having connections at the Staples Center, the whole thing was a mess. Henryson and I decided it was time to send Morris on his way. We didn't have room for that in our business.
This was one of the most difficult moments of my life. Morris was a close friend. We sat across the table from him at his house one night and I said, "Look, thanks for working with us, but we have a difference of values here and Henryson and I are going to continue this business as partners, just the two of us." There was crying, accusing, guilt tripping, subtle suicide hints, you name it. But Henryson and I left that house with our company as a two man partnership.We spoke with our Client to clear things up and luckily he still agreed to work with us. However, we lost our contract and never got the $30,000 check.
Lesson 4: Business and friendship never mix. Understand that any friendships you go into business with could easily be terminated as a result of different values or opinions.
Needless to say, I stopped talking to Morris for a while. He eventually reached out, but I had decided that the same traits that made him a bad business partner made him someone I didn't want to be friends with. I cut him out of my life entirely. I guess this could be a good thing. Working with someone tends to bring you to realize things that you never really considered when they were just a friend.
Henryson and I worked on a new project with out client, which was a food truck. Hundreds of hours were spent planning and making truck blueprint only to have our investor literally disappear when it came time to pay for the truck. I guess this just goes to show how lesson 3 rings true. Toxic people and liars don't lead to solid connections. Henryson dropped the business. I did too. Failure 2.
Things I have done so far:
Background
I was a pretty shitty high school student. Like most, I loved partying on my weekends and I did just enough to scrape by in my classes. To my defense, I ran track. So where I lacked in mental work ethic, I made up for in physical work ethic. I graduated with a 2.9 GPA. I know, I know...impressive. So community college was my beacon of light...my hope...my second chance. A year and a half later, I was sitting on a 4.0 GPA. God college is easy. Maybe cause its community college. I sat in the front row of every class, to ensure that I could hear the professor as I slept through most of my classes. 6 AM gym sessions took a lot out of me so I needed to get my sleep in somewhere. Regardless I aced all my tests and assignments. My goal? Well I'm glad you asked! Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. Maaaan was I obsessed. I watched just about every video on it. I absolutely had to be one of the 6% of transfers who get accepted. I posted inspirational pictures on my wall, took multiple trips up to Berkeley, and constantly communicated with councilors for suggestions. I made multiple bets with friends that I would get in, wrote some killer transfer college essays, and I knew I was set.
Then I stumbled across the Millionaire Fastlane . Engage self sabotage mode.
One day on a break in between two classes, I was practicing my handstands on the beautiful grass field of my college campus. Fueled by the focusing powers of an energy drink I had downed earlier, I practiced relentlessly. Falling and getting back up. Falling and getting back up. Again and again and again as I blasted Daft Punk's "One More Time" in my earbuds. Passerby's gestured at the lone retard who was flailing his legs repeatedly in the middle of a grass field. I had gotten it down to a solid 6 seconds and I was feeling pretty proud. Glance at my phone. 12:45. "Ah, class starts in 15 minutes...I should probably start heading over there." "No it's okay, I think I'll practice these handstands for longer." 5 minutes go by. And then another 5. Then the clock makes a lone ding. 1:00. I was almost angry. I was so fed up with the slow moving classes in subjects I cared nothing for. In that moment, I asked myself...what truly will benefit me more? Sitting in psychology class for an hour and a half. Or getting these handstands down?
I skipped class that day. And skipped more than half my classes for the rest of the semester. I didn't do a single assignment and dropped all studying. "Why should I care about Berkeley? So I look good to some future employer? No screw that." I could go on all day about how stupid I think college is. I stayed home and read, and worked on my business which I will expand on below. I somehow pulled off straight B's but pretty much ruined my chances of Berkeley. Not that I care. Now here I am. Luckily my parents whom I am still living with, are okay with my decision as long as I keep working my job (MMA instructor) and at least get an AA. Of course, there's a time limit. I won't still be here at 25. Or even 22. Hopefully sooner.
Failure on All Fronts and the 4 Lessons
Aughhhguhghg. That's the sound Arnold Schwarzenegger makes and it's the sound I make at the gym. Call it bro science but I swear I lift heavier when I obnoxiously grunt. It also tends to clear people out of the area and open access to more gym equipment. I grunted alongside my friend and first business partner as we slowly worked on chiseling our bodies into those of Greek gods. We'll call my partner Morris for the sake of privacy. Now Morris and I wanted money. So we made a business! Easy right? No. We half-assed every venture. From a gym app (got as far as a sketch in a notebook) to an athletics clothing line (got as far as a logo and some manufacturer research).
Then Morris found a small established clothing line which needed help with expansion. Enter our third member "Henryson". The three of us used every connection we had to host a photo shoot complete with supercars and models. All for free! It turned out fantastic and we came away with some top notch photos. We decided to call ourselves, "Full Spectrum Business Developers" although we had no idea what the hell we were doing. Things were actually going pretty decently, though we didn't make a single penny. As luck would have it, the original founders of the line bought back their stake and decided they didn't need us. Crash and burn. Failure 1.
Morris soon found a new client. A rich Turkish investor who had recently moved to the US. He needed help establishing his brand in the United States. I still don't know what kind of stories Morris told him in order to get our clueless selves into the business. But regardless, there we were with a new opportunity.
Lesson 1: Analyze all characters. Catalog those who you work with and understand exactly who they are. Then you can address issues on their own terms and predict future behavior.
As we worked with our new client, I started learning things about my partners. Morris, to put it pretty straight forward, was a pathological liar. He lied to our client every single meeting, about things we had done and things we were capable of doing for our client's brand. Not wanting to call him out in the middle of a meeting, I felt I had no choice but to remain silent. However, this dug us into a pretty deep hole. Henryson on the other hand, tended to fluctuate with work ethic. One week, it was like he had blinders and saw nothing but the work we had to do. Other weeks he had no cares for the tasks at hand.
So I made a chart. At the top: Client, Morris, and Henryson. Under each name, I wrote both the positive and negative attributes. This helped a lot as our business progressed.
Lesson 2: When it comes to making big decisions, map everything out chronologically. Pro and con lists are great but are disconnected factors. Make a timeline for your different choices, with the succeeding results of each decision.
We eventually reached a point where we were ready to sign a contract. Our client was about to agree to write a check to us for $30,000, or $10,000 for each of the three partners. Right away Morris started planning on moving to Santa Monica and making a lease agreement for an apartment. Which costs around $3,500 a month on the lower end. While the idea was appealing, it kind of didn't make sense. Writing a pro and con list in this context didn't make sense and didn't give me a good idea of how things could play out. Instead, I made a timeline. If I move, I have to re locate schools in order to avoid crazy daily driving to go to my college and job near my home. I also have to ensure that I can come up with another $32,000 to cover the rest of the year. Wait a minute...a total of $42,000 to live in Santa Monica for a year? Oh hell no. Overall, timelines gave me a much better picture of the results of my decisions.
Lesson 3: Drop liars. Regardless of what they have to offer, they will do more harm than good in the long run. Without trust, you become vulnerable to damaging lies.
Luckily, I decided not to move, because Morris soon dug us in a hole too deep to get ourselves out of. From claims of personally knowing Magic Johnson, to having connections at the Staples Center, the whole thing was a mess. Henryson and I decided it was time to send Morris on his way. We didn't have room for that in our business.
This was one of the most difficult moments of my life. Morris was a close friend. We sat across the table from him at his house one night and I said, "Look, thanks for working with us, but we have a difference of values here and Henryson and I are going to continue this business as partners, just the two of us." There was crying, accusing, guilt tripping, subtle suicide hints, you name it. But Henryson and I left that house with our company as a two man partnership.We spoke with our Client to clear things up and luckily he still agreed to work with us. However, we lost our contract and never got the $30,000 check.
Lesson 4: Business and friendship never mix. Understand that any friendships you go into business with could easily be terminated as a result of different values or opinions.
Needless to say, I stopped talking to Morris for a while. He eventually reached out, but I had decided that the same traits that made him a bad business partner made him someone I didn't want to be friends with. I cut him out of my life entirely. I guess this could be a good thing. Working with someone tends to bring you to realize things that you never really considered when they were just a friend.
Henryson and I worked on a new project with out client, which was a food truck. Hundreds of hours were spent planning and making truck blueprint only to have our investor literally disappear when it came time to pay for the truck. I guess this just goes to show how lesson 3 rings true. Toxic people and liars don't lead to solid connections. Henryson dropped the business. I did too. Failure 2.
Conclusion
Wow. What a journey so far. Going back I definitely wouldn't have let things go they way they did. But I am absolutely grateful for every moment because I learned so much. I'm now working on my own imports business and aim to make $50,000 by the end of 2016.
Things I have done so far:
- Narrowed down to 4 products
- Ordered and received samples of these products from multiple factories
- Sketched out improvements based on Amazon reviews and personal observations
- Talking to factories about costs of these changes and how it will effect usability
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