My last thread - some parting advice for others

[dknise]

Thank you! You got the point of my opening post. Perhaps I didn't phrase it perfectly but I wasn't trying to insult anyone or say that there's nothing else to be learned on this forum. Rather, I've exhausted all the relevant info that I can gain from being here and I believe that anymore time spent here would distract me from my business endeavors.

Arguing the opposite is like telling people they should stay in college forever because there's still more to learn by being there. Sure, we could all remain in college our whole lives and not learn everything that we need to learn but eventually people have to get out there and start using what they've learned.

You straight up said you think you know more than 99% of the people here and called us useless... and were a complete ******* about it. And you wonder why people are taking your insults "the wrong way."

:wave:

 

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[Darkside]

You straight up said you think you know more than 99% of the people here and called us useless... and were a complete ******* about it. And you wonder why people are taking your insults "the wrong way."

:wave:

WTF! You've completely twisted my words and made up things that I never said. I never called anyone useless. Plus, my comment about knowing more than 99% of people alive had to do with the particular niche that I'm working in, not a general knowledge comment.

 

[Gold777]

You're proving my point once again. Walmart was wealthy enough to buy out Amazon several times over when they were first starting out in the 90s. Their arrogance in thinking that they didn't have to worry about competition from internet commerce and only had to worry about stores like K-Mart, Sears, etc. is what came back to bite them.

But how could he be analyzing Amazon when he was too busy dressing up in disguises and spying in his competitors stores? Look, it's time to put an end to the whole competition thing.

You're actually proving MY point. If the CEO of Walmart was too busy playing CATCH-UP and copying another physical competitor, then not only would they lack the insight to even consider buying out a company like Amazon, they would also be too busy trying to catch up with their main competitor to do so. Case closed, over-analyzing competitors led to negligence on Walmart's behalf and now they're going to pay the price. Amazon wasn't a direct competitor when they first launched, merely an innovation.

Steve Jobs was a huge copier. He stole the technology for the mouse and graphical interface from Xerox and used it on the Macintosh during the 80s. He didn't invent the mp3 player either, he just made it simpler to use and did an amazing job of marketing it.

Going by the way you describe it, everyone is a huge copier then, everything is a copy of a copy. Who did it like Steve Jobs though? No one. Why did no one do it like Steve Jobs? Because he was INNOVATIVE, it's not rocket science.

No. My point was that even if I asked good questions trying to get them to expose some of their best kept secrets, they wouldn't answer them. People only share their best info with those close to them, and I don't blame them.

How do you know he has any best kept secrets? Maybe he would give you a piece of advice that changed the way you thought about something, and that itself is invaluable, it's not all about secrets, you need to loosen up and stop being so secretive. Like I said this is 2012 not the cold war, lol.

 

[Rawr]

“No man was ever so completely skilled in the conduct of life, as not to receive new information from age and experience.”
-Jonathan Swift

 

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[Darkside]

But how could he be analyzing Amazon when he was too busy dressing up in disguises and spying in his competitors stores? Look, it's time to put an end to the whole competition thing.

You're actually proving MY point. If the CEO of Walmart was too busy playing CATCH-UP and copying another physical competitor, then not only would they lack the insight to even consider buying out a company like Amazon, they would also be too busy trying to catch up with their main competitor to do so. Case closed, over-analyzing competitors led to negligence on Walmart's behalf and now they're going to pay the price. Amazon wasn't a direct competitor when they first launched, merely an innovation.

Uhh...the founder of Walmart was dead two years before Amazon was created...:nonod: Plus he had retired a few years before due to poor health.

I'm sure if he was still alive and young at the time of Amazon's founding he would have reacted quickly enough to prevent them from becoming what they are today.

Going by the way you describe it, everyone is a huge copier then, everything is a copy of a copy. Who did it like Steve Jobs though? No one. Why did no one do it like Steve Jobs? Because he was INNOVATIVE, it's not rocket science.

I bet you can't even name a single Steve Jobs' innovation without looking it up online. Personal computers? They existed before he created Apple. Pixar? The company and technology existed before him; he just purchased and funded them. Mp3 players? They already existed as well before the introduction of ipods. What about smartphones? Those existed before the iphone as well. Same with tablet pcs.

Most people are truly ignorant about what Steve Jobs' accomplished. Keep in mind that I recognize him as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time but I'm not ignorant about his accomplishments like most people are. His main strengths were marketing and making products that already exist simpler to use. He's like Henry Ford in that cars existed before Ford created his company but he made them cheaper and mainstream.

How do you know he has any best kept secrets? Maybe he would give you a piece of advice that changed the way you thought about something, and that itself is invaluable, it's not all about secrets, you need to loosen up and stop being so secretive. Like I said this is 2012 not the cold war, lol.

Of course he has secrets. Every business person worth anything does. There are certain things that all of us learn in the process of operating our businesses that give us an advantage because very few people know about them. What's the point of letting everyone know about something if it's giving you an edge on the competition?

Anyways, this will be my last post. Goodbye everyone.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Anyways, this will be my last post. Goodbye everyone.

I doubt it. -300 he will come back, +750 he won't. Any takers?

 

[JAJT]

Wow, so much golden advice in this thread (people's responses to the OP)

Agreed. Some truly sage advice from some really great people.

Mistake #7 - Burning bridges needlessly

Short story: If I had burned one particular bridge that I had no real interest in saving I wouldn't have been able to get my buddy his dream job at a place I was let go from (no fault of my own - they actually felt terrible and apologized monetarily for it). He now makes more money than he has ever seen in his life (over 6 figures, doing what he loves and thrives on - albeit slowlane) and the company couldn't thank me enough for going out of my way to say "you NEED this guy". This single act alone put me in great standing with great people who I can call on for advice forever, if I need it. All because I kept a door open that, at the time, I never thought I'd open.

Wasn't as fun as grabbing my crotch and shouting "Fire this!" but my buddy still can't thank me enough one year later and I still get invited to events at a company I only worked at for a short 3 month stint.

Sure, it's a slowlane story but I can't help but believe this kind of attitude works at every financial level. Networks are important whether you are on the street or swimming in a pool of gold coins. Even the top athletes keep coaches around - you don't see Tiger Woods saying "I'm the best, why do I need a coach?".

 

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[Dcray]

"I will be leaving this forum to devote more time to my business, So if you don't hear from me again that's why, But I will leave behind some things I have learned in the last few years for all you fast laners if your interested. Farewell!" -what should have been said

"Uh so this forum is becoming a waste of my valuable time in the sense that I've learned everything you peasants could offer, in fact I'm actually losing knowledge every minute I spend on here, like how right now I've spent an an entire day that could have been devoted to work, defending my initial post announcing my last post with more reply posts. Because you all know I got rich and all you should feel grateful that i'm leaving this advice for you, for free, I could easily charge money for this shit, tis straight gold. Oh and good luck and all trying to catch up to my infinite amount of knowledge" - summary of what was said (I got a little carried away but you get the point)

I'm simply pointing out a perspective he may not see on the off chance he's still reading this thread and not leaving like he said yesterday. I would try to not get frustrated if he wont realize how it sounded. It's pointless to try and get some people to change their minds when only they themselves can want to change it. Who knows maybe we would have posted a similar thread if we were in his shoes, brought up under his circumstances,with too much knowledge in our brains, ouch.

 

[TK1]

I will be leaving now because I feel like I've learned everything that I need to learn or could learn from being here and I feel like my coming here from this point onward would just be a waste of time.

http://positiveblatherings.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/socrates.jpg

 

[Gold777]

Uhh...the founder of Walmart was dead two years before Amazon was created... Plus he had retired a few years before due to poor health.

I'm sure if he was still alive and young at the time of Amazon's founding he would have reacted quickly enough to prevent them from becoming what they are today.

That's why I said "they" specifically regarding Walmart as a whole and it's new CEO. You can't be sure that he would have reacted quickly enough to prevent them from doing what they are today, that's pure speculation.

I bet you can't even name a single Steve Jobs' innovation without looking it up online. Personal computers? They existed before he created Apple. Pixar? The company and technology existed before him; he just purchased and funded them. Mp3 players? They already existed as well before the introduction of ipods. What about smartphones? Those existed before the iphone as well. Same with tablet pcs.

Most people are truly ignorant about what Steve Jobs' accomplished. Keep in mind that I recognize him as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time but I'm not ignorant about his accomplishments like most people are. His main strengths were marketing and making products that already exist simpler to use. He's like Henry Ford in that cars existed before Ford created his company but he made them cheaper and mainstream.

"Steve Jobs did nothing innovative" - You

Of course he has secrets. Every business person worth anything does. There are certain things that all of us learn in the process of operating our businesses that give us an advantage because very few people know about them. What's the point of letting everyone know about something if it's giving you an edge on the competition?

What edge does Microsoft have on any other tech company besides a shitload of money to hire the best software developers? What "secret" does Microsoft have that no one knows about? I'm sure that their brand, good customer service, and good products have a lot more to do with their success than any secrets... jesus the stupidity is overwhelming.

Anyways, this will be my last post. Goodbye everyone.

Yeah that was your post with the weakest and most incorrect replies ever so I'm not surprised you're leaving after posting it, haha bye

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I will be leaving now because I feel like I've learned everything that I need to learn or could learn from being here and I feel like my coming here from this point onward would just be a waste of time.

I could see how the sharing of over 40,000 years of cumulative life experiences could be a interpreted as a waste to a 25 year old.

I knew everything at that age too.

Mistake #4 - Letting my ego

Apparently your ego is in control of a lot more than you know.

I haven't come across a post in months that has taught me anything new

The last thing I learned something new from this forum was yesterday, albeit, it was from a post on the Inside.

Guess I'm not done learning, and learning from strangers. (The post was from a new user too.)

I learned more from the replies to this thread, than the first post.

Ahhh, sometimes the real wisdom is not found in the intent, but in the reaction. This thread contains gold, much like the comments the follow under a typical Yahoo Finance article about some new millionaire who "got lucky".

I could have snuck off without saying a word, which would have been the real a**hole move.

Hmmm. This implies that someone here would have said "Where the hell is Darkside?"

This is ironic because on the INSIDERS's Forum, someone posted "Where is Jack Edwards?" -- Jack has provided tremendous value and therefore he is missed.

Have you provided tremendous value to warrant someone asking your whereabouts post disappearance? Perhaps so. Perhaps not.

I have no idea if that would have happened as it becomes a value judgment to the community -- yet, you've decided that it was best to "announce" your ego-filled departure to (I guess) reinforce the ego. Apparently, the reaction you've received was not to your expectation.

def: internet suicide

I did this too on the RD forum if anyone remembers years ago. However, my departure was in response (and protest) to the lack of forum moderation -- the site had lost it's focus so I mentioned I'd leave. And. I. Left. Forever.

I'd be wasting my time if I stayed.

Apparently not because you've returned several times.

I've exhausted all the possible info on this forum relevant to the business that I'm currently working on.

Sounds like something a vampire would say, or maybe, a locust. Consume the resource, grab what you need, and then move on.

If you think this forum is just about business (and not life experience, and wisdom) then perhaps it is best you do leave.

Perhaps I didn't phrase it perfectly

Ahhh, perhaps this forum still does have something to teach you? Maybe in the world of communication?? Notice how the majority of readers dismissed your "mistakes" after the kicking of sand.

But again, perhaps communication isn't directly relevant to your business, much like real estate, economics, and the various other things this forum doesn't have a central focus to.

Sure, we could all remain in college our whole lives and not learn everything that we need to learn but eventually people have to get out there and start using what they've learned.

I understand because obviously, all of us are stuck in our little shells of experience ... none of us are out in the trenches of entrepreneurship to provide anything of real value. We're just a bunch of circle-jerking newbs.

I never intended to insult anyone.

And neither did I.

Anyways, this will be my last post. Goodbye everyone.

Adios amigo.

 

[andyredsox]

Well, good luck to the career you chose to pursue from here. Thanks for sharing the things you've learned too. We all need to move for a better life that is waiting for us. Hoping that you'll be successful in your new business. And never forget everything you learned in this forum.