Think Big, and Then Think Bigger Than That.

[Antifragile]

Lessons From Tesla (the Man, Not the Car) Lessons From Tesla (the Man, Not the Car)

As much as I LOVE the agg stuff, back on point. Here is a story of Nikoli Tesla. The inventor of AC power. The power type we use today. It was BETTER than DC. It traveled longer distances. It was more efficient and powerful.

So why did he die penniless? Why don't we hear about him alongside of the likes of JD Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie? Because he was a small thinker. He was UNDERFUNDED and ran out of resources in a battle with well funded Edison and JP Morgan..

From the article: ‘By his own admission, Tesla “suffered a complete collapse” when he ran out of resources.’

Not only did he not get wealthy... He didn't even make a good living.

The WSJ describes it as a LONE WOLF BEHAVIOR. Hmmm, sound familiar? Onepreneurs take note.

Resources breed success.

Bumped for a great point.

For anyone in RE, we have a saying “never finance a long term project with short term debt”.

 

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[WillHurtDontCare]

For those of you waiting for the response to @mikecarlooch ... It's done... Now I am going to go catch my breath. I also had @Antifragile on for a bit as well.

Think Big and Then Think Bigger Q&A Featuring Volodya Gusak - Ep 325

How does one "think bigger?" What does it mean to apply bigger thinking to our enterprises? What if I (insert some kind of problem)? I tackle all of this and also get a second opinion again from Mr. Volodya Gusak. Telegram Community: https://t.me/killbigger Join the discussion at...

www.spreaker.com

This one may go down as one of the most epic episodes of KKRS.

Good podcast. I paused it now during the part where you said "why would they give a 19 year old with not much track record access to their resources" to post this - Hannibal lead a war against Rome at 19, and Augustus led a civil war against Rome at 19. Some of the founding fathers were as young as 18 when they signed the Declaration of Independence. Throughout history young men have done way, WAY crazier shit than starting billion dollar businesses. The sky is the limit MFers (actually it's not - ask Musk).

And your point about never letting the world beat the fire out of you is HUGE - probably the most important point on the podcast. Sadly, a lot of people let that happen to them. F*ck that noise. Never, ever get discouraged and never let loser thinking cloud your mind. There are ALWAYS new opportunities. The game doesn't end until you're dead (and for all we know it keeps going even then).

And if you're looking for huge opportunities, the US Department of Defense posts contracts opportunities on their website: SAM.gov | Home

also

coked up on thinking big

lmao

 

[Vasudev Soni]

That’s what thinking big actually means.

Thanks for this awesome post.

 

[Lex DeVille]

One way or another, @Kak was bound to break into copywriting at some point.

 

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[Kak]

One way or another, @Kak was bound to break into copywriting at some point.

View attachment 49871

LOL! I’ve been wanting to go to the ark encounter. I think my son is old enough to enjoy it now.

 

[Chrisrod2597]

About Texas Central

This got me going today (my poor wife ) I think it’s interesting.

The facts are...
-The project will cost upwards of $15 billion.
-It is a private Texas based company and it has never built a high speed railroad before.
-They have the finances to complete the project.
-The project is underway and 100 percent approved on the regulatory side of things.
-There is zero chance that any of these guys put up the 15 billion.

So how are they involved in such a large scale entrepreneurship endeavor?

Like I’ve said before, they became the expert. They traveled around the world and talked with the entities that build, run and maintain high speed rails. They learned everything there was to know about them and brought it to Texas where they had an answer to every question an investor might of had. They raised enough money to finance a 15 billion dollar railroad. They are building a wild dream basically from a level competence and the leadership to surround themselves with the right people.

Are you on the millionaire fastlane ? Or are you, as @GPM put so eloquently, on “The thousandaire fastlane! Make as much as a corporate job with 5x the stress and 100% of the risk!”

This should be a HUGE lesson in thinking big. These guys did and they put their pants on one leg at a time just like you. No one is born an expert at anything. Start thinking BIG!

Thank you for this thread! This is 100% a W post!

 

[Bperry2]

I tend to get stuck in limiting beliefs. I think “if it can just make $10k/month I’ll be set” or “I just want to make an extra $5k on this”. No more! After hearing about entrepreneurs quickly moving to $100-500k per month, it hit me. I CAN DO THIS!

I’m not thinking it’s a get rich quick scheme.

I have a goal and the steps I need to complete in order to achieve it. I was to provide so much value it’s stupid not to buy/join. I want to help millions of people.

 

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[Pirsimils]

Absolutely, this Texas Central project is a prime example of thinking big and taking calculated risks. It's all about the dedication to learning, surrounding yourself with the right people, and having the guts to chase those wild dreams. It's a valuable lesson for all entrepreneurs.

 

[Walter Hay]

One way or another, @Kak was bound to break into copywriting at some point.

View attachment 49871

The ARK ENCOUNTER, like so many commentaries based upon Biblical subjects falls well outside reality for the simple reason that, as is common, it is evident that guesswork has overpowered careful thought.

THE ARK DID NOT NEED A KEEL OR BOW because it had no means of propulsion - all it was designed to do was to float.

Other inexactitudes are also evident. In particular, the site: The Conversation: In-depth analysis, research, news and ideas from leading academics and researchers. expounds ideas, many of which are correct, but many others that are not. For example; they say that God was going to unleash the flood upon the world as a punishment for sin.

I will only allow myself to make two points, because religion is generally regarded as a taboo subject on TFLF - My first point is that the Bible says that the punishment for sin is death (of the individual sinner, not of almost the entire population of the world.)

My second point is that according to theconversation.com the consequence of sinning is eternal damnation in hell, but that false doctrine is a human invention, not found in the Bible.

Finally, if anyone has a question, please DM me or email me at extempus@yahoo.com

Walter
P.S. The Hebrew word translated Hell in most published Bible translations simply means a covered place.

 

[Antifragile]

When we launched our first company, I remember we said "yes" to any job that came in. It was a "no-brainer". We had nothing, how could you say "no" to anything? And that was a mistake.

Overworked and underpaid we hired the first bookkeeper. Cheap one too because we didn't have the profit margins. It was a junk removal business, cut throat.

Later we realized that construction clean up was far more profitable. Problem was, we were so busy ... ahh... busy - hate that word.

That's where thinking BIGGER is a bit like magic.

Thinking bigger removes a lot of options.

If you are thinking how to improve your profits by 20%, you are trapped in a linear growth model. You'll be thinking about adding more staff, you'll be trying to cut expenses or incrementally increase sales.

It's not the same as thinking way BIGGER. Imagine you wanted to 10x or 20x. You can no longer do that with any of traditional thinking.

For one, you'd look at whatever has the POTENTIAL of giving you that 10x. That's a much smaller pool and choices will likely lead to maybe (if you are lucky) 1 or 2 ideas. But that's what it takes. Then it becomes a commitment to doing that.

Scary? It better be!

Chasing and competing against others on price is a downward spiral. Worst case you work for nothing right before closing shop.

To get an 800% profit margin requires to do something extraordinary. Yet humans are creative, not only we can do it - others do it all the time.

I don't know how many times I've used this phrase from @Kak "Think Big and then think BIGGER" to get myself out of a linear type of shitty thinking into launching a fundamentally better (and BIGGER) idea into reality. And let me tell you (as much as I hate talking numbers on the forum), it's been beyond my own wildest imagination what became possible. From a simple idea, to just unlock those creative thoughts and put them into gear. Think BIG and then think BIGGER!

New and old readers on this forum, it's a mighty powerful mental tool. Use it.

Hence another bump of this thread.

Cheers,
AF

 

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[Aidan04]

When we launched our first company, I remember we said "yes" to any job that came in. It was a "no-brainer". We had nothing, how could you say "no" to anything? And that was a mistake.

Overworked and underpaid we hired the first bookkeeper. Cheap one too because we didn't have the profit margins. It was a junk removal business, cut throat.

Later we realized that construction clean up was far more profitable. Problem was, we were so busy ... ahh... busy - hate that word.

That's where thinking BIGGER is a bit like magic.

Thinking bigger removes a lot of options.

If you are thinking how to improve your profits by 20%, you are trapped in a linear growth model. You'll be thinking about adding more staff, you'll be trying to cut expenses or incrementally increase sales.

It's not the same as thinking way BIGGER. Imagine you wanted to 10x or 20x. You can no longer do that with any of traditional thinking.

For one, you'd look at whatever has the POTENTIAL of giving you that 10x. That's a much smaller pool and choices will likely lead to maybe (if you are lucky) 1 or 2 ideas. But that's what it takes. Then it becomes a commitment to doing that.

Scary? It better be!

Chasing and competing against others on price is a downward spiral. Worst case you work for nothing right before closing shop.

To get an 800% profit margin requires to do something extraordinary. Yet humans are creative, not only we can do it - others do it all the time.

I don't know how many times I've used this phrase from @Kak "Think Big and then think BIGGER" to get myself out of a linear type of shitty thinking into launching a fundamentally better (and BIGGER) idea into reality. And let me tell you (as much as I hate talking numbers on the forum), it's been beyond my own wildest imagination what became possible. From a simple idea, to just unlock those creative thoughts and put them into gear. Think BIG and then think BIGGER!

New and old readers on this forum, it's a mighty powerful mental tool. Use it.

Hence another bump of this thread.

Cheers,
AF

Careful with telling people this sentiment. A lot of people misunderstand what you're actually talking about.

Think big, but focus on the small problems.

We have some people here that think they're the next Elon Musk.

 

[Kak]

Careful with telling people this sentiment. A lot of people misunderstand what you're actually talking about.

Think big, but focus on the small problems.

We have some people here that think they're the next Elon Musk.

Careful = Comfort Zone

"Careful not to try too hard folks. Careful not to be too bold. Careful not to believe in yourself too much. Make sure to lower your expectations and be ok with not becoming all you can be. Don't make too much money. Don't employ too many people. Don't provide excellent products and investment opportunities.

It's best to just be a freelancer."

Elon Musk was a normal person until he decided not to be.

Your post sucks. You're 19 years old and you just tried to correct a multi-millionaire real estate developer that probably had a profitable business before you were even born.

 

[amp0193]

When we launched our first company, I remember we said "yes" to any job that came in. It was a "no-brainer". We had nothing, how could you say "no" to anything? And that was a mistake.

When you're everything to everyone, you're nothing to anyone.

And when you're nothing, all you can do is compete on price.


Be the best in the world at your thing, then get the margins and enterprise value that comes with it, and let everyone else fight over the scraps in #2-#100th place.

 

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[Aidan04]

Careful = Comfort Zone

"Careful not to try too hard folks. Careful not to be too bold. Careful not to believe in yourself too much. Make sure to lower your expectations and be ok with not becoming all you can be. Don't make too much money. Don't employ too many people. Don't provide excellent products and investment opportunities.

It's best to just be a freelancer."

Elon Musk was a normal person until he decided not to be.

Your post sucks. You're 19 years old and you just tried to correct a multi-millionaire real estate developer that probably had a profitable business before you were even born.

Not trying to correct him, he's definitely way above my pay grade. He's 100% right and I agree with what he says.

I'm more saying that some people on here take this concept and just run with it. They think they need to invent the next Facebook to make an impact.

We have a guy on here (not going to name names) who has actually said during our inventor's meetings, "If you're not trying to change the world, you're just action faking."

He has no tangible results or product and has been doing jack shit for about half a year now.

What he's trying to build would require master levels of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, and cost thousands of dollars to build. Not to mention the fire hazards it would bring to someone's household.

No matter what we say, we can't get it through his head. Instead of trying to solve problems and improve lives, he thinks you need to do something monumental to get anywhere.

His "thinking big" is his detriment and he's missing the forest for the trees.

 

[amp0193]

What he's trying to build would require master levels of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, and cost thousands of dollars to build. Not to mention the fire hazards it would bring to someone's household.

This sounds like exactly the kind of product that could make a shit ton of money.

It's the E in CENTS.

(unless you're talking about that all-in-one cooking thing... which IMO completely ignores the N in CENTS as it's not a product people need or want).


I'm developing a product now that will cost $350,000 to design and engineer, has plenty of complex mechanical, electrical engineering (possibly software), is highly regulated, and could definitely burn down a house or kill someone if engineered poorly (hence the high cost).

No matter what we say, we can't get it through his head. Instead of trying to solve problems and improve lives, he thinks you need to do something monumental to get anywhere.

Do something monumental AND solve a problem and improve lives. The bigger your impact, the more the market will reward you.

 

[Aidan04]

(unless you're talking about that all-in-one cooking thing... which IMO completely ignores the N in CENTS as it's not a product people need or want).

...it's that thing. It's clear he has no idea what he's doing.

Do something monumental AND solve a problem and improve lives. The bigger your impact, the more the market will reward you.

Exactly, the harder a problem is to solve, and the more entry barriers it has, the higher chance you have to make a fortune.

But this guy literally doesn't even have a problem (Need). I could go on about this and everything wrong with it.

You on the other hand most likely have engineering experience (I don't know you that well so I apologize for making generalizations), upfront capital to spend, and clear market research that indicates a want for what you're building.

 

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[amp0193]

You on the other hand most likely have engineering experience (I don't know you that well so I apologize for making generalizations), upfront capital to spend, and clear market research that indicates a want for what you're building.

I have no engineering or product design background. That's why it costs $350,000 and not $0.

Also it's investor capital being spent and not mine.

Market research though... 100%. I know what the customer wants.

But this guy literally doesn't even have a problem (Need). I could go on about this and everything wrong with it.

IMO, Need is the most important of the commandments. If the need doesn't exist, the business can't exist.