Your First Business Should be Profitable From Month 1

[biophase]

The original post is all over the place. I’m trying to read your posts objectively but they are full of contradictions.

First you talk about a business needing to make a profit in month one. In another post you’re talking about doing e-commerce. In addition here, you talk about making $1 million a month.

There are so many WTF sentences, I just can’t decide which ones to even quote and respond to.
I just don’t get it. You want us to think big and start businesses like Facebook or Amazon. But you want us to get them profitable in one month?

 

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[biophase]

Then all I have to do is start running ads and add a few other salespeople, and before you know it, I’ll be at 1000 customers, which is $1M/mo, not counting upsells.

1. Have product
2. Start running ads
3. $1/M month
4. Bugatti

I wish I had thought about running ads. Business is so easy.

 

[ZF Lee]

The original post is all over the place. I’m trying to read your posts objectively but they are full of contradictions.

First you talk about a business needing to make a profit in month one. In another post you’re talking about doing e-commerce. In addition here, you talk about making $1 million a month.

There are so many WTF sentences, I just can’t decide which ones to even quote and respond to.
I just don’t get it. You want us to think big and start businesses like Facebook or Amazon. But you want us to get them profitable in one month?

Probably for some, going into ecomm feels as big and difficult as creating the next Facebook or Amazon.

Folks start out with different strengths and mindsets.

$1 million also feels like a mountain until you've created the systems that get you there.

Idk why some of the guys here disrespect online business. But ask yourself this question: why do you think the gurus, who are experts in their field, go and start into coaching/courses/training?

I will give you an example of a business whose numbers I was privy to. I will not tell the name of the business openly, but if you’re curious DM me and I’ll let you know.

These guys were selling trading education & info products. They had 25 products, and every month they’d move from marketing one product to marketing the other. Over 12 months, they were bringing in $100M in revenue. Can you imagine? $100M in revenue from selling info products… Now I don’t know their margin, but I imagine it was 30%+ at least…

How is that NOT the most profitable business model? What other business do you know that can create that kind of money in CASH, apart from drug-dealing, crime, or owning the Facebooks/Microsofts of this world? Hopefully now you understand why the gurus are doing it. There’s nothing like it when it comes to profit potential, so quickly, so fast.

I think too many 'disrespect' online businesses because they got bitter from being scammed by bad gurus. Or just got tired of the social media bubble that spams ads everywhere...or got burnt from online marketing.

I am very surprised too, considering we are on an ONLINE forum. Why should we hate an extremely useful medium that brought us all together in the first place?

Something to share on trading education...

I trade on the side myself, and for some paid Tradingview indicators I use, I get access to a private Telegram chat.

And on that chat, not only were the coaches teaching or sharing...but also the ACTIVE traders themselves. They would discuss everything that went on in their trades...from the macro news, to their risk managements, gains, losses, etc. Everything you'd want to know if you wanna sell a trading product.

So I've seen that company actually create more indicators or courses based on what their members talked (and asked) more of. If they wanted crypto indicators, they got the crypto indicators. If they wanted some 'market stages' signals, they got them.

Otherwise they would be stuck with the same old boring signals all day long, like their competitors.

One of my main trading mentors, who has traded the markets since the 1996 Asian Financial Crisis, had this to say about the company, 'Lee, I know about every major TA indicator...from bollinger bands, to RSI, whatever. But I still use the Company's pentagon signals because they really take the guesswork out.'

Goodness knows how many folks he has signed up for the trading package....even though he doesn't have to. I guess it's useful to have super-fans for your business?

But by NO means is selling trading products easy.

You'd have to keep track on A LOT of the market sentiment and themes (e.g. trade wars, commodities boom, local market politics), so you can prep your customers for what is to come. So that if the market goes to hell in a handbasket for example, you are already selling courses teaching bear market strategies...and you are relevant.

And of course, you HAVE to trade the markets with your OWN system.

It gets some extra money for the business. And is a good demo for your customers-to-be.

 

[BellaPippin]

 

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[Cojo]

You want us to think big and start businesses like Facebook or Amazon. But you want us to get them profitable in one month?

I don't think Elon Musk even got profitable with SpaceX in a month

 

[biophase]

Can I ask why you’re acting retarded on purpose? Because that’s not what I said, and you’re taking it out of context, and I know for a fact that you are smart enough to know this.

You know that I validated this organically, need to scale the team first so I can handle that sort of volume, and then scale via ads.

But I feel you’re just making these responses in bad faith — ie, you just don’t like me and my approach. Why not say so, instead of playing these silly games? Just say it: I don’t like BD, I think he’s corrupting the youth and we need to burn him at the stake!

Let me give you some history on why MJ started this forum in 2007. From 2002 until 2007 we were on the Richdad forums, and there were a bunch of people giving advice that had no idea what they were talking about. These people had no track record or experience and were basically regurgitating business and real estate stuff that they read in books. They actually gained some following and were just leading newbies down a shitty path.

This irritated @MJ DeMarco so much that he wanted to create a forum where people had verified badges and net worth so other's reading their posts would know whether or not the person writing about the topic had experience and could be trusted. You are literally doing what the people on that forum did. It's not that I don't like you. But you are writing from a place of bad faith. You can have your own thoughts on how businesses can and cannot be started. And yes I will give you credit because you do admit that you aren't anywhere near where your business advice says you should be. But why should we listen to your advice? You post it as if it were gospel and that you have proven that this is the way.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Let me give you some history on why MJ started this forum in 2007. From 2002 until 2007 we were on the Richdad forums, and there were a bunch of people giving advice that had no idea what they were talking about. These people had no track record or experience and were basically regurgitating business and real estate stuff that they have read in books. They actually gained some following and were just leading newbies down a shitty path.

This irritated @MJ DeMarco so much that he wanted to create a forum where people had verified badges and net worth so other's reading their posts would know whether or not the person writing about the topic had experience and could be trusted. You are literally doing what the people on that forum did. It's not that I don't like you. But you are writing from a place of bad faith. You can have your own thoughts on how businesses can and cannot be started. And yes I will give you credit because you do admit that you aren't anywhere near where your business advice says you should be. But why should we listen to your advice? You post it as if it were gospel and that you have proven that this is the way.

This is all very sensible @biophase, thanks for sharing.

It’s strange that you ask why you should listen to my advice. I don’t claim you should, and I’ve made this clear in multiple threads already. In fact, you shouldn’t listen to anyone’s advice as far as I’m concerned.

What you should do is read/listen to different opinions and make up your own mind. Do your own thinking, using what I and others say as a starting point.

I have an aggressive, in-your-face style, and I enjoy combat as you may have noticed. But, people should be their own leaders. I don’t want you or anyone else to be my followers. I have gotten PMs from 4 people about this thread, and I appreciate their support, but I don’t want any followers. You be your own master.

I don’t personally share your view that if someone is wealthier than you, that means they’re more likely than you to be correct about a certain issue. I think that’s a dangerous path to go down on. People should think for themselves, and they should think critically — but I am well aware that the majority of mankind is still looking for a master to outsource their thinking to. To me, that is against the principles of the fastlane, it is a violation of CONTROL — letting someone else think for you, regardless of whether that someone is a billionaire, the government or your church.

The ire I’ve provoked in the forum among some of the older members is precisely because my views question their authority — that’s why they are upset with me. I don’t think anyone has a monopoly over the truth, that is why this is a forum where we’re all having a conversation and learning. Turning TFLF into an oligarchy where the “successful” people all shake hands and support each other publicly and never disagree isn’t in anyone’s interests.

The brokies which are 80%+ of the forum aren’t benefited by that. The reason they’re broke is precisely because their entire lives they’ve outsourced their thinking and someone else has been thinking for them. Their parents, their teachers, their employers, whoever. The solution isn’t some new guru, this time a “better” guru because he has made a bunch more money than them.

The solution is to get them to think for themselves and assess reality themselves — make their own moves. The more perspectives they are exposed to, the better.

 

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[NeoDialectic]

I gotta tell you man, I typically like your analysis of things, but reading this thread is a let down. The most disappointing part is what this thread could have been. As @Antifragile mentions, there are kernels of truth.

If I remove all your storytelling, here is my charitable interpretation of things that could be concluded from your post that I agree with:

1. Money is a good personal metric, a good market signal, and a good motivator.
2. The first dollar is the hardest, and you should strive to make your first entrepreneurial dollar as soon as fast as you can. Rinse and repeat for each order of magnitude above that.
3. Stop action faking. Do things that will actually get you closer to your first sale.
4. If money is your goal, why choose a harder business to make money if there are easier businesses available
5. Select a business where the market demand is so high that you can't lose.

So you want new people to stop twirling their thumbs, buckle down, do some work, focus on making money and do it as efficiently as possible. Sweet! I would guess all the detractors would agree with these as well (and even though @Kak 's ambition would lead him to a different direction with #4, I'm guessing even he would be amenable to others going that route).

The problem is the overall advice is super basic and doesn't take a wall of text to tell, so why the storytelling? A typical reader would conclude it's because there is more info to glean from the actual stories.

The storytelling adds a lot of "between the lines" context that is very disagreeable to many:

1. Do anything you need to do to make money. Even if that means you have to lie, cheat & steal. I'm not going to exactly tell you to do that, but I'll be sure to curate examples of people that insinuate it.
2. It's all one big Good O'le Boys Club and you just ain't in it. Well, not till you make your first 5 million. Then it's easy streak. Then your senator starts calling you with "opportunities".
3. Have a good idea to solve a problem that may take longer than a month to create? Don't be an idiot. First you need to make millions...Somehow
4. Speaking of the somehow. Dude, as long as you focus on doing it FAST, you should be able to do it EZ-PZ. I won't suggest how, but what will separate you is that you are willing to put in some work and you know it needs to be done FAST. Armed with that knowledge, you can't fail!

I can't mind read and won't actually put those words in your mouth. I'm just telling you how I think it comes off.

There is a good discussion to be had on how important it is for beginners to start with things that makes them money faster so they can get their mindset right. I am actually a big supporter of this idea. The problem is your rhetoric will likely preclude the actual discussion.

 

[Skroob]

The ire I’ve provoked in the forum among some of the older members is precisely because my views question their authority — that’s why they are upset with me.

Far be it from me to speak for people who've been here a long time and have built up trust and reputation. But I can sure tell you what I think.

I think your advice is almost entirely shoot from the hip reactions to things people say. I think it spans the range of somewhat insightful to downright dangerous. Despite your name being one of maybe a dozen I recognize all the time, I have absolutely no idea what it is you do, if you're rich, well off, poor, or trolling for the hell of it.

I think you're young, and the advice you give sounds good to other young people without much else in their lives besides a drive to succeed. I think that by at minimum supporting, and at most actively encouraging that, you're doing those young people a disservice.

I think it's good to have a spectrum of opinions on all sorts of things, that lively discussion is part of what helps people learn and grow. But the fact that you're constantly at odds with pretty much every single prominent member of this forum says something.

In the end, I don't actually think you're trolling. I think you're trying to help, that you're being brash and prickly about it for effect, and that you've managed to gain a reputation as "forum contrarian" (or maybe "forum villain") that serves your image well, so you're keeping it up.

 

[biophase]

This is all very sensible @biophase, thanks for sharing.

It’s strange that you ask why you should listen to my advice. I don’t claim you should, and I’ve made this clear in multiple threads already. In fact, you shouldn’t listen to anyone’s advice as far as I’m concerned.

What you should do is read/listen to different opinions and make up your own mind. Do your own thinking, using what I and others say as a starting point.

I have an aggressive, in-your-face style, and I enjoy combat as you may have noticed. But, people should be their own leaders. I don’t want you or anyone else to be my followers. I have gotten PMs from 4 people about this thread, and I appreciate their support, but I don’t want any followers. You be your own master.

I don’t personally share your view that if someone is wealthier than you, that means they’re more likely than you to be correct about a certain issue.

It's not a wealth issue. It's an experience issue. I may be wealthier than others in a crypto thread or a copywriting thread, but you don't see me giving advice on there. I just don't know what I'm talking about in that realm. Yes, I've read articles and understand it somewhat, but I'm not telling anyone there what I think they should do, or even giving an opinion.

When you are making your $1M/year, your posts will be received a whole lot differently. And it's not mainly because of your money, it's because you've walked the talk.

I think that’s a dangerous path to go down on. People should think for themselves, and they should think critically

Imagine you are taking advice from a person about real estate. He's worth $20 million in real estate. You listen to all his investing and business advice and then you find he won $20M in the lottery last year. Does that change your opinion of his advice?

— but I am well aware that the majority of mankind is still looking for a master to outsource their thinking to. To me, that is against the principles of the fastlane, it is a violation of CONTROL — letting someone else think for you, regardless of whether that someone is a billionaire, the government or your church.

The ire I’ve provoked in the forum among some of the older members is precisely because my views question their authority

Asking @Kak why he's in his field when a marketing agency is much easier to make money with? Come on. It's like saying, hey Lebron why do you keep bouncing that basketball when you can do what I'm doing instead. It will be much easier and less stress.

— that’s why they are upset with me. I don’t think anyone has a monopoly over the truth,

It is your opinion. Anyone can post about anything. The critical thinking that you want everyone else to do must also be applied towards your posts.

The brokies which are 80%+ of the forum aren’t benefited by that. The reason they’re broke is precisely because their entire lives they’ve outsourced their thinking and someone else has been thinking for them. Their parents, their teachers, their employees, whoever. The solution isn’t some new guru, this time a “better” guru because he has made a bunch more money than them.

The solution is to get them to think for themselves and assess reality themselves — make their own moves. The more perspectives they are exposed to, the better.

Yes, this is the reason I respond to your posts. To get others to think for themselves and get my perspective of what you've written. I want them to think about where the advice is coming from.

 

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[NeoDialectic]

Thank you @NeoDialectic. I believe we’ll be able to have a productive discussion around this.

Let’s take the contentious points one by one:


Suppose this was a forum for lawyers who wanted to be successful as lawyers. Would it not be productive to have a look at some previous lawyers, even those who successfully defended and acquited criminals?

Or shall we put a curtain over people’s eyes and tell them “these guys are dangerous, they’re not real lawyers, don’t be like them, that’s not the path to success!”

Personally I don’t believe in enforcing my moral judgements on others. Your morality is between you and your God. And those are private decisions that every person will take for themselves.

If we are to teach business to others, we need to teach business as it is. And business as it is is war without bullets. And as the proverb goes, all is fair in love and war.

So why should I hide the fact that Steve Jobs lied through his teeth, Bill Gates lied through his teeth, Phil Knight of Nike lied through his teeth and so on?

This is part of their real story — how they really became the business icons they are today. I can think that what they did is wrong, but it doesn’t change reality. And some people prefer to excuse their behavior… “oh Steve Jobs is such a visionary! And he changed later in life!” — give me a break. That’s like telling me Jordan Belfort changed lol. It’s just PR.

So yes, I absolutely believe that beginners should be aware of the jungle they’re stepping in and all the dangers. They will come across many such individuals. If they think business is all fair, no foul, they will suffer.

And I will say one more thing which will create uproar amongst the elite here. The criminals have an advantage over God-fearing people in business. Because the criminals have big balls — they’re not afraid of anything, and they’re ready to do whatever it takes to succeed. No sacrifice is too big for them. They are already one step ahead.

You, as a God-fearing citizen, you have to work harder and be more prepared than they are. For example, I have a customer atm who is struggling. They asked to delay a payment for 14 days. I said yes. A criminal would have kicked them in the a$$, and onto the next one. No time wasted. That criminal would be faster than me at scaling, because I care too much about my customers. And I care too much because I’m very proud, everyone I work with has to be a massive success. I carry them over the goalline myself if I have to.


Exaggerations aside, is this that far from the truth? Is it not true that money buys you access and influence? Have sufficient money (billions for this), you can have the President on speed-dial?

Is it not true that the more money you have the easier it gets to make more? Is it not true that it’s easy for Elon Musk to make $1M, but super hard for someone who has $0?

Is it not true that if you donate $5M to your governor during the campaign, you get to give him a phone call later and have him arrange something for you?


As general advice for beginners, I view this as quite good actually.

Most beginners should forget about their world-changing ideas that will take months to execute, and start making some money. Now. Today.

Otherwise we’re talking to a bunch of brokies who dream about being entrepreneurs and never are. You know there are some people that have been on this forum for 5+ years. When they joined they had a job. Today they have a job.

If what you are advising them is working out, why do they still have a job?! Why is 80% of the forum broke, and they continue to be broke even 2 years from now?

When I started out I was in college. I was broke. I just wanted to make money. I started out as a freelancer, no time to open the next Facebook, because hey, gotta bring some money to feed myself and get through college right?!

And from there things snowballed. And I never held a job. Imagine — for 12 years, I earned my own money, and started 4+ businesses two of which were successful (my agencies) and 2 which weren’t. And I paid $40,000+ for 10 days of holiday multiple times. And bought two apartments worth $500K-600K today. And cleared my debts.

And I don’t consider myself one of the big hitters. In fact, you should always think that you suck — that’s where the fire comes from, from negativity, from pain.

Why not get that 80% of the forum who are broke and dreaming of being entrepreneurs… why not get them as actual entrepreneurs, standing on their own feet, making their own money, thinking for themselves? Why are you guys all so ready to sacrifice them to your vision of “world-changing” business that almost never works out successfully? Why the idealism and lack of pragmatism?

You are missing the bigger picture, which is causing you to box shadows. Once again, many posters will agree with some of your ideas if discussed in a vacuum. But they aren't in a vacuum and we disagree with the implications.

Who are you pushing back against? I may not be paying attention, but I haven't heard any of the big posters on here claim to always have been Mother Teresa (me included).

If you read my how-to's , I also give the unethical options. I tell the reader the possible pitfalls, but if they choose to do it that is "between you and your god", as you say. Don't be obtuse. They do come with risks.

MJ himself talked about the dumb choices he made when he was younger. Even till this day in his newest book he tells the reader what their "unethical" choices are, but carefully points out the downsides if the reader goes that route. (I forgot the exact context but it may have been in regards to testing the sales of the soup).

Many on the forums vehemetly disagreed with one of Lex's lifestyle and money making choices (on moral grounds). Yet, MJ let the post remain on the forums and doesn't drag him for it.

So who is saying you should absolutely never step on any toes?

There are different ways we can make a point, and the way we choose to do it has a different effect on the casual observer. You are just giving yourself an excuse by "being ok with sounding like an a-hole or aggressive". It's not about how you sound. You're excusing yourself from doing better. It's about getting the actual message across incorrectly.

I'm not going to try and explain the totality of what there is to know about rhetoric in a forum post but maybe a few examples will help.

---

Point: Most barriers are just excuses and can be overcome as long as you put in the work and just do what needs to be done.

1. "Stop making excuses and make your idea happen. Just look at Uber, they didn't wait for permission and you shouldn't either. Easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission"

2. "Stop making excuses and make your idea happen. Look at Jordan Belfort, he may have spent a few years in the pen but he made ALOT of money and living the life making more now!"

---

Point: Making money is an important factor in learning how to make even more money. Do what you can to get into a profitable business as fast as possible

1. "Don't get too bogged down in trying to build a huge business right away. Come up with an idea and figure out the fastest way to make that happen and get your first dollar."

2. "Why build a big business when you can just make money fast? Find your local drug dealer. Buy 10lb of the good stuff and sell it for 5x in smaller batches. People will be ready to do anything to get it off your hands! (literally, yay!)"

---

I assume you aren't suggesting we actually do #2, as we all know we can just become drug dealers for "fast money". You are likely just trying to light a fire underneath beginner's butts and get them into action to try and learn how to build a business (and make money!). Even if that means they break a few eggs and step on a few toes along the way.

What I'm saying is that your points come across much more like the #2's than #1's.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I have an aggressive, in-your-face style, and I enjoy combat as you may have noticed.

Yes, many have noticed.

You're starting to remind me of several other guys here who are no longer here by my doing... one was a typical bro-marketer who used slick marketing to sell shitty products. He had a following here that was unprecedented, but many of us who were older and experienced members smelled something rancid. He ended up defrauding many people here with his schemes. But boy-o boy, was he slick with his marketing. His ideology of "money over everything" and "marketing call sell dog shit" is eerily similar to yours (although I don't think you are involved in anything nefarious). Despite his legendary status around here, I removed him, any many of his ardent followers followed him out the door, hopefully not with the fugitive status ending.

Then there was another guy who had a "holier than thou" "my way is the only way" type of post style. He had his own philosophy on business (mostly antithetical to Fastlane) and loved pounding his chest with all his supposed high-brow connections. As far as I know, this guy was never wrong in his entire life and he'd argue "the sky is blue" with you. His posts were mostly designed to be adversarial and to provoke the responses of others. His mentality could basically be summed up as this: If you were richer than him, you were lucky. If you were poorer, you just weren't as smart as him.

I also removed him with him no regrets, despite his impressive 30,000 likes and 4,000 posts. The other guy was probably more prolific.

I'm starting to get irritated with your adversarial approach, which is sad, because I agree with some things that you write, like the summary @NeoDialectic posted. The problem is, no one wants to stick their hand in a bowl of M&M's if a few of them have been poisoned, and as of now, that's how all your posts come across.

It's not that your advice is bad (hell I agree with a lot of it) it is that is it pompously and arrogantly delivered, and purposely done not to educate some random forum drive-by, but to irritate and poke at those who disagree. And it's it is getting old.

The problem is your rhetoric will likely preclude the actual discussion.

+1. I no longer comment when I agree or disagree. He lost me some months ago when he said your thoughts don't impact behavior. So at this point, response is pointless other to let him know that I have my limits on discourse that is purposely posted here to be adversarial.

Been there, done that.

 

[Kevin88660]

This is the number one advice most of you need. If your first business isn't profitable from month 1, you have a big problem. It means you're chasing after opportunities that are above your pay grade.

Most of you are doing this because you've been misinterpreting MJ's advice against money-chasing. You've become idealistic. You're enchanted by the dream of providing value. Of building the next Facebook. So enchanted that you're not actually creating any value, because you lack the resources to create the kind of value you're aiming for. I'm reading here about people who started 3-4+ businesses, all failures.

If that's you, you're like a starry-eyed kid when he first hears about a new game he likes. The wave of enthusiasm carries you away, and you end up leaping across a chasm far larger than what you're currently capable to cross... and you fall, break your neck, and you go get a job -- teaching your subconscious mind that it's risky to start a business.

I want you to understand that you can be an entrepreneur starting from today. But you have to give up your idealism. Or better, we have to match your idealism with a nose-to-the-dirt empiric, realistic approach to business. If idealism tells you to provide value, empiricism tells you to make money. Idealism is nice... but without money, in the practical realities of the world, it will be doomed to fail.

So how is empiricism different from money-chasing?

Empiricism asks how can I make money in the next 30 days, regardless of how much I have to work to make it?

Money-chasing asks how can I make money in the next 30 days without doing any work, or very little work?

Empiricism doesn't ask for EASY money... it just asks for FAST money.

If you look at the vast majority of extremely rich people, they all had at least one time early on when a ton of money fell into their hands. From then on, it's been a smooth ride for them. I know that some of you will be like "ughh but it's hard to turn $5 million into $50 million... BD just imagine how hard it is to turn that $5M into $500M!!!"

J. P. Getty the oilman who in 1966 was named by Forbes as the richest man in the world ($1.2 billion dollars) said "the first million is the hardest".

Henry Ford the world's first billionaire said "I am ready to account for any day in my life, but don't ask me how I made my first million."

Brian Tracy said "the first million is hard, but the second million is inevitable"

Do you understand what that means? It means the whole game is getting your hands on that liquid $5 million. Then it's a smooth ride. And I can tell you exactly why. Once you have that kinda money, you have slave after slave coming to you, wanting to work for you. They'll even work for free! It's easy to enslave a bunch of people and put them to work to make your dreams happen. And once you're even bigger, it gets even easier. Imagine having the President on speed-dial. "Yo, Joe you got that deal lined up ole man?!"

Elon Musk's day consists of shouting at and abusing people. That's what they call "management", and it's "very hard" work, some people claim.

So let's go back to you. Forget the $5 million. If you can even have $500K liquid, by the end of 1 year, that will be a gigantic leap forward. For most of you here, your families NEVER at any single moment in their history had that kinda money in disposable cash. Just pause to imagine that.

And you CAN make that money within 1 year.

Let's go back to looking at a few big hitters.

J. Paul Getty whom I've mentioned earlier made his first $1 million at 23. That's like YOU making $10 million in today's money by the time you're 23. Can you imagine that?

Rockefeller started his first business in 1859 and by 1865, merely 6 years later, he bought his partner out for $10,000 - the equivalent of $1 million dollars, CASH. Can you even begin to imagine how profitable the business was in those 6 years? Rockefeller was just 26. Imagine... at 26 he had $1 million in cash to buy his partner out.

That Brazillian playboy and gigachad who used to be the richest Brazillian before they put him in jail... he went into the Amazon rainforest scrambling for gold... and emerged at 22 years old a MILLIONAIRE!! His name is Eike Batista.

You see, these guys, their entire lives have been one long easy holiday. They had the women and the fast cars, and the private jets and whatever you guys dream of from the very beginning. They didn't wait to be 40... Then it was a smooth ride.

Listen to what Eike says:

Special Report: The billionaire from Brazil

Eike Batista sits atop one of the world's most expansive industrial conglomerates, ranging from oil and mining to recreation and beauty care. Already the richest person in Brazil, he wants to be the richest in the world.

www.reuters.com

I don't think that registers for most of you. THE MINE WAS SO RICH IT WAS IDIOT-PROOF! It means that even YOU would make a profit from it. It means he couldn't fail. There were no risks. There were no "odds". It was a straight up slam dunk.

And from there it only gets easier. Imagine yourself. "Ughh, what shall we do now with all these millions, let's find some more of those idiot-proof mines... how about we go to the Ruskies, pay some corrupt general 50% and we go buy the F*cker for 10% of the price". Listen... when you buy for 10% of the price, how can you fail? What ODDS do you have to take into account?

In just a couple of years you'll have a global empire.

And the same is true for all these guys. Apart from in some cases their first million, these guys took NO RISKS. And yet, every business YOU start is a risk. You have to worry about your odds. These guys don't. Every business is a slam dunk. Otherwise they don't do it.

If it was you instead of Eike, what would you have thought? "Oh F*ck, better go get a project manager job to see how these mines go" Right? He just jumped on the F*cker and bought it. Would you have headed to the jungle to trade gold, like a savage at 20? What would your family have thought about you, just imagine... Six years later, and you still wouldn't be prepared to head over to the jungle!

Do you now understand?

These guys, all they cared about was money. You think they cared about making a difference in the world. That's wrong. They just cared about money. Maybe in their old age, that idea of making a difference grew on them, but at first, it was 100% the money.

And they went after businesses that were idiot-proof. Where they couldn't fail. First they looked for a business that would generate them cash quickly. Then I'm not gonna tell you what they did, because it was a smooth ride. And so long as you're not a retard - meaning no hookers, not too much bling, no alcohol, no drugs, you'll do just fine after you get your first million cash in the bank.

Notice these attributes... idiot-proof businesses, no risk, no odds, make money quickly, do whatever it takes to succeed, and they didn't wait to "get the knowledge" or become experts before taking action. That's the mindset you need.

It is very similar to trading where you need to have a stop-loss.

You have to exit the position by a certain time if you have not reached your profit target, because the original hypothesis which you support you to enter the trade, has been rejected.

It doesn’t have to be one month, like many say one month is often too short to tell.

But again choose a business idea that you know that can reject the original hypothesis fast if the result is negative. Choose a business idea that if it works, you should see cash fast (or at least cashflow positive), so that if it doesn’t, you can give up without regret.

It also has to do with how you do he business and not the choice of business. If you are a perfectionist who is targeting the first sales only after six month if you inevitably prolonging the pain cycle.

 

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[Antifragile]

Respect and admiration to the posters who took the time, and high ground recently in this thread.

@biophase for a history lesson. And patiently explaining why listening to someone with experience matters. Real estate being my background … change it to: I wouldn’t take fitness advice from an obese person.
@NeoDialectic for a quality (must have taken a long time) explanation of why there may be a conflict even when belief systems aren’t misaligned. Perception vs reality. I don’t have that kind of patience, but appreciate reading it here. Makes the forum a better place.
@MJ DeMarco for explaining your position. It’s your forum, your take directly affects everyone’s behaviour.


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@Black_Dragon43 let’s burry the hatchet. i hope for a spirited but civil chat in @Kak thread on ethical or “good” business vs the alternative. I am convinced that with logic, everyone will see that there is one correct answer.