# articles ## everyone wants to be their own boss [Desire to Be Own Boss Widely Held in U.S.](https://news.gallup.com/poll/645593/desire-own-boss-widely-held.aspx) ## incubators [What would it take to recreate Bell Labs? | Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40998927) [What Would It Take to Recreate Bell Labs? - by Brian Potter](https://www.construction-physics.com/p/what-would-it-take-to-recreate-bell) ## not all entrepreneurs are the same [Meredith Somers](http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/articles/the-20-year-old-entrepreneur-is-a-lie/) (2018) The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a lie Data from the Census Bureau and the IRS show the average age of successful business founders is 42. WHY IT MATTERS > Good ideas come at any age, but it takes experience to turn them into success stories. Steve Jobs was 21 when he helped found Apple, but he was a 43-year-old CEO when the company created the iMac. ## relentless [Sophie Bakalar](http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/how-to-beat-amazon/) (2018) How to Beat Amazon # guides ## entrepreneur courses = [GitHub - TheAlgoWiki/startupwiki: Collection of all free resources to help your startup grow.](https://github.com/TheAlgoWiki/startupwiki) [NotAGenius: A playbook for not building a failing business](https://notagenius.dev) ## faces rejection [Rejected.us](https://rejected.us/) ## personality [The Big Five Personality Traits and Entrepreneurial Spirit - Agile-Mercurial](https://agile-mercurial.com/2019/02/02/the-big-five-personality-traits-and-entrepreneurial-spirit) [Is being an entrepreneur even worth it?](https://old.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/16a2m0s/is_being_an_entrepreneur_even_worth_it/) [Start Up Business Loans Guide For Felons - Jobs That Hire Felons](https://www.hirefelons.org/start-up-business-loans-guide) # text ## avoids rules Kerkorian employed a core billionaires' technique of sidestepping petty regulations. Two rival American fruit companies wanted to acquire the same five thousand acres of valuable land. Two different locals claimed to own the deed. United Fruit dispatched a team of high-powered lawyers. They set out in search of every file and scrap of paper in the country, ready to pay whatever it cost to win. The tiny, uneducated competitor just met separately with both of the supposed owners and bought the land from each of them. He paid twice, sure, but it was over. The land was his. Forget the rule book, settle the issue. Everything weighs something, everything takes up space. Nothing goes on a lunar module unless there's a really good reason. [Ross Ulbricht - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht) - The story of Silk Road seems hauntingly familiar, look into this more and see what's up with it ## competitive To perform like a champion, you also have to outflank thousands of competitors who are perspiring every bit as profusely as you are. To avoid being leveled out with the rest of them, you must do something different. You have to contemplate bigger risks, try unorthodox business strategies, or raise the ante in making deals. It is all right to copy someone else's idea, but you have to execute it better. Ordinary efforts and conventional approaches do not produce extraordinary wealth. ## controlling to a point Buffett has not merely bought some shares of a company he likes, but instead has acquired a controlling interest. Buffett enhanced the value of his investments by becoming an active member of the board of directors. He began buying entire businesses near the beginning of his stint as a money manager, long before his assets were great enough He did not immerse himself in day-to-day operations. By and large, Buffett relies on strong managers who share his passion for return on investment. Kerkorian lost his investment. He resolved not to invest thereafter in a business he did not run. If there was a charity doing something I thought was so important that I should donate a substantial amount of my own money to it, I'd be doing that work myself. ## creative Being an entrepreneur means you're going to create something in a way that a customer can't get anywhere else. Creation is art. If, while driving down the street, we passed a vacant lot, he'd say, "That'd make a great spot for a hamburger place," or "I haven't seen a car wash for five miles. That's what this neighborhood needs: a car wash." He was always right. (On being a band manager:) I got smart enough to ignore my taste in music. Instead I stuffed cotton in my ears, sat on the stage, and watched the audience. A band's success can be predicted by the audience's reaction. - THEY REMOVE LINKS FROM THE CHAIN ## curious "Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves." - Rainer Maria Rilke ## disciplined Determined to realize his vast ambitions, Huizenga labored hard to master his emotions and channel his immense energy productively. [Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on? | Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32865428) - get idea as well from OLDER discussion linked in post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22174828 The Forbes 400: the lucky few who have won the corporate lottery. Like most lotteries, this is a loser's game, with the odds against us. We can't suddenly quit a job and then race to find a form of art that will pay off before the next mortgage payment is due. Creating art is a habit, one that we practice daily or hourly until we get good at it. ## experienced in success An entrepreneur who'd failed in a previous venture was not likely to do better than someone who'd never run a business in her life. Successful entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are 50 percent more likely to succeed in a second venture. The more you win, the more likely you are to win again. Looks like the advice of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and "failure makes you wiser" isn't actually true. ## likes building wealth Success is more likely to accrue to people who find intrinsic satisfaction in the accumulation of wealth, as opposed to the possession of wealth. He was eager to move on, spurred less by the trappings of wealth than by the challenge of increasing it. "Wayne always keeps the carrot far enough out in front of him and he never really wants to catch it," observes Dean Buntrock. "That's his personality. He's never satisfied." Don't let a ruling class of warriors and politicians squash the entrepreneurs. The same recipe that makes individuals rich makes countries powerful. Let the nerds keep their lunch money, and you rule the world. To succeed in business, you have to have a genuine interest in profitability. And most people don't. ## loves risky hard work It's really hard, and you have to do it over a sustained period of time, so if you don't love it, if you aren't having fun doing it, and you don't really love it, you're going to give up. If you don't love it, you're going to fail. Elon Musk said that starting a company is like "staring into the abyss and eating glass." "Looking for my passion" is just an excuse in disguise. We use it to cover up for the fact that we're not progressing, growing, and taking action in life. What about Bono, Branson, or Oprah? If you saw their schedules - the day in, day out demands they are under, and the pressure they shoulder - you wouldn't think what they do 95 percent of the time is that great at all. The rest of their days are spent in endless meetings, negotiations, contract reviews, lawsuits, makeup chairs, rehearsals, travel, and transportation. I don't care what you do, it's going to suck most of the time. Tell yourself, "This work is going to suck 95 percent of the time." I do not love what I do. But I sure as heck love why I do it. I am passionate about my mission of empowering entrepreneurs. Bring passion to how you do even the most (seemingly) mundane tasks. I've seen mechanics, gardeners, toll takers, cab drivers, project managers, CPAs, lawyers, and CEOs execute the "hows" of their work with great passion and joy. Their passion was in the quality of the activity, the execution, and the outcome. Refocus your mind and attention on who is being served by what you do, why and how you do it. Being successful in business requires an emotional charge. If that charge comes from your desire to right a wrong, fight the good fight, or seek justice, then it's just as good as love and often even better. Products or companies that bear the owner's name convey very valuable messages. They are shouting that they have something to lose. Eponymy indicates both a commitment to the company and a confidence in the product. ## not perfectionist In other professions, mistakes can be a disaster; surgeons, lawyers, and accountants are paid a premium for perfection. But mistakes are a daily part of life for serial entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs fail for the rest of us. Many entrepreneurs fail to have true skin in the game in the sense that their aim is to either cash out by selling the company they helped create to someone else, or "go public" by issuing shares in the stock market. The true value of the company, what it makes, and its long-term survival are of small relevance to them. This is a pure financing scheme and we will exclude this class of people from our "entrepreneur" risk-taker class (this form of entrepreneurship is the equivalent of bringing great-looking and marketable children into the world with the sole aim of selling them at age four). We can easily identify them by their ability to write a convincing business plan. ## old tPA what's an entrepreneur ### Entrepreneurs always sell when they're not creating An owner constantly maintains customers - Perpetually and tenaciously looks for new customers - Uses every form of conventional and guerilla [marketing](http://philosaccounting.com/a/the-colors-of-the-mind/) - Keeps customers with trustworthiness, character, and [happiness](http://philosaccounting.com/a/how-to-be-happy/) Sells by focusing exclusively on customer needs and wants - Ignore what the customer feels - Ignore what potential customers think outside your marketing focus - Focus on the image you sell the product or service as and not what it is - [Focus on your target market](http://philosaccounting.com/a/the-colors-of-the-mind/) and consider adapting product lines for them - You must understand and observe your market's economic movement and fluctuations Fully clarify terms of any service agreement before customers sign it - A customer could [sue you](http://philosaccounting.com/a/how-to-stay-out-of-court/) for any damages - Without their awareness, a customer could negotiate you to work for free ## opportunistic - deal-making Associates report being sent back to the negotiating table 15 times or more until they emerge with terms that satisfy him. "A deal," Huizenga once told an interviewer, with a smile, "it's like chasing a girl. You work at it until she says yes." Laurence Tisch's immense wealth derives mainly from buying low and selling high. Observers commonly overlook the negotiating skill that has enabled him to obtain bargains that otherwise might have gone to his rivals. A typical assessment runs along these lines: To triumph as often as he has, Tisch has thumbed his nose at conventional wisdom. He buys companies or stocks when they are wildly unpopular and shuns anything that is remotely in vogue. In many such comments over the years, the press has celebrated Tisch's knack for finding value, while obscuring his effectiveness in adding value. There are several different ways to realize value in buying and selling businesses. Negotiating favorable prices, both on the way in and on the way out, is only the most obvious. Another means of maximizing the gain on the round trip is to finance the purchase on advantageous terms. Further gains are achievable from increasing the asset's value, following its purchase, through capable management. Not to be ignored, either, is the compensation that can be extracted during the ownership/management phase. By exploiting all these profit sources in every transaction, and by doing many transactions, it is possible to amass a sizable fortune. Identifying the opportunities requires a keen sense of where the deals are at a given time. Clues can be found in the economic environment, the state of the capital markets, and conditions in various industries. Essential to astute deal making, as well, is a grasp of complex transactions in which one side may wind up with a subtle, but ultimately decisive, edge. Tenacity, willingness to risk a huge loss, and creativity in forging agreements are recurring themes. Wayne Huizenga's creation of Waste Management: In acquiring independent waste haulers, he minimized the haggling over price by beginning at a level within 5 or 10 percent of the maximum that he would pay. Then, he would focus the discussion on such issues as the tax benefits of taking Waste Management stock in payment and the seller's ongoing relationship as an operator. Wayne was famous for, "Do the deal now for $100, do it tomorrow for $90." Huizenga sought to get deals completed quickly. His team would begin negotiating on Monday morning and work 18 hours a day, seven days a week, until the transaction closed. He stuck rigorously to two rules: Wayne Huizenga's Cardinal Rules for Closing Deals 1. Don't lose a deal by failing to pay attention to it 2. Never talk about a deal until it is signed Deal making on the scale that produces billionaires requires nerves of steel. At one time or another, the three superb negotiators profiled in this chapter have all been in tight spots, facing potential bankruptcy. If they did not enjoy the rush of adrenaline that accompanies a successful deal, they could not have pursued the deal maker's route to massive wealth accumulation. To replicate their success, you too will have to learn to love the deals for their own sake. The impetus behind Kirk Kerkorian's success has been his restlessness. The wide variety of businesses he has engaged in supports his claim that he started out with no specific ambition. "I just tend to get dissatisfied easily and want to do something else," he once explained. Day-to-day operations hold little appeal for him, but buying and selling companies clearly does, even when incumbent management fights him tooth and nail. It was impossible to deal with Icahn. Every time he thought he had reached an agreement, Icahn would come back to the negotiating table with a new wrinkle or a revised number that altered the terms radically in his favor. He delighted in extracting one wage concession after another. Phil is very astute in analyzing what it is that is going to be the next most important business or marketplace. He takes advantage of his assets in ways most other people don't. Like most successful deal makers, Anschutz showed a keen eye for value from his earliest days. He was only 27 when he learned of a collection of western art in the basement of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's Chicago headquarters. The railroad had originally commissioned the paintings as models for travel posters. Managing to gain an interview with the company's chairman, Anschutz offered to catalog the largely forgotten works in exchange for the right to purchase a few. The 85 paintings that he bought for a song a few days later were eventually valued at several million dollars. "It's important to have your back to the wall," Phil Anschutz commented, recollecting the oil-field fire. "It teaches you how to think outside the box." Sheer determination has been a consistent theme of the marathon runner's long-run success in amassing wealth. ## opportunistic Don't be too proud to take advantage of undeserved good fortune. Like Sam Walton, Gates exemplifies the success achievable by those who do not fall victim to the not-invented-here syndrome. Operated within the services category, favoring rental businesses that generate recurring revenues. "If I rent something," he explains, "basically I'm selling the same thing over and over again." He once remarked that auto sales and rentals represented a trillion-dollar market and that he only wanted his fair share: half. Meanwhile, in 1929, the stock market crashed. While others despaired, Getty recognized the debacle as a golden opportunity to satisfy his predilection for paying bottom dollar. Thanks to the plunge in oil company shares, petroleum could be found more cheaply on Wall Street than in the oil patch. "It was foolish," Getty reasoned, "to buy oil properties with 100-cent dollars when you could buy them indirectly with maybe 50-cent dollars. He lays down his stipulations and then won't budge. He's a smart guy out to make a buck. The amount he's already made doesn't matter. Being self-sacrificing runs contrary to the principle of oneness. To sacrifice myself to help others without receiving fair value in return is to enter into an abusive relationship. - I disagree with this: love can drive this - however, it's CRITICAL with business contracts (i.e., no love) that there's a win/win Half of succeeding in business is being in the right place at the right time; the other half is recognizing that time when it comes. ## personality Definition of what makes a good entrepreneur by Paul Graham - relentlessly resourceful Torchbearers often attract a crowd. People are fascinated by individuals who are willing to carry responsibility. Torchbearers don't realize how unique they are, how powerful their role is, or how difficult their task is. Torchbearers care more about forward motion than they do which route to take. Won't find them looking for perfect solutions in meetings. Torchbearers don't stop until they finish. Balance between devotion to duty and the pursuit of joy. A torchbearer never forgets about or shortchanges a duty, even when that means postponing joy. [I am done. I give up | Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34103896) - Entrepreneurs _require_ the personality trait of conscientiousness to actually work the required craptons of work it takes to do. Entrepreneurs MUST be a highly conscientious [personality] to do the work, introverted enough to plan and work hard alone, and disagreeable enough to edge out the competition - Not-for-profit pioneers can be more agreeable, but have to be MORE conscientious to accomplish the same results (since the profit and cost activities are typically NOT AT ALL related) One similarity among many entrepreneurs, she said, was an aversion to prediction. "If you give entrepreneurs data that has to do with the future, they just dismiss it." Buffett downplays the importance of IQ in material success, stressing instead the importance of character and drive. Fair enough, but there are several different proven strategies for turning those traits into billion-dollar fortunes. Not all of them require exceptional intellectual capacity. To the extent that Buffett's success has relied on discerning superior values among stocks being scrutinized by millions of other investors, on the other hand, brainpower has been an invaluable asset. This is a fact worth considering as you try to match your own talents to a specific strategy for reaching the billion-dollar circle. Everyone is an entrepreneur. The only skills you need to be an entrepreneur are the ability to fail, to have ideas, to sell those ideas, to execute on them, and to be persistent so even as you fail you learn and move onto the next adventure. - BASICALLY, YOU'RE AN ENTREPRENEUR IF YOU TAKE A RISK, THOUGH IT MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE A CAREER PATHWAY Build trust while you sleep. Honesty compounds over years and decades. More people trust your word and spread the news that you are a person to be sought out, sought after, given opportunity, given help, or given money. - HIGH-CONSCIENTIOUSNESS The essence of an entrepreneur is the die-hard belief that we are the only one able to make things happen. ## practical In science, belief is literal belief; it is right or wrong, never metaphorical. In real life, belief is an instrument to do things, not the end product. This is similar to vision: the purpose of your eyes is to orient you in the best possible way, and get you out of trouble when needed, or help you find prey at a distance. Your eyes are not sensors designed to capture the electromagnetic spectrum. Their job description is not to produce the most accurate scientific representation of reality; rather the most useful one for survival. Survival comes first; Truth, understanding, and science later. There is no such thing as the "rationality" of a belief, there is rationality of action. The rationality of an action can be judged only in terms of evolutionary considerations. What is rational is that which allows for survival. ## rational enough Base your decision on logic, not emotion. Many people let feelings and passion steer them toward a business, but don't let your heart call the shots. Starting a business is a logical decision. Stay focused on the important questions: Who are you? Where do you fit? Who are your competitors?Stick with the familiar. Choose something that feels comfortable. If it doesn't feel like a natural fit for your skills and personality, pick something else.Prioritize fun. If you don't enjoy your work, you won't succeed. Look for a business with the potential to be deeply satisfying. ## risk-taking tendencies [Every single Onewheel is being recalled after four deaths | Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37717058) [Every single Onewheel is being recalled after four deaths - The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/29/23896151/onewheel-cpsc-recall-future-motion-crash-death) - you often can't know the kinds of trouble you'll be involved in beforehand - many times, it becomes a battle of legality, and your [legal safety] only partly protects you - this legal risk is an additional occupational burden on the modern entrepreneur, on top of the financial/career risks In business, as in life, you can't afford to be afraid of doing the wrong thing. Innovation is what you get when you capitalise on luck, when you get up from behind your desk and go and see where ideas and people lead you. If you want swashbuckling action in your life, become an entrepreneur and give it a go. Learn the art of trying to set up your own business. Which is the same as saying, learn the art of making mistakes and learning lessons. You could have 100% of the equity if you fully fund your own venture, but if it fails you'll have 100% of nothing. Owning just 0.01% of Google, by contrast, is incredibly valuable (more than $35 million now.) My definition of a startup: a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty. [Every single Onewheel is being recalled after four deaths | Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37717058) [Every single Onewheel is being recalled after four deaths - The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/29/23896151/onewheel-cpsc-recall-future-motion-crash-death) - you often can't know the kinds of trouble you'll be involved in beforehand - many times, it becomes a battle of legality, and your [legal safety] only partly protects you - this legal risk is an additional occupational burden on the modern entrepreneur, on top of the financial/career risks Entrepreneurs trapped in this system may prosper through general growth in the economy, but they will not become fabulously wealthy. To pull out of the pack, they must earn much higher profits than the economy as a whole is generating. In short, if you hope to become a billionaire, you must overcome the scourge of competition, one way or another. - risk is ABSOLUTELY necessary, mostly because others are [terrified] of taking those risks, which leaves an [economic] gap of decreased supply Proactive behavior is one common theme to watch for as you read the following sketches of champion bargain hunters. Observe as well the two distinct ways in which billionaires squeeze pennies until they scream. Not only do they pay as little as possible for the assets they buy, but they relentlessly strive to reduce the operating costs of their properties. Buying when others appear to be panicking sometimes proves nothing except that there was good reason to panic. [Aaron Swartz - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz) - learn what he didn't do right Many entrepreneurs take a "just do it" attitude, avoiding all forms of management, process, and discipline. Unfortunately, this approach leads to chaos more often than it does to success. Entrepreneurship requires a managerial discipline to harness the entrepreneurial opportunity. Starting a business is often an act of desperation. Entrepreneurs are desperate for success and accomplishment. Desperation pushes us to take huge risks, leave comfort and security behind, and allow a business to consume our lives. Decide whether you belong in the game. I'm not a gambler. Professional poker players approach the game as a business. They recognize that gambling is bad for business. to gamble is to rely on luck instead of facts. The professionals cash in by waiting for gamblers to come along. wait until you have great cards before playing, so your odds of winning aremuch better than those of people who play every hand they are dealt. In business, this practice translates as being conservative. For instance, opening up a franchise might be a smarter move than starting a company from scratch. It's far more dangerous to fly too low than too high, because it feels safe to fly low. We shortchange not only ourselves but also those who might benefit from our work. Figure out how to realign your comfort zone with today's new safety zone, Commit to the frightening work of flying blind, of taking a stand, and of making something new, complex, and vital. What's scarce is trust, connection, and surprise. Better sorry than safe. ## self-confidence Don't expect someone else to know what your skills and talents are worth. If you let others determine your salary, it's a safe bet you're being underpaid. You must take the initiative and ask for what you want. If the price you ask is fair and reasonable and if there's genuine social demand for the value you can provide, someone will surely pay you for your efforts. Entrepreneurs need to face their fears and be willing to fail, often in a public way. In fact, entrepreneurs who have a high profile, either because of personal fame or because they are operating as part of a famous brand, face an extreme version of this problem. If I ever felt myself getting caught up in or brought down by what other people thought of me, whether or not they approved of what I was doing (or wearing), all I had to do is ask myself if they would be one of the ten people to cry at my funeral. Instantly their rejection would lose any power over my emotions. Be AggressiveAggressive poker players win by scaring other players into making mistakes. In business, one way to succeed is to scare your competitors. ## skills • Dominate Your Market • Do Business in a New Way • Take Monumental Risks • Consolidate an Industry. Thrive on DealsKey Principles • Pursue the Money in Ideas • Develop a Thick Skin • Rules Are Breakable • Copying Pays Better Than Innovating • Keep on Growing • Hold on to Your Equity • Hard Work Is Essential ## skills - social skills Many people network too much. It's tough to make money. It's not a party. Every day think of at least two people to introduce to each other who will help each other. Pick your social media outlet, master it. HOW TO GET RICH - Pick an industry where you can play long term games with long term people. - The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven't figured this out yet. - business partners should have intelligence, purposefulness and integrity - Arm yourself with specific knowledge, public accountability, and leverage. - Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity, and leverage. - The most accountable people have singular, public, and risky brands: Oprah, Trump, Kanye, Elon. - Fortunes require leverage. Business leverage comes from capital, people, and products with no marginal cost of replication (code and media). - Capital and labor are permissioned leverage. Everyone is chasing capital, but someone has to give it to you. Everyone is trying to lead, but someone has to follow you. - Code and media are permissionless leverage. They're the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep. - An army of robots is freely available - it's just packed in data centers for heat and space efficiency. Use it. - If you can't code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts. - Leverage is a force multiplier for your judgement. - Judgement requires experience, but can be built faster by learning foundational skills. ## styles of thinking VENTURE CAPITALISTS STYLES OF THINKING: "Art Critics" assessed entrepreneurs almost at a glance, the way an art critic can assess the quality of a painting - intuitively and based on long experience. "Sponges" took more time gathering information about their targets, soaking up whatever they could from interviews, on-site visits, references, and the like. Then they went with whatever their guts told them. As one such investor told Smart, he did "due diligence by mucking around." "Prosecutors" interrogated entrepreneurs aggressively, testing them with challenging questions about their knowledge and how they would handle random hypothetical situations. "Suitors" focused more on wooing people than on evaluating them. "Terminators" saw the whole effort as doomed to failure and skipped the evaluation part. They simply bought what they thought were the best ideas, fired entrepreneurs they found to be incompetent, and hired replacements. "Airline Captains." took a methodical, checklist-driven approach to their task. Studying past mistakes and lessons from others in the field, they built formal checks into their process. They forced themselves to be disciplined and not to skip steps, even when they found someone they "knew" intuitively was a real prospect. Smart next tracked the venture capitalists' success over time. There was no question which style was most effective - and by now you should be able to guess which one. It was the Airline Captain. The Airline Captains had a median 80 percent return on the investments studied, the others 35 percent or less. Smart published his findings more than a decade ago. He has since gone on to explain them in a best-selling business book on hiring called Who. When young people who "want to help mankind" come to me asking, "What should I do? I want to reduce poverty, save the world," my suggestion is: 1) Never engage in virtue signaling 2) Never engage in rent-seeking 3) You must start a business. Put yourself on the line, start a business. Yes, take risk, and if you get rich (which is optional), spend your money generously on others. ## unafraid of change The route chosen by Perot and Walton, requires exceptional resistance to the levelers. If you sincerely want to be superrich, you cannot let yourself be deterred by the unavoidable fact that change upsets people. What could be less complicated than purchasing an asset when nobody wants it, then selling it when no one can live without it? "If it's truly as simple as that, why isn't everybody rich?" The standard answer offered by financial gurus is that most investors lose their nerve when they see the crowd rushing toward the exit. Thriving in the high-stakes environment he relishes requires a strong stomach for fluctuations in fortune. In his first go-around with MGM alone, Kerkorian came close to being wiped out on three separate occasions. If (weaker people) got into the kind of situation Kirk got into they'd blow their brains out or just fall to pieces. Kirk goes right back in there and says, "Well, what can we do here? Let's start working on it."