This Forbes interview with Warren Buffet and Jay Z is so very odd! Major props to whoever thought up this old versus new, multi-millionaire/billionaire mash-up interview but, unfortunately I don't think it worked quite the way it was supposed to!
Warren Buffet and Jay Z both come across as very approachable and amiable, but there's just not much connection between how they each made their fortunes. Yes, they're both very capable, smart businessmen - but they just don't relate to one other. Jay Z tries to bring together their two disparate business philosophies to bridge the gap between their styles but it just comes across as forced and confusing.
I was really excited to watch this interview, but quickly found myself disappointed. Not only because it was a little boring, but because Warren Buffet and Jay Z's fortunes were developed in one similar way - completely and totally from their singular talents. As a viewer, I found myself longing for their success without any actionable nugget or idea as a take away.
However, it cannot be denied that Jay Z and Warren Buffet are some of the grittiest of the gritty. They both keep their heads down and will work until they die.
Ashton Kutcher is clearly a wealthy man but, knowing what little I do about the entertainment industry I never truly considered actors much in the way of entrepreneurs. After watching his acceptance speech at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards, I wondered why this group of wealthy Americans escaped my, and I'm sure others', consideration because Mr. Kutcher is truly an inspiration!
Sure, the best actors are generally very successful at making large sums on money; however, whether or not they can retain those funds and keep their savings accounts in the black varies greatly. But, really I think I overlooked actors as businessmen and women because it often takes a team of managers and public affairs representatives to make an actor a lucrative business.
Sure, nary a member of the billionaires club did it all alone, but we've all heard so many times that actors didn't know they were broke until their manager told them they were. Since the attitude towards money varies so greatly in the acting profession - it just never occurred to me that actors could truly be gritty entrepreneurs. Shame on me!
So, where did all this love for Ashton Kutcher start? I found this amazing t-shirt with the quote, "Opportunity Looks a Lot like Hard Work" a few weeks ago at iwearyourshirt.com. I circled back around to it, considering finally purchasing it when I read the description of the shirt for the first time:
If you haven't heard Ashton Kutcher's speech at the Teen Choice Awards, you should watch it immediately. Not only is it surprising coming from him, it's also extremely poignant, and it hits home for so many entrepreneurs.
Naturally, I followed the directions promptly and looked up Ashton Kutcher's speech. I was blown away. I'd always considered him to be as goofy and dim-witted as his doppelganger Kelso from That Seventies Show. Again, shame on me!
His acceptance speech was indeed poignant, meaningful and inspiring. I think it was so wonderful that he crafted a speech such as this for an audience of teens - those who, unfortunately are least likely to remember his words but have the most to gain from his experience and advice. Cut to 1:35 for the good stuff:
Here it is transcribed:
So, its really three things. The first thing is about opportunity, the second thing is about being sexy, and the third thing is about living life.
So, first thing - opportunity, I believe, looks a lot like hard work. When I was 13, I had my first job with my dad carrying shingles to the roof, and then I got a job washing dishes at a restaurant, and then I got a job in a grocery-store deli, and then I got a job in a factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground.
And I never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next job. And so opportunities look a lot like work.
Number two: being sexy. The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart, and being thoughtful and being generous. Everything else is crap. I promise you. Its just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. So don't buy it. Be smart, be thoughtful and be generous.
The third thing is something that I just re-learned when I was making this movie about Steve Jobs. And Steve Jobs said, when you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way that it is and that your life is to live your life inside the world and try not to get in too much trouble, and maybe get an education, and get a job and make some money and have a family. But life can be a lot broader than that when you realize one simple thing and that is that everything around us that we call life was made up by people that are no smarter than you. And you can build your own things. You can build your own life that other people can live in.
So build a life, don't live one. Build one. Find your opportunities and always be sexy.
The title of this Mark Cuban interview by Bloomberg sucked me right in, "Only morons start a business on a loan." Even though I bootstrapped my way through the first three years of my business and saw wonderful, surprising growth, I think this spoke to me because I recently took out a loan for my business. Earlier this year, feeling that I truly knew my market and seeing that the profits were rolling in at a steady pace, I took a small loan for $12,000 to boost my inventory. The catch on this particular loan was that it was all due back in a matter of 6 months. I saw the principle payments due back, the overall interest payments and thought it was a great deal. And it was, still is. The terms were very acceptable, I just didn't know how to be a borrower. I had always ponied up the capitol myself.
It was all working so very well, until the fifth month the loans were due back. I just was not making enough to pay back the loan AND continue to grow. I felt stifled by these payments and I definitely feel that the progress I'd made immediately prior to taking on the loan was eradicated. I felt that was essentially starting back over now that the last payment is scheduled for the end of this month. I didn't get nearly what I thought I would out of this sudden infusion of cash.
I'm excited to get back to my normal that I'm so very used to, especially during my business' peak seasonality. I'm not saying that I wouldn't take out a loan again, but I certainly would like to have more of my own cash on hand to combat the payment periods during the slow time of the year. How ironic - you have to have money to borrow money. Or I might take out the loan just before a natural boom in sales. I regret taking out this 6 month loan just before the slow time of year. That was definitely something I would not recommend or repeat.
At any rate, there were a few other awesome nuggets in this video. The grittiest of us will like what he has to say at 1:30 "Small business don't fail for lack of capitol, they fail for lack of brains, lack of effort." Love it!
Let's "grit" our heads down and work, entrepreneurs!
