A Billionaire Gave Me Advice

Whoa! You are giving yourself WAY too much credit here. The biggest difference maker I see in your story is that you were too scared to take a risk with $2000. Action is what separates those successful from those too timid to get in the ring.

Think about it - you're claiming to have had the idea before it ended up working for somebody else. There was no reason you couldn't have pursued it a few years after your original idea. An idea is nothing without action. In fact, action is often more important than some amazing killer idea.

No, the successful, whether Millions or Billions or whatever figure out a way to make things work. Sure, there may be some luck or opportunity involved. But in your story, you never even gave luck a chance to happen to you - you p*ssied out thinking about all the reasons it wouldn't work instead of figuring out how to make it work, and how to lessen your risk while you were figuring it out.

Agreed. Having an idea too late could be a problem, but I don't see how it could be a problem to have an idea too early (unless the proper time for the idea comes after your death, which isn't the case here). The idea still existed in your head once the technology came into existence. You didn't turn it into a profitable business. Someone else did.

Your problem wasn't timing. your problem was lack of action. Thinking up an idea is just the first step. Lots of people have good ideas. You have to then actually go out and turn your idea into a business.

Give me the MFers address. I want to pitch a tent on his sidewalk and shit on his lawn.

Freelove wrote:

The difference between being a millionaire and a billionaire is mostly luck. People like Bill Gates got to be rich by having good ideas at the right time, not by their monumental work ethics or brilliance. Many people have those qualities. Few people have the good fortune to have the right kind of idea at the right time.

Translation: Billionaires are just lucky fuks so they owe me all their money.

Yes, I'm sure Bill Gates just woke up one morning and found that the Tooth Fairy had left him a software empire under his pillow.

No doubt I missed a great opportunity, but, honestly, I was so preoccupied with running at the time it just seemed like a distraction. Remember, this was before the idea of Redbox was even around. It was unprecedented, so, in my position (making like 18k a year and being obsessed with running) it just seemed like a waste of time. Plus, I had no background in business myself and really didn't believe I could pull it off. I had already started a business with my parents and it was not going well. It kind of prevented me from feeling comfortable taking a risk like that. Part of it is personality...folks like my dad and this billionaire uncle believe tenaciously they can make it happen no matter what. I, however, did not. I see the world in terms or risks and calculations. That's fundamentally not the perspective these folks see. Did I miss a great idea? Yeah, absolutely. But, I honestly don't think my mix of personality, vision, and, skills would have allowed it to happen. Plus, I was in a part of the country where this type of business was not likely to succeed. Had I been in LA or New York, it may have been a different story.

Your parents are idiots. Maybe you are not an A+ student.

bangalangadanga wrote:are you sure he's not just some homeless guy?

Yeah, yeah -- and I am Lincoln's grandfather. What was that OP said about the dollars?

Aaaargh wrote:Hahaha!

You are not getting what I'm saying. I KNOW that uber rich people continue to work because they like the work and the challenge. I'm saying that the average Joe (who isn't a workaholic and isn't anything special to the working world) often will make a statement that "If I had 100 million dollars, I would retire and head to the beach". I'm saying that that much to do that is not even necessary. $2-3 million and you could be living pretty...if you didn't waste it.

ESS92 wrote:

To Flagpole: who would one just want to live off the interest when they are in a position to make 20x more? The only thing that does is create something of an annuity which will provide some financial security.

Not sure what you're getting at, but LOTS of people squirrel away about $2 million and then retire and live off the interest. Invest conservatively to earn about 6-7% a year, take 4% a year and you get a little raise each year. If you adjust a bit for inflation, you can still make that money last a long long time...add Social Security to that, and it's a nice retirement.

A ton of money isn't what everyone wants. Some people (I'm one of these) just don't want to HAVE to work for anyone or for any reason. As soon as I think I have enough money to retire and have enough money for my wife and I to easily live to 100 (I probably won't live that long, but she might), then I'm done working...too many fun things to see in this world.

Was it have a lot of money and more on the way?

you have to actually do it wrote:

Agreed. Having an idea too late could be a problem,

Tell me about it. When I was a little boy I invented the concept of negative numbers. I thought I was going to revolutionize the world of mathematics. Boy was I disappointed when I got to the sixth grade!