I did it.
I have a few ideas and enough capital. Hopefully I will receive my severance package in the next a few months so I can start working for myself. Only thing I lack is a solid business network. If any of you want to discuss partnership. Drop me a line ustcer90 AT yahoo.com.
you kids kill me - you think working for a bank or broker or fund manager, ete - ie having a “career” - is the main game. The best way to make real money and enjoy yourself is to run your own show. Over the past boom cycle employees in the finance game started to make the same sort of money as business owners, but that era is gone - just a blip in history. Bankers, brokers, advisors, fund managers, etc just count and shuffle around other people’s money. Forget that - get out and make money for yourself - then you can hire and fire all the money counters and shufflers you like. I have very little regard for brokers, advisors, fund managers, bankers, etc - if they were any good they’d be doing it for themselves not working for somebody else who is making the real money. The only times I ever worked for somebody else was following the early 1990s recession + I started out in years following the early 1980s recession (started out at citi). I never viewed it as a career - just getting experience. The purpose of working for somebody else is NOT to make money - it is to build skills to put to use in the main game - which is making money for yourself. As soon as the markets pick up - get out and put the skills to good use to make money for yourself. I made about half my money in property + the other half in equities. On the equities side it was a combination of putting together companies (mainly early stage VC), trading + some lucky stock-picking. Now I spend my time split 3 ways - 1) working on deals (right now I’m working on an e-waste recycling/precious metals extraction company - early stage VC - aiming for trade sale or IPO in 4 years) - 2) fiddling around in the market with some trades, + 3) running my foundation + helping a major charity launch a new micro-finance project 5 years ago I was doing completely different things (property + mining companies) + in 5 years time who knows what I’ll be doing - that’s the beauty of it - every day I get up and say “what do I wanna do today?” You only go around once and it could end tomorrow - so you may as well enjoy yourself - not waste your life counting and shuffling around somebody else’s money. Best advice is - “get on the other side of that phone, Buddy boy!” (Bud fox, etc, etc). No, you don’t need capital to start with - just skills to get things done and get the right people to work together. All the other stuff you learn as you go. gotta go - a movie called “Zombie Strippers” is starting… cheers
Self employment has many benifits… job security (unless you fire yourself) no limit on pay (either upside or downside) freedom (to work or to post on boards) but it comes with costs I always thought this way: if somebody is paying you a set amount it is because you are able to add more than that amount to the bottom line or the business would not be in business for very long. Hence AIG GM Chrysler etc…people that were being paid to add value made decisions that did not add value to these companies.
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > you kids kill me - you think working for a bank or > broker or fund manager, ete - ie having a “career” > - is the main game. > The best way to make real money and enjoy yourself > is to run your own show. Over the past boom cycle > employees in the finance game started to make the > same sort of money as business owners, but that > era is gone - just a blip in history. Bankers, > brokers, advisors, fund managers, etc just count > and shuffle around other people’s money. Forget > that - get out and make money for yourself - then > you can hire and fire all the money counters and > shufflers you like. > > I have very little regard for brokers, advisors, > fund managers, bankers, etc - if they were any > good they’d be doing it for themselves not working > for somebody else who is making the real money. > > The only times I ever worked for somebody else was > following the early 1990s recession + I started > out in years following the early 1980s recession > (started out at citi). > > I never viewed it as a career - just getting > experience. The purpose of working for somebody > else is NOT to make money - it is to build skills > to put to use in the main game - which is making > money for yourself. As soon as the markets pick up > - get out and put the skills to good use to make > money for yourself. > I made about half my money in property + the other > half in equities. On the equities side it was a > combination of putting together companies (mainly > early stage VC), trading + some lucky > stock-picking. > Now I spend my time split 3 ways - 1) working on > deals (right now I’m working on an e-waste > recycling/precious metals extraction company - > early stage VC - aiming for trade sale or IPO in 4 > years) - 2) fiddling around in the market with > some trades, + 3) running my foundation + helping > a major charity launch a new micro-finance > project > > 5 years ago I was doing completely different > things (property + mining companies) > + in 5 years time who knows what I’ll be doing - > that’s the beauty of it - every day I get up and > say “what do I wanna do today?” > > You only go around once and it could end tomorrow > - so you may as well enjoy yourself - not waste > your life counting and shuffling around somebody > else’s money. > > Best advice is - “get on the other side of that > phone, Buddy boy!” (Bud fox, etc, etc). > No, you don’t need capital to start with - just > skills to get things done and get the right people > to work together. All the other stuff you learn as > you go. > > gotta go - a movie called “Zombie Strippers” is > starting… > cheers +10
In your opinion, null&nuller, who have been the “right” people to work with?
“Ever thought about becoming self-employed?” My whole family is self-employed, it runs in the blood. You don’t think about it, you do it. People who think about it don’t do it. People who wait for the right time or idea or whatever either don’t do it or get weeded out quickly as soon as things aren’t easy (and they won’t be easy). Most who do it have never worked for others, cause it just isn’t in their nature, you need to be willing to starve for the first five years and be unwilling to quit. Agree with everything Null said.
XSellSide Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > jond - what type of business are you looking at > starting? xsellside at gmail dot com if you want > to discuss offline. Sent.
Well, ideas are cheap, team and execution are the most important things in entrepreneurship. 
Daddy-Bear Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thank y’all for your great posts, I appreciate > that. > > Lack of an original idea is being quoted quite > frequently in and outside of this forum as a major > reason against self-employment. However, before > your brain melts while trying to figure out a new > PC operating system or THE internet application > the whole world was waiting for, check out this > advice an old friend once gave me (he himself was > successfully running a few five-and-dimes): You > don’t have to do anything new. Just open a > business and run it better than your competetors. > > > I think that was a great advice and when you look > around, you will find plenty of evidence that > these are wise words!
This thread looks like one of those commmercials you see on ABC during the week-end: “If you have an invention call 1-800 … … for free inventors kit… and market it before someone else does”
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I never viewed it as a career - just getting > experience. The purpose of working for somebody > else is NOT to make money - it is to build skills > to put to use in the main game - which is making > money for yourself. As soon as the markets pick up > - get out and put the skills to good use to make > money for yourself. That’s right – good call. > you kids kill me - you think working for a bank or > broker or fund manager, ete - ie having a “career” > - is the main game. > The best way to make real money and enjoy yourself > is to run your own show. Over the past boom cycle > employees in the finance game started to make the > same sort of money as business owners, but that > era is gone - just a blip in history. Bankers, > brokers, advisors, fund managers, etc just count > and shuffle around other people’s money. Forget > that - get out and make money for yourself - then > you can hire and fire all the money counters and > shufflers you like. > > I have very little regard for brokers, advisors, > fund managers, bankers, etc - if they were any > good they’d be doing it for themselves not working > for somebody else who is making the real money. > Well, the quoted text above seems to contrast diametrically from the first passage I cited. Why would you assume that people who work for big banks AREN’T good at what they do, or don’t have the potential to be good? There are plenty of people that work as part of a firm that are doing just fine. Likewise, there are people that work in front-office finance that are a couple years out of school that are making in the low- to mid-six figures. You may not think that’s any good, but I think most people would beg to differ. As others have noted, I certainly find people that have developed successful entrepreneurships to be admirable; but to say that people that work for companies (as opposed to themselves) are somehow lacking in motivation, ability or intellect is a pretty broad generalization and one that misses the mark. I guess it’s a typical entrepreneurial thing to say and I respect that you may have more life experience, but I think that advising people on a forum like this (most of whom are probably less than 30 years old) that “you don’t need capital to start with - just skills to get things done and get the right people to work together” is oversimplifying the economic realities of things, don’t you think?
It really is a personal decision and one is not necessarily better than the other. People are just different some work well in an office/bank others on their own and some with a mix of both. I mentor young people from time to time and they need to know the good and bad side of both and then they can make a decision both for were they want to be now and later. I know how I did it. I know how I “think” it should be done. And I know that there are different way to accomplish the same thing.
I have no problem with bankers, brokers & fund managers, etc - we need good people to help on deals, just like we need good accountants, lawyers, engineers, car-washers & waiters. But it ain’t the main game. Life’s too short to work for somebody else - you’re just a name on a whiteboard which somebody in Chicago or Frankfurt or Tokyo can scrub out in a second without even thinking twice about it. Even if you are CEO you aren’t your own boss - you spend your life answering to shareholers, regulators, the exchange, media, directors, and all sorts of other stakeholders (yes I have been there & done that) Sure my comments are short & glib - but nobody wants to read pages of stuff on a forum like this. But the point is that this is not the end of the world - and there’s no such thing as a “career” anymore anyway. To the Aliman: “In your opinion, null&nuller, who have been the “right” people to work with?” - the “right” people come along really by chance. It’s a numbers game - the more people you talk to and deal with the more likely you are to come across people you can get along with to get things done. In my case I have been lucky - over the years I have a core team of 3-4 other guys who I originally met just though friends of friends. 2 or 3 of us get together to put together businesses or deals every few years. We all have very different skills and that’s the key - nobody can do everything. Then around us we have a regular team we use all the time - accounting, audit, legal, tax, corp finance, broking, etc. Again these come from trial & error. One of the great skills that can only be learnt the hard way is to spot the time-wasters quickly. Very few people actually do what they say they’re gonna do - you gotta kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, and all that. So it’s really trial and error but a lot of gut instinct as well. + a fair bit of luck. But after a while you can pick & choose your projects and only do things you really get a buzz out of good luck with it all… cheers
- it would make much more sense to think of yourself as “building a business” rather than “self-employed”. You can’t sell “self-employed”, but you can sell a “business”. If you think small you will always be small. You gotta think big. It’s all in the way you view it.
Interesting. Do you guys go to any website/forum that’s kinda like AF but for entrepeneurs? My problem right now is that I am beginning to feel the effect of running in the “rat race” and my thoughts have dulled along with it. Its kinda hard to keep the entrepreneurial spirit when you + your friends are in this rat race…
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > you kids kill me - you think working for a bank or > broker or fund manager, ete - ie having a “career” > - is the main game. > The best way to make real money and enjoy yourself > is to run your own show. Over the past boom cycle > employees in the finance game started to make the > same sort of money as business owners, but that > era is gone - just a blip in history. Bankers, > brokers, advisors, fund managers, etc just count > and shuffle around other people’s money. Forget > that - get out and make money for yourself - then > you can hire and fire all the money counters and > shufflers you like. > > I have very little regard for brokers, advisors, > fund managers, bankers, etc - if they were any > good they’d be doing it for themselves not working > for somebody else who is making the real money. > > The only times I ever worked for somebody else was > following the early 1990s recession + I started > out in years following the early 1980s recession > (started out at citi). > > I never viewed it as a career - just getting > experience. The purpose of working for somebody > else is NOT to make money - it is to build skills > to put to use in the main game - which is making > money for yourself. As soon as the markets pick up > - get out and put the skills to good use to make > money for yourself. > I made about half my money in property + the other > half in equities. On the equities side it was a > combination of putting together companies (mainly > early stage VC), trading + some lucky > stock-picking. > Now I spend my time split 3 ways - 1) working on > deals (right now I’m working on an e-waste > recycling/precious metals extraction company - > early stage VC - aiming for trade sale or IPO in 4 > years) - 2) fiddling around in the market with > some trades, + 3) running my foundation + helping > a major charity launch a new micro-finance > project > > 5 years ago I was doing completely different > things (property + mining companies) > + in 5 years time who knows what I’ll be doing - > that’s the beauty of it - every day I get up and > say “what do I wanna do today?” > > You only go around once and it could end tomorrow > - so you may as well enjoy yourself - not waste > your life counting and shuffling around somebody > else’s money. > > Best advice is - “get on the other side of that > phone, Buddy boy!” (Bud fox, etc, etc). > No, you don’t need capital to start with - just > skills to get things done and get the right people > to work together. All the other stuff you learn as > you go. > > gotta go - a movie called “Zombie Strippers” is > starting… > cheers + three trillion
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Life’s too short to work for somebody else - > you’re just a name on a whiteboard which somebody > in Chicago or Frankfurt or Tokyo can scrub out in > a second without even thinking twice about it. > Even if you are CEO you aren’t your own boss - you > spend your life answering to shareholers, > regulators, the exchange, media, directors, and > all sorts of other stakeholders (yes I have been > there & done that) This idea that you’re not your own boss because you have to answer to people is slightly contradictory in the sense that this meaning of ‘boss’ you’re implying is not what most people think of when they think of a boss’ duties or directive. Are you trying to imply that someone is their own boss because they answer to no one, that a ‘boss’ should have no responsibilities or accountability? In that vein, are you saying you have no one to answer to? Are you properly relating the size of your network of responsibilities to one of a CEO ‘spending one’s life’ answering to people? It seems as if there is an unfair relation there. Besides, we all know CEO duties are overblown…you think Ken Lewis or Jimmy Cayne ‘spent their lives’ appeasing anyone but themselves? Do you not see it is only what you make of it whether you are ‘corporate’ or not? null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sure my comments are short & glib - but nobody > wants to read pages of stuff on a forum like this. > But the point is that this is not the end of the > world - and there’s no such thing as a “career” > anymore anyway. …well good thing you added this paragraph then, was that for brevity’s sake? You say bankers, lawyers, accountants etc. are not the ‘main game’, which strikes me as pretty narrow minded seeing as how you consider yourself a ‘big picture’ guy. You should probably get back to ‘Zombie Strippers.’
I have often thought of starting something on my own. I was also wondering if I were to quit my job or got fired, I could just start my own company even if it didnt make me a penny, just so the resume doesnt have a break. I dont agree that there is no such thing as a career anymore. Lastly I keep my day job, perks, salary so I can go on vacations, travel, enjoy life etc and not because its something I am obligated to do.
My father has been self-employed for about 20 years now. I’ve watched him go through really good and bad times growing up, but he has always made a lot of sacrifices. The way I look at it is this: if you want work to be a source of wealth so you can enjoy other things, then you probably shouldn’t be working for yourself; if you want work to be the source of your happiness, you are probably the type of person to do your own thing.
I’m probably about to get laid off, and I suspect it’s actually going to happen on Monday. If/when that happens I want to start my own firm. Going to be a bit tough going without income for 6-12 months, but if I can pull it off, I’m pretty optimistic about how it’ll work out.