Guerrilla Billionaire™

The Eccentric Billionaire: John D. MacArthur -- Empire Builder, Reluctant Philanthropist, Relentless Adversary

The Eccentric Billionaire: John D. MacArthur -- Empire Builder, Reluctant Philanthropist, Relentless Adversary by Nancy Kriplen

He was hated, feared, and admired. The country’s second-richest man at the time of his death, John D. MacArthur (1897-1978) also became one of its great benefactors. Every year, some two dozen American writers, artists, intellectuals, and scientists receive as much as a half million dollars in grants knownas the "genius awards" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. But MacArthur was not the benevolent figure you might expect. Stingier than J. Paul Getty, as money-obsessed as Howard Hughes, and as ruthless as Cornelius Vanderbilt, MacArthur was one of the most multi-layered men in business history. Now, in this first full biography of John D. MacArthur as he really was, Nancy Kriplen reveals the man behind the myth -- the often vulgar, sometimes unethical, always ambitious rogue who would become one of America’s wealthiest men.

The Eccentric Billionaire chronicles how MacArthur amassed his fortune, rising from a poverty-saturated childhood as the son of a fire-and-brimstone preacher to become an insurance and real estate mogul. As sole owner of Bankers Life and Casualty, he also built a real estate empire that spanned the continent. Based on interviews with members of the MacArthur family as well as previously undiscovered letters and papers, this book reveals MacArthur’s tumultuous private life, including his quickie divorce from his first wife and his Mexican marriage to Catherine, his brother’s cute, clever teenage secretary who would help him on his climb to riches. The author also explores MacArthur’s relationships with his family and friends, including his brother, the playwright Charles MacArthur, and sister-in-law, the great actress Helen Hayes.

Extensively researched and beautifully written, The Eccentric Billionaire is a revealing look at a man whose influence has extended in ways he never dreamed. (B&N Synopsis)

Get more info on The Eccentric Billionaire.

How Big Business Really Works

Calvin & Hobbes explain how big business, especially Wall Street and the automotive industry, really works.

Click here to see it in a readable size.

Depression Proof Business Ideas: Industry trends in recessions

McKinsey's Industry trends in recessions

If you're looking to start up a business next year, it pays to know what people spend their money on during a recession (or depression) as well as what they will reduce household expenditures on. The McKinsey Quarterly just published a graph which answers these two questions.

(Click to embiggen)

You can find the article at Industry trends in recessions.

One of the big takeaways for me here is that world doesn't need another Facebook/Myspace clone.

How to Be a Billionaire: The 8 Personality-based Strategies

A huge part of business success is doing what you truly are good at and therefore enjoy.  If you hate your work, it's highly unlikely that you will ever succeed.

Hopefully you have all taken the Myers-Briggs personality test by now as it's important to work with your strengths instead of going against them.

For the past twelve years or so, I enthusiastically referred hundreds of people to take the free online versions of the Myers-Briggs Personality Profile test. M-B provides a highly accurate profile of your personality including your strengths, weaknesses, and temperament. Everyone who has ever taken the test has come back to me to exclaim how accurate it is. My only criticism of it has been that it’s designed from the viewpoint of employers to help them better understand their employees. In other words, it doesn’t provide any clear cut information to entrepreneurs on how to build their businesses and make money.

Now all that’s changed.

I Ching Ka-Ching Ka-Ching! 

“If you want to find your vision, follow your passion. The less your work feels like work, the closer you are getting.” - Roger Hamilton

 

The M-B is based on Carl Jung’s work with the ancient Chinese book the I Ching or “Book of Changes”. The original draft appeared approximately around 2800 B.C.E.  Jung published the first western translation of the I Ching (translated by his friend Richard Wilhelm in 1919) and then went on to write a book called Psychological Types which became the basis for Myer-Briggs and other profiling systems.

Recently a man by the name of Roger Hamilton returned to the I Ching in order to devise a personality profiling system for entrepreneurs and money making. As opposed to the 16 personality type M-B profile, Hamilton's only has eight. You can find out more about the Wealth Dynamics system for identifying your money making profile and optimum strategy at his site.

Each of the following eight wealth profiles create value and leverage in unique combinations :

CREATOR – creates wealth from products
Examples include Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Walt Disney

STAR – creates wealth from personal brand
Examples include Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Michael Schumacher

SUPPORTER – creates wealth through leadership
Examples include Jack Welch, Steve Balmer, Steve Case

DEAL MAKER – creates wealth through deals
Examples include Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, Li Ka Shing

TRADER – creates wealth through trading
Examples include George Soros, Kirk Kerkorian

ACCUMULATOR – creates wealth from appreciation
Examples include Warren Buffet, Paul Allen

THE LORD – creates wealth from cashflows
Examples include John D Rockefeller, John Paul Getty

THE MECHANIC – creates wealth with systems
Examples include Sam Walton, Ray Krok, Jeff Bezos

While the system is still complex, it resonated with me because I have learned the hard way over the years not to try to engage in activities which go against my personality type. Instead I need to go with my strengths and build a team with complimentary ones. Big success is always a team effort. Look at any billionaire and you will see a team of millionaires surrounding him. In some cases, the team will include a few billionaires as well. Think Google and Microsoft. So, the trick to success is to focus on your strengths and passions while others with complimentary skills cover your weaknesses.

Yes, the online test is rather pricey so a good place to start is with the Your Life, Your Legacy ebook sold at their site.

Here's a video on the system:  Wealth Profiling Video

Consider the above for entertainment purposes only.

However, intuitively speaking, there appears to be something to it, especially for team building purposes.

Enjoy.

Learn How to Buy a Business or Businesses

 Learn How to Buy a Business or Businesses

1) Free newsletter on how to buy a business without being taken to the cleaners. Sign up by sending an email to this address and then confirming your subscription. Sign me up please!

2) If you want information on the Billionaire Strategies course on buying businesses, just send a blank email here to subscribe. You will begin receiving details immediately.

*WARNING: If you don't click on the link in the confirmation email, you won't receive any information.

Predictions for 2009: The vital Trends, Risks, and Red Herrings you must know

Just stumbled across an interesting new use of mind maps for predicting trends.

I'll quote Ross Dawson here who is one of the principals in the company creating these:

To pick out just a few noteworthy elements of the trend map:

CORE THEMES include:
Uncertainy
Ageing
Global Connectivity
Anxiety
Power Shift Eastwards

SUBJECT THEMES include:
SOCIETY: Search for control, enoughism
TECHNOLOGY: Simplicity, Telepresence, Gesture based computing
ECONOMY: De-leveraging, 2-speed economies, Shorter product lifecycles
ENVIRONMENT: Bio fuel backlash, Negawatts, Nuclear power
POLITICS: Virtual protests, Globalisation in retreat, Immigration backlash
BUSINESS: Networked risk, Transparency, Asset price uncertainty
FAMILY: Debt stress, Allowable luxuries, Middle class unrest
MEDIA: Flight to quality, Facebook fatigue, Skimming, Micro boredom

POSSIBLE RED HERRINGS include:
Climate change crisis
Fall of US Empire
Nuclear power
Device convergence

GLOBAL RISKS include:
Major Internet failure
Influenza pandemic
Major earthquake in economic centre
Obesity
Electricity shortages
People taking trend maps too seriously

To view the above mind map in full size, open up this pdf Trend Blend 2009: A map of Time and Tide

You can find more of these at Future Exploration Network.

This is definitely of interest to anyone looking for the billion dollar opportunity.

The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class

Dr. Elizabeth Warren of Harvard uses statistical data to compare families from 30 years ago to today's. Back then they had it far better off even though there was only one income earner in the vast majority of instances. My initial plan was to summarize the key points for you but there turned out to be just too many of them. Start watching at 4:45 and go for ten minutes. You won't be able to stop at that point. The talk's title is most definitely not hyperbole.

While the picture is grim it will provide you with an explanation of why you and your family are under such financial pressure. Recognizing and understanding the root causes of a problem is half the battle.

Bailouts & Economic Meltdowns Bring You the Credit Crunch Game

The board game Monopoly was patented in the midst of the Great Depression. Now we have a new board game for our very own depression: The Credit Crunch Game. Thanks to the folks at the Economist for this.

How it works

Players start with 500m econos each. One player doubles as banker.

Players move round by throwing four coins and progressing as many squares as they throw heads. If a player throws four heads, he moves forward four spaces and has another turn; if he throws four tails, he throws again. When a player lands on a + square, he collects money from the bank; equally, when he lands on a minus square, he pays the bank.

The aim is to be the last solvent player. In order to achieve this, players try to eliminate the competition. Risk cards encourage players to pick on each other.

Players who cannot pay their fines may borrow from each other at any rate they care to settle on—for instance, 100% interest within three turns. They should negotiate with the other players to get the best rate possible. Players who cannot borrow must either go into Chapter 11 or be taken over.

Players may conceal their assets from each other.

These rules remind me of the way my friends and I played it long ago. If you ran out of cash, you could "issue a bond" by first finding a buyer amongst the players and then writing down on the back of a business card the bond's face value, interest rate, and number of turns before the holder had to be paid back. Occasionally someone would dig a deep hole for themselves and then use bond issues for a spectacular comeback. It made the game even more fun.

Thanks to Paul Kedrosky for the heads up on this one.

How to Depression Proof Your Business

Venture capitalist John Doerr gives ten tips on how you can--hopefully--avoid the "econalypse." The video make take a minute to load.

His ten points are:

1. Act now, act with speed.

2. Protect the vital core of the business. Use a scalpel to make strategic cuts.

3. Get 18 months or more of cash (runway) in the business against a conservative forecast.

4. Defer all facilities expansions, capital expenditures. Use Google Apps. Reprioritize & rerationalize all R&D. Defer.

5. Negotiate. Everything is negotiable in this climate.

6. Everybody should be selling. Selling is an honorable profession. Everyone from the receptionist to engineers is selling. Not just about expenses, about increasing revenue.

7. Offer equity instead of cash. Voluntary salary reduction program.

8. Pay attention to where your cash is. All cash in most secure possible instruments.

9. Make sure for planned revenues you have "leading indicators" to know if you will hit it.

10. Over-communicate with employees, investors, customers. Don't sugar coat.

How to Become a Billionaire: Do You Have What it Takes?

This piece was inspired by an email I received a few days ago from a very successful 16 year old entrepreneur.
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Do you have what it takes to become a millionaire or billionaire?

Back in 2003 the BBC aired a 4-part series titled "Mind of a Millionaire".

Five of Britain’s top self-made multi-millionaires are stripped of the trappings of wealth, and mixed in with a group of ordinary people. They then undergo a series of probing tests designed to reveal what they are really like and what motivates them. Can the psychologists find the ruthless qualities they think you need to make a million, and can you?

The number of self-made millionaires in Britain is on the increase. Using a specially commissioned survey of British millionaires, this series explores the lives of some of the most remarkable of this new breed of millionaire - from the boy who made his first million when he was 14, to a man who spotted the potential in mobile phones. Educational qualifications are not necessary, nor do you need to be able to get on with people, but a bit of ruthless arrogance helps.

I'm not sure how people outside of the UK can see these programs. However, there are two online tests you can take to find out your millionaire potential.

What is your millionaire potential?

Can you work your way to success?

These types of tests always bring up a memory from back in college. A group of students were discussing one of those "Do You Have What it Takes to Be an Entrepreneur" tests in a magazine, and a bona fide entrepreneur who happened to be walking past them smiled and said, "If you need to take a test to see if you're an entrepreneur, you're not." 

I couldn't agree more and here's a story from my course that illustrates why:

There’s a similar story about how director Steven Spielberg got his start in the film business. After being accepted at Universal Studios for a short term internship back in the late 1960s, he decided that he loved the business so much that he had to stay permanently. Shortly after making this fateful decision, he found an old trailer which had once been used as an office but now sat abandoned in a back corner of the Universal lot. Spielberg cleaned it up, laid claim to it as his office, and started showing up every morning for work in a suit and tie and briefcase in his hand. The security guards at the gate recognized him from his intern days and assumed that he had been given a paid position with the studio. Spielberg used this opportunity to make the connections which allowed him to start making his initial short films such as Amblin’ which attracted the backing of the studio head. Spielberg became the youngest director to ever sign a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio.

What a powerful illustration of a man with a calling. I doubt that Spielberg would have taken tests such as "Do You Have What it Takes to Be a Spectacularly Successful Hollywood Mogul?", even if they had existed. He just knew that there was only one path in life for him to follow. Basically, he had no choice in the matter.

So your takeaway for today is this: entrepreneurship is a calling. Either you just know that you have to pursue it, or it's not really your vocation. Or to paraphrase one of the greatest lines in cinema history:

I Don't Need No Steenkin' Tests!!! *

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One more important point if you're planning on being a regular reader of mine. Do not make being a billionaire your goal in life. That's an empty goal devoid of genuine motivating power. Moreover, your subconscious mind will refuse to take it seriously. Indeed it will dismiss it as an unrealistic pipe dream. Instead your goal should be to both learn their business strategies and implement them. It's about playing the game and playing it to the best of your abilities.

So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a 17 year old would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. - F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

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* Note to Self: Please Learn How to Use Photoshop.

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