I think it is sad that we let others steal our freedom and then fall for the illusion that we need to steal others freedom just to get our own freedom back.
>You want wealth because it buys you freedom—so you don’t have to wear a tie like a collar around your neck; so you don’t have to wake up at 7:00 a.m. to rush to work and sit in commute traffic; so you don’t have to waste your life grinding productive hours away into a soulless job that doesn’t fulfill you.
>The purpose of wealth is freedom; it’s nothing more than that. ... It’s about being your own sovereign individual.
Don't want a collar around your neck? Tie collars around other necks!
I think the whole premise of these statements are wrong. If you want to work for money, and go home not bothered with it, then get a job. If you want your whole life ruled by the business, then start a business.
The most hard working people I know have businesses, so starting one in the illusion that it will buy you freedom is very strange. Start a business if you want to start a business, but it will take over your life, not give you "freedom". If you want "freedom" in the weekends and evenings, just get a job.
Some industries including large subsets of the tech industry have become essentially zero-sum games.
It's almost impossible to make money in those industries because they have been monopolized.
If you happen to launch a software service in those industries, you will not be able to get any serious traffic from Google or social media because those platforms favor certain providers over others (e.g. US-based providers). Also you need to be careful of launching in an industry which is about to become monopolized.
So if you're not based in the US or you don't have many personal connections, you shouldn't dream too big; you need to find a niche which isn't going to be gate-kept.
You're insane if you don't launch in the US - even virtually. US is where the money is, US is where the market is, and US is where the only customers that matter are (unless you're selling to defence, gov or niche regional finance).
It makes acquisitions easier, it makes hiring easier, it makes marketing and sales easier and it makes billing easier.
Unless you want to bootstrap until you retire because it's a lifestyle business, then just do it where you are and chill - you are the 0.001%.
> And if you have the guns, you can just take wealth from the trades-folk.
“In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. ‘Do it,’ says the king, ‘for I am your lawful ruler.’ ‘Do it,’ says the priest, ‘for I command you in the name of the gods.’ ‘Do it,’ says the rich man, ‘and all this gold shall be yours.’ So tell me – who lives and who dies?”
It probably depends on the personal values of the sellsword. Maybe the sellsword is a true religious believer. Maybe they are a true patriot. Maybe they are in it for the money.
No, they don't use guns, but if you spend any time watching our closest primate cousins, the chimps, they sure do love their displays of domineering force and tribal violence, with throwing weapons like sticks and rocks even. So yes, the phrase makes perfect sense unless you're completely literal-minded about it.
If wealth is assets that produce income for me without doing anything, then, logically, either someone else is doing work for which I receive some portion of the income, or I am benefitting from inflating asset prices, which make it harder for others to purchase those assets. This is socially unproductive and I have no real interest in it.
I went through many of famous 'sayings'. I found them way too simplistic at best (so much so that they end up being completely useless). He says abstract things like "learn to sell, learn to build, if you can do both, you will be unstoppable". Oh really? Isn't it known to everyone? But how to do that, that is the hard part. I could have just said "learn to be like Steve Jobs, then you will be unstoppable" instead. Correct, but of no value.
Moreover, I very politely found out some logical flaws in some other comments of his on Twitter. I'm a nobody, he's the famous Naval. Just on that small thing he blocked me (no, I didn't use any rude words or bad language etc.)! I found it too shallow for a person of his stature.
> Oh really? Isn't it known to everyone? But how to do that, that is the hard part.
100% agree. The only thing I think is meaningful, and its not specific to gaining wealth, is the part about becoming the person you want to be, about making your own luck. I'm not particularly wealth (yet?), but I think broadly in life, making your own success is something people don't do enough, at every level in life. You're not going to win the lottery without buying a ticket, and planning has better odds than the Powerball.
Specifically, I've noticed some people are always waiting. Waiting for the right moment, waiting for a sign, waiting for enough experience, waiting for an opportunity, waiting for something. For example, I have a good job. People want my job, and ask me how I got it. Yes, I have a good degree, and had prior good jobs, and did well, etc. But people with more experience and better degrees bring up how they wish they could have my job. They could! They're just waiting for one more successful project on their resume, or a less busy time to start interviewing, or a few more academic accolades, or whatever.
Many people I talk to about their career (friends, family etc, I'm not a coach) will tell me the exact steps they think they should take to be successful, and why it's the right steps, but few of them are taking those steps. My cousin is 35yo wants to be an artist, but she struggles to sell her art (understandable struggle, but IMO her art seems particularly monetize-able). I asked her how she might succeed, since she complained she wasn't satisfied, and she immediately listed off a bunch of things she could do (put art on pillows, create art for tourist souvenirs in her city, illustrate for books, etc). BUT she only tried one thing a few years prior, and it didn't work so she stopped while waiting for the right opportunity to try again. Would she succeed? IDK, art is hard to succeed in. But I know she won't succeed without trying again, and she probably shouldn't wait for an unsolicited email from Hallmark or MOMA to give her a big break.
I agree. All the “advice” is describing what the end state looks like. How any one person achieves that end state is a complete mystery, and it’s not clear at all to me that knowing how the end state looks is useful for getting there. In fact, I would say it’s more often a detriment.
Survivorship bias is a hell of a drug. And people really look up to the survivors. Thing is most people can’t tell you they will be wealthy before they are :)
Nassim Taleb has something to say on this. The wealth is in the long tails, the Jobs, Gates, etc. If you take the mean income of all people running businesses, then it's probably less than the average worker.
Just the status game being played by equating status with wealth? This parallels how Nietzsche's slave morality vilifies power, but this vilification is merely how the powerless and weak express their will to power.
Readit News
>You want wealth because it buys you freedom—so you don’t have to wear a tie like a collar around your neck; so you don’t have to wake up at 7:00 a.m. to rush to work and sit in commute traffic; so you don’t have to waste your life grinding productive hours away into a soulless job that doesn’t fulfill you.
>The purpose of wealth is freedom; it’s nothing more than that. ... It’s about being your own sovereign individual.
Don't want a collar around your neck? Tie collars around other necks!
The most hard working people I know have businesses, so starting one in the illusion that it will buy you freedom is very strange. Start a business if you want to start a business, but it will take over your life, not give you "freedom". If you want "freedom" in the weekends and evenings, just get a job.
So if you're not based in the US or you don't have many personal connections, you shouldn't dream too big; you need to find a niche which isn't going to be gate-kept.
It makes acquisitions easier, it makes hiring easier, it makes marketing and sales easier and it makes billing easier.
Unless you want to bootstrap until you retire because it's a lifestyle business, then just do it where you are and chill - you are the 0.001%.
I’d love to hear the rationale behind that.
On a scale of 1 to average Indian person today where would you put him?
Status is nothing but the "bigger guns diplomacy."
Historically, the highest status person has always been the warlord.
Today, the highest status person is arguably also the biggest warlord in the world: the US president.
Wealth on the other hand is made through trade. You can buy a certain amount of status (guns) with that and climb your way up.
But it is always about guns, humans are monkeys after all. And if you have the guns, you can just take wealth from the trades-folk.
“In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. ‘Do it,’ says the king, ‘for I am your lawful ruler.’ ‘Do it,’ says the priest, ‘for I command you in the name of the gods.’ ‘Do it,’ says the rich man, ‘and all this gold shall be yours.’ So tell me – who lives and who dies?”
Killing the rich man is the clear winner here. 10/10 would slay again.
That makes no sense as monkeys don't use guns. I'm not sure if it's a mixed metaphor or what, but I can't figure out what is meant here.
One criticism I have of Naval is he thinks anyone can get wealth.
Overall his material is A+ for anyone with average intelligence.
100% agree. The only thing I think is meaningful, and its not specific to gaining wealth, is the part about becoming the person you want to be, about making your own luck. I'm not particularly wealth (yet?), but I think broadly in life, making your own success is something people don't do enough, at every level in life. You're not going to win the lottery without buying a ticket, and planning has better odds than the Powerball.
Specifically, I've noticed some people are always waiting. Waiting for the right moment, waiting for a sign, waiting for enough experience, waiting for an opportunity, waiting for something. For example, I have a good job. People want my job, and ask me how I got it. Yes, I have a good degree, and had prior good jobs, and did well, etc. But people with more experience and better degrees bring up how they wish they could have my job. They could! They're just waiting for one more successful project on their resume, or a less busy time to start interviewing, or a few more academic accolades, or whatever.
Many people I talk to about their career (friends, family etc, I'm not a coach) will tell me the exact steps they think they should take to be successful, and why it's the right steps, but few of them are taking those steps. My cousin is 35yo wants to be an artist, but she struggles to sell her art (understandable struggle, but IMO her art seems particularly monetize-able). I asked her how she might succeed, since she complained she wasn't satisfied, and she immediately listed off a bunch of things she could do (put art on pillows, create art for tourist souvenirs in her city, illustrate for books, etc). BUT she only tried one thing a few years prior, and it didn't work so she stopped while waiting for the right opportunity to try again. Would she succeed? IDK, art is hard to succeed in. But I know she won't succeed without trying again, and she probably shouldn't wait for an unsolicited email from Hallmark or MOMA to give her a big break.
Deleted Comment