Where I have been this time... and why I'm famous at Wells Fargo

[Kak]

Wtf!?

Yeah that is what I thought. They had a very professional website. They had a number of different salespeople. I ran their business license with the Chinese government and they were new, but clean. The sample was good. They accepted a secure form of payment. They looked like the real deal and I was fooled. I didn't think I needed to look harder at them. Although I have a different way of doing things now.

Within 10 minutes I contacted my customer with the bad news. I always do business above board with the most honesty I can possibly share in order to build the most solid foundations I can. As you would expect this looked bad. I looked like shit. I basically sent 100 grand of his money to a scam.

I was livid. On that day, given the opportunity I would have been willing to murder those pieces of shit. I called wells fargo about the protections offered by a letter of credit. They said they MUST transfer the actual funds against a bill of lading... More bad news. They have "no say" in whether the transfer is facilitated. So adding this up in my head... These scammers had a plan to be able to transfer the money even though it was supposedly a secure LOC. I called around to people I know who work out of China and they said it was becoming a common thing to fraudulently accept letters of credit because they have paid off ship captains that will create fraudulent bills of lading for them and allowing them to transfer.

For all intents and purposes I was screwed. Not only did my deal fall through, but I was going to lose my customer 100 grand, probably get sued, and proceed to lose 150k of my own money in the lawsuit. I thought the blood, sweat and tears were bad until then and I would have given anything to go back there and take a different turn that would have led me to a different supplier.

I almost took Wells Fargo at their word. The money was basically sitting in escrow just waiting to be dispatched to the scammers whenever they submitted the proper documents. I almost decided to hope and pray that the bill of lading would get flagged, and then that my customer wouldn't sue me if it did. I was in for a rough month of a waiting game. Then I had a discussion with @Vigilante. He said something along the lines of "the hell they have to transfer the money", and "make it known that you aren't going to go away."

I took his advice... for 2 weeks I beat them up. Calling them and sending them email after email. I got to the board of directors. I was the most annoying to any one organization I have ever been in my life. The total tally was over 500 emails. Probably 100 that said I was going to sue them and that they are complicit in the fraud if they transfer the money. That they knew in advance of a fraudulent transaction and did nothing. Their internal communications system sucks by the way, you can never get the same person on the phone twice. They told me time after time that there was not a thing they could do. Then a lady called me. She said "I think I can help you", for the first time a bit of hope. She said "we can't cancel the LOC but we can make it expire sooner" I asked how much sooner because we definitely had already given them plenty of time with our money exposed. She said 2 days to process an amendment. I said lets do it.

Meanwhile I wasn't giving up beating on the board at WF over and over I asked for a cancellation. 2 days was all it really took for them to run off with the money anyway. Over and over they said they cant. I sent emails to the CEO, CFO, internal counsel, COO. Every single officer each of them probably got 60 emails. Finally it was confirmed that the LOC had expired. I had dodged a bullet, but I still had the Chinese police looking for them and assisted in an investigation with a Russian guy that was actually defrauded. I should follow up with the police to see if anything came of it. Hopefully they are all behind bars or dealt with.

I told my customer he could call and get the money out of the LOC. When he called and said which transaction they kissed his a$$ up and down the place. "Oh you were the applicant on KAKs LOC? We know exactly who that is, lets get you your money". He later called me and asked me what the hell happened and I told him this story. He said he has never worked with a supplier that has gone so above and beyond to protect his interests in his life and has since given me the opportunity to not only sell this same product to him again, but has asked me to source most of his raw materials. Yeah a big 180. Thanks to @Vigilante kicking my a$$ a bit.

Me and my team talk about two things in this business "irons in fire" and "balls in courts". A good iron in the fire turns into a ball in court. When its no longer up to you and you are waiting on a yes or no that is a ball in court... I have 2 currently, with the same customer I worked with in this story.

One is a synthetic lab made version of that initial Chinese good. It solves ALL of the problems I had with the natural product. Like supply ability, quality, consistency, and outrageous price. It is also made by a company I visited in person, in Texas. It will probably take over an entire market with a private label brand of the good that I own. Finally some light at the end of the tunnel for that product.

The other product I am sourcing for him is made by a friend's company in Shanghai. The factory is the size of the town I live in. They are legit. My customer has considered 2000 tons (which is like 90 containers full) per month of this material and I'm waiting to hear back on that as well. If one of these balls in courts turns into a deal, and I have no indication why it wouldn't, it will be a 2 year "overnight success story".

The point I'm trying to make here is that if I had given the finger to this project at ANY point along this journey I wouldn't be here looking at a far more lucrative deal than I ever thought possible. Hard times can be a blessing in disguise. Clearly a much closer relationship with my customer than I would have had. I have earned respect. Also don't let anyone tell you they cant do something, they may be right, but someone can. Remember no one gives a shit about you.

 

[Kak]

Hey guys, I have been extremely busy the last several months. As usual. Sorry that's such a pattern. It has definitely been an incredible learning experience. I know @Vigilante is privy to some of the details of this time away... I decided it would be a huge shame not to use what I have learned to help some of you. I also plan to do what I can to stick with this although the companies suck up a major portion of my time.

First of all, I got married back in April to a wonderful woman and I am thrilled I got her. She is amazing, I love her very much and I am extremely happy I married her. So to those of you who think you can't have a successful business and a wife or family are wrong, you just have to be deliberate and make sure you create systems that allow you to spend time away from the business. Its worth it. No judging here, just don't let entrepreneurship stop you from pursuing a rewarding relationship if it is something you are interested in.

Now on to the business stuff... I am convinced that we all will be humbled at some point. The fortunate part is it is probably one of the largest stepping stones to the success there is. I can't believe the shaky foundations I have tried to build on in the past viewing from where I stand now. I have gone through so many times in my life where I felt like I couldn't lose. Like I had the world by the balls. Sometimes you need the world to kick your a$$ to realize something better might be out there.

The following few stories I'm going to share show how being diligent in hard times is so important. I will start with part of the first story on this post.

Ok. I have been attempting to source raw materials for very large companies. Companies you would know. This had initially been a project I took on for fun because I saw some opportunity. I eventually found demand for something huge and went after it. It took over a year to find this particular product. I worked and worked. Through supplier after supplier. Country after country. I must have had the same discussion with 1000 different potential suppliers. I have spent thousands of dollars on samples that didn't pan out. Plane tickets to meetings that didn't pan out. Shit wasn't going right. I wanted to quit because this sourcing crap didn't even matter, I was making money elsewhere, but I decided a long time ago that if "its too hard" is my reason I will not quit. I refuse to be a pussy.

Finally, after all of that blood, sweat and tears, I found the material in China, at a price where I could make an ongoing mid six figures per month. I thought the blood sweat and tears were over. This was by far the biggest kind of deal I had ever done. It was amazing and exciting. I sailed through the process of sending samples and supporting documents to potential customers. Doing my best to look like a way bigger company than I am. Finally, One bit. Hard. Within about a month I had money being put into a letter of credit for the first of what would be 6-10 similar transactions per month. It was there. Way more income than I have ever had in my life was sitting in limbo. It was a side project about to blow past my other businesses. It was sitting there ready for me to transfer just a fraction out to my supplier. That fraction happened to be about 100k by the way. The remaining chunk would be mine when the LOC cleared.

Wells Fargo made the transfer a pain, every step of the way they would need some other bs for me to create. I ended up on my honeymoon during this deal because it took a few weeks to get this done. My wife, being the awesome girl she is, was supportive and found it hilarious when I needed to get a document notarized in Cabo. We went to like 7 places before one just took 20 bucks to stamp my document. Finally I was in compliance with all of the regulatory crap. Honestly it probably wasn't because the Mexican notary may have just been some guy with a stamp.

Whatever, now I can relax and look at million dollar vacation homes and have fun on my honeymoon because big money is on the way. Back at home I got confirmation from Wells that the transfer was a success and the credit was now offered to my supplier. I was excited to tell them that evening, but evidently they already knew. The supplier we had been in discussions with for months, who supplied a rock solid sample was completely unreachable. Their website gone. Phones disconnected. Email bouncing. Son of a bitch...

I will continue this later, I'm going to sleep.

 

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[amp0193]

I've already got a wife, 2 kids, and a mortgage to worry about.

I started my current business the week my daughter was born. I was skyping suppliers at 3am with a sleeping newborn on my elbow.

15 months later I quit my job and took my wife and 1.5 year old daughter exploring cities in Sweden while my business print money.

This afternoon, me and my 2-year old are taking a tour of the fire station, while everyone else is at their day job... because I F*cking can.


Don't make excuses.

 

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[Kak]

Kudos and mad props to you @Kak. Different league for sure. I'm sure you started somewhere but I don't have the guts or the balls to do most of that. I've already got a wife, 2 kids, and a mortgage to worry about. I'll post in 1 year and see if I'm still in business. I was even nervous just setting up an Alibaba account thinking I was getting screwed, let alone contacting a Chinese supplier. Luckily the one I found replied in excellent English and I have a basic knowledge of the language and culture.

Anyway peace and rep to you man. And enjoy time with your wife before children take away your free time even if you don't need it to build a business.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk

Ok @ExcelGuy know you have taken a lot of punches already, but I agree with Vig and MJ. While I appreciate your appreciation for my post, if you were the only person I unpacked this story for I would honestly be pissed off that I even wasted my time. You clearly didn't get the point. Im not some fast and loose hotshot jackass on the verge of financial collapse. I have a mortgage, I had a car payment until recently, I put money away, I have a wife and Im going to have kids. The point was that I worked my a$$ off until I got the results I was looking for.

I don't believe in "thinking positive will make you succeed" and that isn't what any of us are saying. I do believe that people with an internal locus of control are far better suited to being entrepreneurs. Your locus of control is external. You have already taken the cards that life has given you and formed a box around what you think you can and can't do based on that (these people are also often democrats)... Someone with the internal locus of control knows they are the dealer and that they can run their own lives.

Work with what you have. Take responsibility for your own income. You owe it to your children to teach them this principle and you own it to your family as a whole to do everything you can.

 

[Vigilante]

I'll post in 1 year and see if I'm still in business.

Let's be frank. You won't be. Success requires wanting to work this out no matter the obstacles. You've already got your tail between your legs and you're not even out of the starting gate yet. I'd be willing to place a side bet wager on this right now, just based on your post.

Read my post about how someone ends up at 40-something left for dead. That's the life you think you are predestined to. Did you read the Millionaire Fast Lane?

I reject every single word of your post, other than your thanks to the OP.

I have a young kid and all the free time the world has to offer. You're resigned to a lesser fate.

What are you doing here? PULL YOURSELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS AND GET YOUR MIND FOCUSED ON WINNING, NOT LOSING.

You owe it to your wife, your two kids, and your legacy.

 

[Kak]

Thanks to everyone for continuing to follow my thread. I will continue to post updates as clearly y'all feel it provides a good value to you.

Lets continue about making lemonade out of nothing...

I like win win deals. They are really the foundation of capitalism. A voluntary exchange in which both parties feel they traded up. If you like a burger more than your $5, and Whataburger likes your $5 more than the burger they sell you, you took part in a capitalistic win-win exchange. I take this a step farther. Unless you have this win-win nature to whatever deal you are getting involved in, it will not last. When one party is doing a favor for another, arrangements like that are not built for the long haul.

Employees can also be an example of this sort of deal. Win for them because they get to trade their time for a value they agree is a worthwhile amount and you get to trade money for what you consider is a worthwhile resource.

Three weeks ago my lobbyist brought to my attention that a very well connected figure in the area just lost election and was looking for work. Not only could he pick apart the local bureaucracy better than just about anyone I could think of, he was hungry for some consulting work. Heck yes. Set up the meeting.

We all sit down for the meeting and he is super interested in working for us and wants me to "send him a proposal". Well, at the same time, I really don't want to pay top dollar for yet another resource. This guy wasn't going to take some commission deal either. This crap is getting expensive, and I am enjoying banking some of this at this point. Another 10 grand per month sounds sucky, but he is a good bet.

Throughout the meeting the guy was bringing up an use for our technology that no one had ever thought of. He kept driving home how big of an opportunity it would be in this role and how he could sell it in this role in his sleep. My partner and I were rolling our eyes at this crap because everyone has something to say about their big ideas, but they want you to carry it out.

After the meeting my partner and I had a few cups of coffee and discussed the strategy that this potential new hire came up with. We loved it, but the thought of paying another consultant had us weighing whether we wanted to focus efforts locally or not.

Then I had the idea I call turning nothing into lemonade. The deployment idea that he had. He was super excited about it. He kept going on and on about how great of an idea it was for this specific role. I said, why don't we feed his ego and multiply our winnings here. I decided to form an entirely new company. One which took that new idea he loved so much and made it its own company. Remember, we weren't even going to attempt this 4 hours earlier. We had never even heard of this use, but it did look like an opportunity.

We proceeded to draft our proposal giving him a 20% stake in the new company in exchange for representing our interests across the board. We would provide the operations aspect for the new company. Sliding this over to him this morning about made his jaw hit the floor. I said, we think you would be a valuable addition to the team and this was the best way we could come up with to make you rich. This is a nice chunk of stock that will pay distributions, and be a great retirement when we liquidate. He agreed and said where do I sign?

This is a glowing example of creating something out of nothing. I pay exactly nothing for this. Not only did we retain the help of this resource, we made him extremely happy. I also took home 80% of the stock in an entirely new company, one that we have a built in salesman and already built out operations.

Win-Win

 

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[Vigilante]

I wish these people could read your 11:30PM text messages. They're the reason we're friends. They entertain me.

The last one I received?

"winning. it never gets old"

along with a photo of a legal battle he just won without ever having to spend a dollar.

HE JUST WON A LEGAL BATTLE WITH ONE WELL WORDED EMAIL.

And his adversary is sending him a check.

And he expected his adversary to send him a check.

================================================================================================

I am convinced that winning is a state of mind. See, KAK lost his Dad at a young age. He doesn't have anyone to hold his hand, to answer his questions, or to stick a boot to his a$$. He's had to figure it out for the most part on his own. He walks into every single deal expecting to win. He walks into every single deal expecting to profit. He walks into every single deal bigger than life. Those of you who haven't met him might not realize he's under 30 years old. He inherited some money, but refuses to touch it. Don't ask him to invest in you, because he invests in HIM. Everything he "has" he made. He made it the old fashioned way, by scrapping for it.

KAK BTW your answer to MJ is nonsensical. It didn't answer the question. Is it a product? A service? Is he repping your existing product?

He has a passive income business he created that throws off six figures annually to pay his living expenses and he works about 10 minutes a week on it. He has another trading company that does six figure deals (monthly?). He has a third development project that he's been working on for years now. He's courted by local politicians, and his family is a huge donor to philanthropic organizations.

You wouldn't be impressed with his car, or his house. And... he doesn't give a F*ck. He doesn't live to impress you.

He started his passive income business with a few thousand dollars. He reinvested the profit in the business, creating a snowball effect. You could do the same thing. If you can't come up with a few thousand dollars in the next several months, then you are wasting your time on this forum. You can start with zero and get a few thousand dollars saved up through hustling over the next few months.

KAK expects to win. He lives below (well below) his means. He lives his life in the fast lane from an attitude standpoint, and the world rewards him because the world likes to associate with winning. Life has given him some shitty hands, but he stayed at the table anyway and he's walking away winning.

My wish for his readers is that they grab onto his EXPECTATIONS. He wins because he expects to win. He wins the little things, the medium sized things, and the F*cking hard things. He wins the hard things because he works harder, smarter, and with more tenacity than anyone else does.

And at the end of the day, I have told him... that his Dad would be proud of him. And he is here leaving the occasional bread crumb trail for those of you smart enough to invest in understanding through the stories he has told how you can adopt the mindset of winning.

 

[Kak]

Ok new story and honestly, I simply enjoyed the journey on this one.

Over the last 6 months my wife and I have been looking to move out of my rental home and to buy something a bit more permanent, bigger and nicer.

We picked a neighborhood we liked. A beautiful gated neighborhood on the lake with a great country club because I am a golfer and want our kids to grow up enjoying the game too. Yeah it was a little expensive in there, but whatever, we started looking at homes closer to our price range.

Home after home sucked. Usually small, or crummy. Since we both work from home we will chew up two bedrooms for workspace. We are literally a couple with no children but need 4 bedrooms just to have a place for guests.

Anyway back in May we finially found a home we loved close enough to our price range to make an offer. 20 percent below asking right out of the gate with little room to accept a counter. They said screw off.

We continued the home search saw a few more and largely just took it easy. Then June came along. Their realtor reached out and asked if we were still interested in the property. I said we were, but now I want another 10 percent off of my offer. They said screw off.

At this point we were discouraged, but indifferent. We live in a great home in a great town and have a great lease. So we will look next year.

Yesterday, we got a call from our realtor. They want to see if we were still interested in buying at our last offer... I said Im interested but now I want 10 percent off of that offer. But that isn't all. I will not accept a counter and I'll never negotiate again. Its been several months of screwing around and I am done.

Within 4 hours I had the home under contract. An absolutely ridiculous amount under the original listing. Patience was important and I think being willing to ride it out was important. This is like a card game, getting emotinal about it would have ruined what became an amazing deal.

Work in numbers. Be patient and sometimes you can scrape out something way beyond what you could have expected. This home is well within our budget. We are able to pay it off now if we decide to.

Anyway, I had fun with it. Negotiate hard all they can do is say no.

 

[Vigilante]

I think MJ already asked my TOP 5 questions

Now, you would think that these big companies would have the man power to figure out how to buy these products from the manufacture, but apparently that's not the case. Besides finding are good quality product is your only other job is to get the product from manufacture to client?

Being a Raw Materials distributor seems to be a zero fluff type of business. Is it fair to say that the barrier of entry is to have the capital to buy all those samples and also the knowledge that there is raw materials to be sold?

The barriers to entry for this business are numerous. It's fair for me to say, knowing all the details, that he could post the exact materials and process and yet only large companies could do what he does... and even then they're turning to him to do it as he does it better and cheaper than they do. This business combines wholesale, chemistry, international business, logistics/transportation en masse, dealing with regulatory agencies in multiple countries, and other true trade secrets. It's not easy to break down like :

So to manufacture jeans all I need is raw materials, a factory, and a design? Oh and a national retailer to sell them?

Companies IN this business, USING this material, can't do what he has done. He's not an intermediary - don't get an oversimplified impression. He's changed an entire market on a global basis.

is your only other job is to get the product from manufacture to client?

There's not much of a need to really dissect the business model any more, as in part it's irrelevant to the story, and in part because it's not replicatable or immitateable in any other sector that I am aware of. He didn't post this to talk about his commodity or his process. He posted it because of the cycle of overcoming obstacles.

Focus on the substance of the story, not the specifics of the product. For purposes of his message, the product doesn't matter. If you can put curiosity about the product aside, every single person here can learn from the story of tenacity and removing barriers.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Kudos and mad props to you @Kak. Different league for sure. I'm sure you started somewhere but I don't have the guts or the balls to do most of that. I've already got a wife, 2 kids, and a mortgage to worry about. I'll post in 1 year and see if I'm still in business. I was even nervous just setting up an Alibaba account thinking I was getting screwed, let alone contacting a Chinese supplier. Luckily the one I found replied in excellent English and I have a basic knowledge of the language and culture.

Anyway peace and rep to you man. And enjoy time with your wife before children take away your free time even if you don't need it to build a business.

Sounds like you have your lifetime excuse locked-in.

But I guess I understand; a married man with kids and a mortgage has never successfully started a business in all of recorded history.

 

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[Kak]

My results 10Xed once i started focusing on the mindset, you just start seeing bigger opportunities. Not everyone are similar.

Care to share what the results you mentioned were?

I still believe that this spending time thinking about how you think crap is just nonsense. It is the definition of mental masturbation. That crap also has a way of making you think you are somehow being a gogetter.

The reality, and the big pill to swallow is that no one but you will start a business for you. No one is going to do this for you. No one is going to hold your hand and tell you how. No feel good Tony Robbins crap is going to make the business flow out of you. You won't get to your 65th self help book and somehow turn the last page to a successful business. Napolean Hill doesn't give a shit about you and neither does Jim Rohn.

Start a business... Hit it hard... Don't take no for an answer... Don't let failure be an option... and fricking WIN. Go out there and WIN.

-or-

You could just go walk on hot coals with a bunch of losers twice a year.

I know where I'll be when Tony Robbins and his hot coals come to town... In my office working, because while all of these idiots are chilling with Tony, pondering their mindsets, the winners are out winning.

 

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[Hong King Kong]

@Kak awesome story, glad to hear you're still hustling like a mad man. But I'm not surprised...

Because let me tell you guys a story about @Kak that has always stuck with me.

Not long after I joined this forum 4 years ago @Kak came through to Hong Kong and I got to meet him in person. We went to trade shows and did normal touristy stuff, then one day when overlooking the Hong Kong skyline we saw some helicopters flying in and out.

He said something along the lines, with a smile and zero doubt in his eyes,

"They make those for a reason you know? It's made for people like us! Just imagine flying like that from one meeting to another"

It blew my mind at the time, because I was such a rookie and had so many mental barriers about success. Not to mention he was so much younger than me, it was crazy motivating.

It all makes sense now, you NEED to think BIG to achieve major success. And with his mindset, I have no doubt he can become a billionaire if he wants.

 

[Kak]

I want to start my revisit of this thread with a new (sort of) intro. I want to make it very clear that I’m going to continue to be real.

This is not going to be an idealistic Facebook style thread. I don’t care about impressing people. I don’t care about looking cool to the forum. Nothing I post should be viewed as bragging. I’m not here for anyone’s amusement. I’m here to share my experiences, what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, what worked and what didn’t.

This is a learning thread. I’m learning and I’m posting it so you can learn from me. I’m happy for other people to make big money. I’m not here to measure dicks and compete with others on this forum. I sincerely hope you blow my doors off and I’ll be the first to cheer you on.

I recently finished Warren Buffett’s Snowball. Some of you may know I’m not a fan of his politics, but I respect his business acumen. My brother and I only exchange books for gifts now because we both value wisdom over junk and it happened to show up on Christmas.

In the book he mentions internal vs external scorecard. The concept is GOLD. They mostly run inverse to each other. If you are racking up points for the world to see, it lifts your external scorecard, but costs you money, hard work and sanity. We all know people who feel the need to prove everything to everyone. Internal scorecard in comparison, is what really matters, net worth, family, true happiness in the journey, wisdom. This to say the farther I get into business life, the bigger cheap a$$ I become. I’m an internal scorecard kind of guy.

You’re not going to be impressed with my vehicle. It’s a Chevy if you were wondering.

You won’t be impressed with my wife’s car. It’s also a Chevy if you were wondering.

You’re not going to be impressed with my house. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a 4 bedroom home in an upscale neighborhood. It still has shitty wallpaper in some rooms and the landscaping is horrendous.

I bought my last suit from Indochino for 400 bucks.

I wear a citizen watch.

I play golf at a Clubcorp club. Pretty much mainstream.

I have a 6 year old computer I still have no plans to replace yet. It works well enough to send emails and type crap which is all I use it for.

I have a 1080 TV which is ancient now and no cable subscription.

Don’t get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with having nice things... One of my biggest goals is a jet (and a business that would soak up the opportunity it affords). However, I see sidewalking of epic proportions from some very high income people I am surrounded by. External scorecard types. Everything is about proof for them. It is hopping from one thing to the next hoping to fill a void. This kind of behavior is pathetic to me so I don’t partake.

What I do partake in is business. I try to play at the highest possible level with every single decision. I try to amass ridiculous business knowledge every single day. I don’t go for millions. I go for hundreds of millions or billions because when an idea is in infancy the only difference in potential is the size of the plan.

The plan and the hard work are the easy parts. I will not be leaving out the hard parts (they do exist, contrary to what the external scorecard people would have you believe). Why share these? Because the challenges make you stronger and smarter than a someone who hasn’t dealt with them. Why do you think lotto winners go broke? Money without the sacrifice.

I sincerely hope you get something out of what is to come from this thread!

 

[Vigilante]

I would have died at the point that 100k was sitting in limbo with a manufacturer that went poof

He was actually pretty calm.

The way he dismantled Wells Fargo was surgically methodical.

He plays life by a different set of rules .

 

[Kak]

This makes me want to punch a few walls for you

I assume you have some sort of regrets along the way, maybe in hindsight some sort of step you could have taken to prevent an event like this from happening?

In any large scale international trade where you can't use a credit card or paypal the best bet is net 30. Second best is using straight escrow service. I suggest an LOC as a last option, its only marginally safer than a full blown wire transfer. No matter what, get references. Do a ton of research and don't trust anyone.

Don't leave yourself exposed if you don't went to get screwed is the bottom line.

I'm not above flying somewhere with a laptop and transferring in person as I take delivery on the spot and bring in my own transportation on the first few deals.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I still believe that this spending time thinking about how you think crap is just nonsense. It is the definition of mental masturbation. That crap also has a way of making you think you are somehow being a gogetter.

The reality, and the big pill to swallow is that no one but you will start a business for you. No one is going to do this for you. No one is going to hold your hand and tell you how. No feel good Tony Robbins crap is going to make the business flow out of you. You won't get to your 65th self help book and somehow turn the last page to a successful business. Napolean Hill doesn't give a shit about you and neither does Jim Rohn.

Start a business... Hit it hard... Don't take no for an answer... Don't let failure be an option... and fricking WIN. Go out there and WIN.

-or-

You could just go walk on hot coals with a bunch of losers twice a year.

I know where I'll be when Tony Robbins and his hot coals come to town... In my office working, because while all of these idiots are chilling with Tony, pondering their mindsets, the winners are out winning.

Just made this a featured post... Rep+

Incidentally, I was one of those losers who walked on hot coals when I was 23. It changed nothing long term, short-term (maybe about 5 days?) I worked my a$$ off on stuff that didn't matter.

You see, you can work hard all you want, be motivated etc -- but when the focus of that energy is directed into the wrong platform/premise, nothing else matters.

The real change only came when I started focusing on solving the needs of others, instead of trying to serve my own.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

But what exactly do you sell? Who is your supplier? Who are you selling to? Give me all the details please. Don't forget phone numbers, web addresses, and shipping logistics.

Different league stuff.

Around here we say "bigly" LOL.

 

[Vigilante]

Every time I return to the forum I get blown away by threads like this.

@Kak Often I'll meet someone (i think) who's similar to you and be a little shocked to learn we look at things pretty much the same way. BUT, I have nothing comparable to your success. I think it has to do with which thing we both walk away focused on

If it's possible, could you drop an example of what catches your attention? Sorry to ask about 'teaching me how to think,' I just get lost in the difference of focus.

You two do have a lot in common. Having met you both, I can tell you what the simple difference is.

KAK thinks with more zeros.

They're just linear numbers to him if that makes sense to you. He just adds more zeros.

He talks about million dollar deals like you talk about thousand dollar deals. He just plays Monopoly with bigger values.

Here's a specific example. Take importing. People on the forum set out to make some money importing... starting small and hoping to one day have a business that will pay their bills.

When KAK started, he started with intention of monopolizing a niche, owning all of the imports from a COUNTRY of his niche, acquiring a brand in the industry, running production for the company that was in this space before him, gaining control of the factory, cashing out its owner, and owning Boardwalk AND Parkplace.

In the process he has been introduced to dignitaries, wined and dined by Dons, and made a bunch of money.

He thinks in bigger multiples and gives people what they want to get what he wants.

You can do what he does. Add more 000's.

 

[Kak]

I am going to go ahead and begin sharing another story. I won't try to put a label on the lesson learned here because there are so dang many I learned from this it would be a disservice to focus on just one.

This story is an extremely tough one to unpack for me. It is the biggest business sacrifice I have ever made. I'm not talking about a few grand here or there like the sourcing deal. I'm not even talking about some guy's 100k. I'm talking about the better part of a million dollars spent. Some investor money and some was my own. I'm talking about hundreds of meetings. Supplier turnover because of no movement. Explaining myself to investors. Continuing to believe in my business through hundreds upon hundreds of naysayers, liars, disinterested decision makers.

I have touched on this project in other threads briefly. A very select few of you know exactly what this is. There are absolutely things I would have done differently knowing what I know today, but I haven't given up and I don't plan to.

The story begins on August second of 2013. Over three whole years ago. I formed a corporation, opened a bank account and dropped the first 100k of investor money in it. My idea was ingenious. My numbers were incredible. I had a solution I was going to sell to the biggest customer in the world. The government.

Not only were the numbers incredible... They were figures that could make me and my investors billionaires, every single year over and over diminishing as I put a complete end to a serious problem we have in this country. Republican, democrat, it didn't matter, it would appeal to either side. I felt like I had the world by the balls and my investors were convinced I did to. Investors chased me down. I didn't even have to look. The idea was that good. Lets just quantify and get on with the story... The problem affected 1.1 million people in Texas the year I filed my formation. Each one of those people would be worth an average of $800 in value to my company, net. Remember, that is just Texas.

Within a month of that formation, I had a technology supply and custom solutions in the pipeline. I had a contract with technicians and call centers. I had merchant services. I had the entire operations puzzle figured out. Almost completely outsourced I might add. I had net 30 contracts with all of the large expenses we would have this way we could scale infinitely because we would have our return before the bill even showed up. I proceeded to hire a lobbyist and go after the sales aspect. Now, this was not some ordinary expense, this was an entire executive salary and at the time was more money than I usually made per month. I had to really trust him. And I did.

We went forward with lobbying for the next 2 years. Half of the time was out of session and half of the time was in session. In dealing with government, you will begin to notice a pattern. Everyone "likes" what you have to say, but either they are not the decision maker, you can never find the decision maker, no one wants to make a decision or they just lied to you. It's safe for anyone to tell you how great you and your product are with no commitment in government. So we continued to work at it and get our positive feedback. Session came around and some other topics took precedence and we didn't get exactly what we wanted. 2 years of hard work almost down the drain except for one thing... We moved the decision maker to the local level. We had an amendment on one bill that made it so the decision is up to a more local level.

At this point I am really on the edge. I am running our of investor resources. I don't want to take any more investor money because I don't want to give up much more ownership. I had to let my lobbyist go which was an extremely disappointing day. We had become good friends, and still are, but it sucked to have dissolve the working relationship. My investors are still supportive, but getting a little antsy.

I toiled away trying to do my own lobbying work at the local level. I pounded the phones. I worked so hard on it. Finally, I was exhausted... I couldn't do it any more. I was spending a LOT of my own money at this point and I was into my 3rd year. I considered giving in. I considered letting it beat me. I went days and sometimes weeks not working on it, but not admitting it was over.

Then came a huge blessing... One of the people who were beating down my door 2 and a half years prior to get in to the business. I turned him down at the time, but he asked me how the project was going. I said terrible, there isn't anything there. I myself wouldn't even invest, being fully honest. This guy is worth tens of millions and has been a friend for a while. He said, "stop by the office tomorrow and let's talk about it. I want to see what you've got."

I put together a presentation for him about what had been done and what is still left to do. Where we are in the project. Then basically, don't invest, I wouldn't. Then he told me his reason for having me down. He was selling one of his real estate holdings for north of 15 million dollars. He evidently had to put together some sort of exchange program to avoid taxes, but before he did that he wanted to make sure my project was still off the table. After my presentation he said he sees progress on a company that will obviously take a long time and a lot of resources to launch and that to him it looked like the right time to buy. Again, I told him I wouldn't invest in this company, I don't believe in it anymore and you might be wasting your money. He replied I didn't get where I am today by being careful with everything I did. I see potential, and with the check I am about to write I think you will believe in it again too. He ended up writing a very large check for only 13 percent in the company, but he had one condition... That I took him to the meetings so he could not only see how his investment was doing first hand, but he has always been interested in the political process. I accepted and he was right, his investment made me believe in it again. Someone was finally sold on the deal.

To be continued..

 

[RHL]

I'm in awe right now.

I'll be honest: The idea of selling to the government (as opposed to through them, the way many universities do with student loans), scares me. The issue I have with them is that lobbying is so potent at directing their decisions. In most of the business world, the person with the most value wins the contest of business eventually. No matter how hard record labels try, for example, digital music eventually killed CDs because it's just so damn much more convenient. Value defeats every legal and technical obstacle between your bank account and the customer. Uber wiping the floor with cab and limo companies is another great example. Air B&B and the hotel industry is another.

But it's not that way with the government. A lot of arcane, regressive shit is kept alive decades longer than it should be because of sweetheart deals between corrupt or clueless politicians and a powerful lobbyists (I'm talking about companies with billions at their disposal, not people who are pounding phones but people who are handing the congressmen $3,000 bottles of scotch to pound on free yachts). That's why our Air Force gets delivered a ton of "super useful" stealth air superiority fighters to use against an enemy that just discovered the wheel like 20 years ago. It's why coal remains a major source of energy despite the fact that it's inefficient and kills loads of people every year. It's why companies like Verizon and Comcast can deliver intolerably slow data and internet for $200/mo with zero customer service-because they've worked out a system that kills all competition and prevents citizens from doing anything about it. When you control the law, you can literally make hot cold and down up if you want, and even the best ideas can be a total wash because whoever has the most money and the most moxie can literally re-write the rules of the game when your team is at first-and goal and up by three touchdowns with only seconds left in the game, so that you still lose.

If you have time, I'd love to hear more about how the lobbying aspect of this venture was pursued. To my mind, that's the diamond in this already Gold thread.

 

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[Kak]

It also has come to my attention that the way I choose to live my life might also be of value here. A friend of mine told me last week that the way I live is unlike anyone he has ever met. Interesting... I always just considered it my way and didn't really think any further about it. Anyway.

I live my life almost completly devoid of counterproductive distractions. I did not do this on purpose. It just kind of happened.

First of all I have NO personal social media presence. No Facebook, no linked in, Nothing. I dont keep up with anyone from high school or college. Do I hate social media? Not really. It just doesnt interest me and people who only care about you in social media are bullshit acquaintances anyway. I also don't care about them if I'm being brutally honest.

I haven't consumed a drop of alcohol in over a year. Not because I am against it, because I'm not. I just no longer wanted to find any entertainment in altering my mind. People who live for friday night so they can chill at the bar with their bros is not anything I'm interested in being part of. If I could think of a hell that was personalized to me, it would be a night club.

One that was actually hard for me was cigars. I have not had a cigar in over a year. This was something that had always tugged at me. My father died of lung cancer and he would have kicked my a$$ for starting cigars.

I didn't have cable until 6 months ago. Not because I couldn't afford it, but because I wouldn't have used it anyway. The wife wanted it so I got it for her. I now enjoy a political news show in the evenings, but other than that, I dont sit on the edge of my seat waiting for the next episode of Quantico to come on. I dont give a shit about who killed who in whatever other mindless escape people watch. I could literally not care any less about who wins the big game. I dont despise these things, I just dont give a shit about them.

I RARELY do things I dont want to do any more. There are a select few obligational things that I have to do but I wont get in to that. Generally, if I dont want to do it, I don't.

Another interesting thing about me is that the vast majority of the people I consider friends are much older then me. They all have one thing in common, I respect them all highly. It is also interesting to me that those I don't really have much respect for or have lost my respect are those that would have just ended up in that Facebook "I dont really care about you" territory. There are very few people my own age that I can say I have anywhere near that level of respect for. I sometimes feel like my generation is a joke. If I make time for someone it is because I genuinely appreciate them and respect them.

There are others... but I cant think of them at the moment. Like I said, to me it is a way of life not something I have necessarily done on purpose. If you get value from it, that's great. If you don't thats fine too.

 

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[Kak]

There is an additional part to the stock deal I discussed. It is about keeping a cool head and holding your tongue even when you want to, and can, and should, tear someone apart. Business is not what Donald Trump makes it seem like on the apprentice where everyone is fired and suck my balls. Even though it's hilarious.

Effectively conducting business is operating an intricate network of assets that you shouldn't break.

I will hit on this tonight.

Continuing in reference to this POST

He agreed to my proposal... Said where do I sign... THEN became the kind of jackass I would NEVER do business with.

Thankfully there was nothing to sign that day. I said we will have to have a subsequent meeting to hammer out the exact performance metrics he needs to hit in order to receive his stock issuance. He said OK lets meet soon. I agreed, I was going out of town on a ski trip to Canada and wanted to get it hammered out BEFORE I left so that he could begin laying groundwork.

I shot him an email the following day... When do you want to meet?... Crickets...

I called him the next day... Left Message... When do you want to meet? Call me back... Nothing

This goes on for about a week. I get an email. A bunch of questions about the numbers of the new company. A little bit of jackassery that rubbed me the wrong way, but I humored him and answered his questions... Again asked WHEN DO YOU WANT TO MEET?

He thanks me for answering the questions and doesn't answer my question.
At this point I call my lobbyist who hooked me up with this prick. Will you get this guy to answer my question? You know him better maybe he is just a big pussy.

Lobbyist proceeds calling, emailing and texting this a**hole while I am in Canada... Nothing. He even called this guy's assistant and asked if he was in the hospital or something... He wasn't. In fact his stupid democrat a$$ was on twitter talking about how great Meryl Streep is. My lobbyist is PISSED. Im PISSED. This a**hole voiced interest in our offer. It was an extremely generous offer and at this point in time it was 19 days since we heard from him.

The following was his last chance... I sent it to him, basically to say, we understand it was the holidays, but this crap absolutely can not happen again.

(Jackass Name,)

(lobbyist) and I have made extraordinary efforts to get ahold of you, due to your potential value to our company, expressed interest and likelihood of success on both discussed projects we have carried on trying to get ahold of you much longer than we would typically.


As I am sure you can understand, we absolutely can’t have a partner who does not communicate with us, and the amazing value that you could provide is mitigated if this becomes a pattern.


We are simply trying to set up a meeting to hammer out the details of an agreement with you. We always conduct business in a mutually advantageous manner and we planned on dispelling any concerns you might with concessions and annotations in writing, making sure you were 100% comfortable working together.


Being that this is a very large potential opportunity for both of us and that you are unparalleled in the expertise and connections to get all of us across the finish line, I would like to give one last chance to reach out and arrange a meeting with us to get the ball rolling. You have voiced interest in this project to (lobbyist) and myself. If you are actually interested in our generous offer, we need to hear from you ASAP because we are going to begin seeking alternative representation today.


Thank you (jackass), I look forward to hearing from you.
​

Finally a response after that one... 3 weeks since he agreed to work together.:

My proposal to serve you is - to be retained and compensated on a monthly basis with an agreement to be retained for the life of any contracts obtained.

My standard consulting fee starts at $5k a month, with a $5 - $10k initial retainer.

I am willing to adjust this to a $2,500 retainer, with $2,500 a month until a contract is signed, and then it would be adjusted to $5k a month for the life of the contract. For each new contract signed thereafter, I would receive an additional $2,500 a month for the life of each new contract. At the point that at least five contracts have been successfully achieved, I would be willing to consider your original offer of 20% ownership of the company.​

Absolutely HILARIOUS. I am no longer interested in doing ANY business with him. This incoherent grasp at money after the least impressive performance of someone trying to win a job I have ever experienced in my life had me DREAMING of what to say next...

-Sorry, but I'm not currently in the market for a $200k per year disappearing act.
-Your house is worth less than you want to get out of me per year.
-You have never made that kind of money in your life.
-Your skillset is so narrow that only I can turn your bullshit into money and you aren't worth 1/10 of what you have requested.
-I should have trusted my gut about hiring a loser democrat.
-I even considered telling him how interested I was in the proposal only to wait a month to tell him my counter proposal is $100 per month..
Etc..

My actual response to him:

I am sorry, but I am unable to come to those terms. I truly appreciate your reply today and your honest feedback.

If I can ever be of any networking help, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best Regards,
​

Why? Don't make enemies for the sake of being right. He deserved to get ripped to shreds, but I don't want to start a fight that could damage my reputation. The fight would gain me precisely nothing.

Don't EVER break. Don't EVER show your cards. Don't EVER lose control. Keep your eyes on the prize and don't let peasant pricks like this guy distract you.

 

[Kak]

My apologies for not kicking this off sooner... It turned out to be a much busier trip for me than anticipated.

I am home now and I have unpacked some of my thoughts.

Some of you may know that I am in the process of getting my pilot's license and this may be cheesy to some, but I am noticing a lot of parallels and analogies between the business world, as my limited experience can describe, and flight. The size of an airplane is like the size of our businesses.

Knowledge- There is a tremendous difference in the amount of knowledge and experience required to be built up before you can fly a big jet... Some might say "I don't have the experience or knowledge required to start a business like that", but just like flight, you can learn. All the studying in the world, all the flying of Cessnas, is never going to prepare you to sit behind the controls of a jet. Pilots have to FLY a jet to learn a jet.

No one was born with the ability to fly a jet. Likewise no one was born with the ability to fly a Cessna either... The same goes for business. Folks will bitch about thinking big. "Oh, I'll just "do" ecommerce for now until I build up some capital or experience" It is a bullshit excuse. So you don't have the ability to set out to solve a legitimate problem, but you somehow have the ability to "revoloutionize" the cell phone case market with new color? No. Once again it comes back to becoming the expert. You must DO. You must ACT. There is NO ONE that will hold your hand and teach you how to start a seriously impactful business. Guess what... Thats OK! In fact it is real entrepreneurship. Following a step by step guide isn't. You'll F*cking crash.

Take off- Quite simply put, the larger the plane, the more runway it normally needs to take off. While a tiny lightweight backcountry airplane can take off with almost no rollout, the large jets need thousands of feet to safely take off. This parallels with business because the larger the problem you are solving, the bigger the company it is anticipated to be, the longer it is going to take before it can transfer it's weight from the wheels to the wings.

Barrier to entry? Yes. A jet needs a bigger runway... You can look at that runway as the blood, sweat and tears needed to be put in before your business can take off. Difficult is good for the people who have done it and bad for bozo wannabe competitors. This is the part where you LEARN! This is the part that builds you as a businessperson. This is the part that makes you EXPERIENCED. Have you ever wondered why some people get to the point where they don't feel the need to prove anything? Have you wondered why some people remain calm in the worst of times? They have been down a hell of a runway. The entrepreneur and the business is stronger for this.

This part goes along with my thread about what I would do if I started all over again. In that thread I basically make the case for a well capitalized business in order to ride out the run up first, and then climb faster. Need a bigger runway? OK... Build one.

Climb out- Larger jets, once they are finished rolling out climb like crazy to altitudes you cant touch in a small piston airplane.

This is the day you realize you quite literally could disrupt an entire market. There are growing pains that are bigger than if you were a small business, but so what? Your idea paid off and you are filling the organizational holes with resources on your way up as you leave the small business concerns like getting the cheapest phone system, using your office depot coupons or renting the cheapest shit heap office space you can find in your dust. You have cashflow and cash balence to work out most of the pressing problems.

Carrying capacity- I view this like a business' ability to carry resources. While a jet can carry hundreds of passengers, small airplanes have massive weight restrictions and fuel capacity considerations. With a smaller plane you need to make sacrifices in range to carry more weight and vice versa. Sound familiar?

How much inventory can you invest in at once? What kind of resources can your business carry? Can you afford a professional web designer or are you stuck trying your own hand? Can you afford to advertise to the extent you desire? Could your business accept a massive order without cashflow issues? How many ecommerce businesses could hire just one new person today and maintain a comfortable income for the proprietor? Some airplanes simply can't carry more than two or three people at a time, they are just too small and light. Everything in a small business is a trade off. Resources grow businesses.

Rough weather- It is inevitable that you will run into bad weather, the cool part is that jets fly over most of the bullshit. A small airplane can easily be murdered by the same storm a jet can simply fly over. Not only that, but a jet can intentionally fly through most shit that a small plane has to concern itself with. Small planes are constantly trying to avoid bad weather and adjust for changing conditions.

What happens when marketplace policies change? What happens when advertising gets more expensive? What happens when taxes go up? What happens when you have a legal problem? The list goes on and on. Things that might simply shake a jet can rip the wings off a cessna.

Ease of operation- I don't think anyone would argue that with modern autopilots and avionics, a jet isn't a more pleasant aircraft to fly. They are, and they're less work. This is self explanatory. Look at a CEO of a company that employs just 20 people vs a onepreneur... The CEO looks at his business from 35 thousand feet and the onepreneur is probably at 5 getting hands dirty and worrying about navigating around the next dark cloud.

What is my point?

All of this is not to say that you can't take a small company and turn it into a large company, but more often than not, the companies that become household names, the companies that employ 50, 1000, or even 100 thousand people are ones that were planned bigger from the start.

I personally only give a damn about jets. Any Cessna stuff is a means to an end for me. You will see that my main businesses, as I progress and discuss them further, fit the criteria of the jet. Not because they grew into it, but because that is where I started them; despite some of the mistakes I've made and will discuss like trying to fly a "jet" off of a "cessna" runway.

Sorry if it's cheesy or elementary for some, but this is the kind of stuff that rolls through my head.

 

[Vigilante]

Here's a lesson from the sidelines for anyone following along with this thread.

KAK bought a house in Houston. He chronicled some of the story here in this thread. It needs a little work, but he'll make it great.

Why is this newsworthy?

Because he has several times the value of the house, in cash, in the bank. (read that sentence again).

He could have gone out and bought himself a mini-mansion. He could be driving a lambo. He could be doing the things that some people aspire to, and some people fake.

He's not. His money is still in the bank.

Why?

He's achieved the level of F*ck You.

 

[GlobalWealth]

Kudos and mad props to you @Kak. Different league for sure. I'm sure you started somewhere but I don't have the guts or the balls to do most of that. I've already got a wife, 2 kids, and a mortgage to worry about. I'll post in 1 year and see if I'm still in business. I was even nervous just setting up an Alibaba account thinking I was getting screwed, let alone contacting a Chinese supplier. Luckily the one I found replied in excellent English and I have a basic knowledge of the language and culture.

Anyway peace and rep to you man. And enjoy time with your wife before children take away your free time even if you don't need it to build a business.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk

Sorry to bust your balls but this is the most pathetic self-defeating post I've read on the forum in a long time.

Are you serious or is this just trolling?

I am 42, divorced with 3 kids - 2 of them on a different continent and one same continent but different country (she is adult and moved to London).

I am also in a long term relationship (not legally married but close enough).

I see my 2 younger kids on another continent every month. I see my oldest every couple of months.

I have a good relationship at home.

And yet I somehow find the time to run a couple of different businesses.

Is it tough sometimes?

Hell yes.

But I'm also not a pussy and conceding to a life of F*cking mediocrity.

Sent from my SM-G900FD using Tapatalk

 

[Kak]

Bigger clients (I have a thread here somewhere 6 months ago where i worked 100 hours for 100$. I think Ubermensh said something along the lines - "if you think poverty you get poverty")
Business Partnerships (I had the audacity to meet other businesses to partner with me. I had a full solopreneur mindset. This is still ongoing but its a shift)

If I did not focus on the mindset I would keep undercharging, keep neglecting partnerships and definitely will remain a freelancer for a long time.

Maybe these things are second nature to you, so you wont understand.

Capitalism should be an understood economic truth for everyone, not just entrepreneurs. The market is the litmus test for what any business can charge. You are never wasting your time reading a book by Milton Freidman.

The market pays for value and denies stupid ideas. It is the end all foundation on which business is built.

Bottom line, if you are not making enough money you are not providing enough value to the market.

 

[Kak]

Lol, I feel like I am being called out. Would you say all personal development is worthless? Should all learning be around skill building? As I thought about it, most of the encouragement to buy self dev stuff is from those who sell it. Would you say the same about life coaches? I think I still deal with limiting beliefs, but maybe I just need to get over it and get busy taking action. Thoughts?

What is your description of personal development? If you take those words at their surface meaning I look at it like becoming better at something, learning something, progressing, getting smarter. So sure you could call me a fan of personal development.

Life coach? Is that like a safe space? I'm sorry but if you're over the age of 18 and you need someone to tell you how to run your life you are the antithesis of an entrepreneur. On the other hand, mentors, formal and informal that you can count on for help and advice are amazing and I highly suggest you build several of those relationships.

Here is how you stop dealing with limiting beliefs... Stop having them. Understand as I said to HKK... These millionaires and billionaires aren't unicorns. They exist and there is a reason for their existence. Why not adopt the actions that got them there?

 

[Kak]

My goal is financial freedom.. and again you are making me look at things differently.


I'm not good enough to freelance at what I'm doing nor would I want to. Which leads me back to web design being potentially the fastest way to get out of this job. I understand I am simply going from one job to the next.


It's hard enough to feel satisfied with a win but easy enough that I believe I can actually do it. (you pulled that from my subconscious)


My current environment, and no past successes to look upon.


Fair point.



I've read MJ's book twice, but never eaten an elephant..literally and figuratively.

Btw, I don't actually have an idea I've seriously thought about. It's always just things that float through my head as in "hmm that's something that could be done better or that could be solved". But not a plan of actually how to make it better or to solve it.

Honestly... I'm just seeing a bunch of excuses. You have an external locus of control. You feel controlled by your environment. Your cards are dealt. You feel powerless to change your life in the ways we have discussed. A victim mentality.

Every successful entrepreneur had to start somewhere. You have the ability to do what we are discussing. You absolutely do. And I must complement you that you don't act entitled to any of it, but you need to realize that if you don't have an idea you can create one. If you don't have the skills you can learn them. If you don't have the expertise you can hire it. If you don't have the resources you can find them.

What you don't currently have, and this is your only real problem: Balls. Grow some. Ditch the excuses and go get some wins.

 

[Kak]

Wow @Kak - MAD respect to you, for handling this so methodically and urgently. Not many people go to those depths to protect and aid customers they have.

Another thing, it reminds me of resetting my sights for what is "hard" and re-calibrating my gauge for what I am willing to go through and do to get the mission accomplished. Well done.

Thank you for your kind words... I appreciate that.

Now about the whole 'resetting sights' crap. Honestly dude that just sounds like a bunch of bullshit. It shouldn't require a deliberate thought reprogramming or any other kind of voodoo Tony Robbins crap. Just find a business you believe in, remember the difference between a small deal and a big deal is just the size of the numbers.

I know I quoted you and only you, but I'm not singling you out. I have seen a bunch of this mind over matter dreamer crap in this thread. I can't recall wasting a single moment on that stuff. I can't also speak for most entrepreneurs who have been successful, but I would put money on the fact that they didn't either.

How many real millionaires out there do you hear tossing Jim Rohn and Tony Robbins quotes around? Right, they are mostly losers that need to F*ck or walk.

Anyway, sorry for making it seem like I was singling you out. I'm a big thinker relative to most people. I get that, but to me its just thinking. Leave thinking about thinking to the losers.

 

[Vigilante]

I hope that's not something you learned first hand.

No.

There are tons of variations on it though.

http://hongkongbusiness.hk/economy/commentary/fraud-101-how-spot-fraudulent-hong-kong-company

It is the reason Alibaba tried to institute Gold certification with onsite factory visits. However, as @Walter Hay has pointed out, that is not necessarily a litmus test as their certification process now involves the company paying money to Alibaba to reach their "gold seller" platform.

The situation @Kak encountered was a deliberate fraudulent fake business, with physical (fake) locations, contacts, web sites, and more. He wasn't the first to encounter them (as we learned later) but was probably the only one to get his money back thanks in part to the United States banking system, and his tenacity to not roll over. You need to understand KAK heard "too bad for you" hundreds of times by low level and mid level executives. He just didn't stop.

Companies like Wells Fargo make decisions based on their assessment of their own exposure. Ultimately him getting his money back was in no way because they decided to do the right thing. It was solely based on what they assessed their exposure to be from not securing his funds. 999 out of 1,000 times, the money would have been lost. He was dealing with professionals that had done this before, will likely do it again in a different city under different disguise, and the next sucker will lose his money again. The thieves will learn from this one, and will fix their imperfected scam for the next round.