Great grandfather, pass me down the gris-gris and the pointing bone, for I have at this late stage opted to become another crazy nigger.
Issue III: Inside StoryKitabı okudu
“I would have liked to be called a dreamer had I known how to dream.”
Sayfa 13 - Penguin Books
Do what you know. Later, after you've made several Quantum Leaps and become more comfortable with the acquisition process, you'll see common characteristics, and be able to handle acquisitions regardless of the industry, much as I do now. (…) You want to make your acquisitions in an industry which is fragmented, and dominated by mom-and-pop companies. You want an industry that's large enough to handle your acquisition aspirations. If you're planning to purchase one of three companies that serve what is essentially a limited market, such as buggy whip repair or carbon paper manufacturing, you have nowhere to expand.
You want industries that enjoy a 20% to 40% margin. In my own experience, these include such wisely diverse industries as retail jewelry, landscaping, building maintenance, publishing, home improvements and trailer parks. If you get into a business with 3% or 5% profit margins, you'll take forever to build your dream. Narrow your focus. (…)
The size of business you want to acquire depends on the size of your goal, and the clarity of your vision. (…) Your acquisition must be in order of a large manufacturing firm or distribution business that will catch the eye of investment bankers.
How big a company? As a general rule, you as an owner can reasonably expect to receive income, before debt service, of about $25,000 from intangible services or consulting fees of $50,000, since there is no inventory, and usually no equipment beyond office furniture; about $25,000 from retail sales of $100,000; and the same from manufacturing equipment, depending on the degree of automation and cost of materials.
Sayfa 172Kitabı okudu
Most fretful borrowers go to their first bank meeting with a business plan in their briefcase, or under their arm, so they can produce it immediately after the initial handshake. Wrong. Take nothing but your dream, in your most general terms, to the first meeting. Remember, this is a get acquainted meeting... a first date. You talk about your business and where you're planning to take it in the long term. But, if the opportunity arises, you also get the banker to talk about himself. What are his leisure interests after he stops being a banker? Does he play golf? Fish? Travel? (…)
The point is, take to your first meeting absolutely no information on your financials. Beginning with no business plan. You don't want the bank to have anything at this early stage they can get a hook on, and form a premature opinion. In fact, if the banker never mentions a business plan, you never mention a business plan. You'd much rather get a loan he can approve straight away. But.suppose he does ask for a plan. You reply, "Oh, I'm glad you asked I prepare a plan/or you, I'd like to know what type of plan you're looking for, and, when the time comes to acquire growth, the minimum rates of return you require."
Sayfa 147Kitabı okudu
No matter who you recruit for your Dream Team, and how gifted and committed they are, they're going to need leadership. Even more to the point, they're going to want leadership. And you're the leader. It's no wonder reports say that almost 70% of the Fortune 500 CEOs have military backgrounds.
The toughest thing about being a leader is that you're always alone in the lead position. Leadership is a towering peak with standing room for one. Sure, you can turn and get advice from this or that team member, but there's only one captain, one driver, one pilot in the cockpit. You. You can save your company from mistakes the others may make, but the others can't save the company from you! The guy who said "It's lonely at the top" had surely been there. I often tell my business partners they must learn to be alone without being lonely.
Sayfa 78Kitabı okudu
We have a kind of greed in our genes. Call it selfish, call it what you will, but it is necessary to us, and it will not be eliminated in yours or my lifetime. There are a lot of people out there who dream of Utopia (as do I) where nice guys get the fair end of things, and power is not all we seek, nor is it wielded blindly, but that’s not the way it is.
Sayfa 18Kitabı okudu
What shall I say to a faithless brother? The King of the Damned is a poor judge of Being. It is my firm belief that the best way to fix the world—a handyman’s dream, if ever there was one—is to fix yourself, as we discussed in Rule 6. Anything else is presumptuous. Anything else risks harm, stemming from your ignorance and lack of skill. But
Sayfa 366 - CodaKitabı okudu
“Ah bırak güneş vursun yüzüme, ve yıldızlar süslesin düşlerimi. Zamanın ve uzayın yolcusuyum ben, geldiği yere dönmeye çalışan.”
(Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been.)
Sayfa 43 - Kashmir / Led Zeppelin
“Is it a loss?” Rachael repeated. “I don’t really know; I have no way to tell. How does it feel to have a child? How does it feel to be born, for that matter? We’re not born; we don’t grow up; instead of dying from illness or old age, we wear out like ants. Ants again; that’s what we are. Not you; I mean me. Chitinous reflex-machines who aren’t really alive.” She twisted her head to one side, said loudly, “I’m not alive!"
Chapter 16Kitabı okudu
The fusion box
“It would be immoral not to fuse with Mercer in gratitude,” Iran said. “I had hold of the handles of the box today and it overcame my depression a little—just a little, not like this. But anyhow I got hit by a rock, here.” She held up her wrist; on it he made out a small dark bruise. “And I remember thinking how much better we are, how much better
Chapter 15Kitabı okudu