To the Whack-Job Entrepreneurs

The first quote really says it all. When we arrive at our thing, when we discover what it is truly MEANINGFUL TO US, then we will stumble upon success. And the money does flow. How do I know? 

Well, I started my civilian career as a mergers & acquisitions banking analyst at boutique LA firm. Essentially, our business was to market and ultimately sell medium-sized businesses, anywhere in the range from $100M - $1B in valuation, to larger strategic buyers or private equity firms. And my boss, the founder/CEO of the firm had carved out a niche for himself whereby his moniker was, “The Entreprenuer’s Investment Bank.” Basically, we sold the businesses of highly successful entrepreneurs that wanted to move on with their lives for a variety of reasons or simply wanted to cash out. The reasons for selling aren’t as important right now as is the story of how many of these successful entrepreneurs got started on the road to creating very profitable businesses (and also, creating their desired lifestyle).

I sat in introduction meetings, pitch meetings, management presentations and time and again I would listen to these entrepreneurs pour out their heart with passion and enthusiasm around the businesses that they had built. THEY WERE ON FIRE ABOUT THEIR WORK. THEy LOVED IT FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. 

It was the bankers, the private equity associates, and me, the lowly analyst that had no passion. We were stale number crunchers. We were the middle-men executing a sale transaction for what was typically a highly dynamic entrepreneur.

Don’t let me paint a totally ideal picture here; some of the entrepreneurs were downright crazy, but I fucking loved it. At the time, I knew I wanted to be on the other side of the table. And now here I am doing my best to build my small-business. 

But this post is not about me. In fact, it’s actually for people that have some inkling, some stirring, some small voice telling them that there is a passion inside of them that has not yet been born into the world. All the successful entrepreneurs that I met had personality quirks simply because they wanted to be themselves and nothing else. They were channeling some unique energy into this world that eventually materialized into their real-world business. The were crazy, they were quirky, they were artistic, they were uninhibited, they didn’t care for the opinions of others…THEY OFTEN JUST FOLLOWED THEIR WHACKY CONCEPTION OF WHAT THE WORLD SHOULD BE, OR WHAT IT CAN BE…THEY FOLLOWED THEIR PERSONAL VISION. And I had, and I still have immense respect for those types of people.

ANYWAY, DAEMON HOPES THAT WE CAN ALL FIND THE COURAGE TO LIVE OUT OUR VISION.

MONEY, PEACE, HAPPINESS, LOVE IS ALL WAITING FOR US ON THE OTHER SIDE OF WHO WE WERE TOLD TO BE. FIND YOU. THE REAL YOU…AND DO THAT THING.