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Methods of Prosperity 28

If there’s one thing you get out of this newsletter, it’s this. I’d like to impart the trait that all wealthy people seem to have – that ...

Methods of Prosperity#wealth#peter thiel#paypalmafia
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Methods of Prosperity 27

Part 27: Jeff Bezos (conclusion). The Mindset of Jeff Bezos. TL;DR Last week, I didn’t highlight enough the mindset of Jeff Bezos. Despite the high failure rate of startups, Bezos remains optimistic. Embracing his “Day One” philosophy, he contrasts it with the stagnation and decline of “Day Two.” He

Methods of Prosperity#jeff bezos#wealth
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Methods of Prosperity 26

After graduation, he went to work at the hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co. from 1990 to 1994, where he became senior vice president. While working at Shaw in 1994, he stumbled upon a statistic. This new world wide web thing had been growing by 2,300 percent each year. What if there was a way to sell produc

Methods of Prosperity#wealth#ray dalio#jeff bezos
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Methods of Prosperity 25

On Sunday August 15th 1971, President Nixon went on television with an announcement. The United States would no longer allow dollars to redeem into gold. Government officials had already promised not to devalue the dollar. Now the leader of the free world framed a new narrative. Somehow by devaluing

Methods of Prosperity#wealth#ray dalio
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Methods of Prosperity 24

“You’re overpriced”. That’s what Benjamin Graham told Warren Buffet in 1951. Buffett approached Graham, offering to work for free. Benjamin Graham was a British-born American economist, professor, and investor. He’s known as the “father of value investing”. His book, The Intelligent Investor, provid

#wealth#warren buffett
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Methods of Prosperity 23

I know what you’re thinking. “Wait a minute, Sean Allen Fenn. Another rich kid who inherited his fortune?” Before you give up on yourself for not being born with a silver spoon in your mouth, remember this. The reason we build something for our children is so that they can have it better than we d

Methods of Prosperity#wealth
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Methods of Prosperity 22

One day, Larry decided it would be great to start a company with Bob, and this was the perfect opportunity. Bob had a great job at Ampex and was hesitant to leave for a new venture. That’s why it took a while for Larry to convince Bob to start a software company together. Three nights a week, Larry

Methods of Prosperity#wealth#ellison
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Methods of Prosperity 21

Here’s my interpretation of his ideas. Self-actualization is a term from Abraham Maslow. It refers to the fulfillment of one’s potential. As Koch notes, this is in conflict with entropy. In the same way, good is in conflict with evil. Entropy is the state of disorder. Koch defines it as “uselessness

Methods of Prosperity#wealth#koch
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Methods of Prosperity 20

In 1980, Mary Gates was a board member of United Way of King County. She influenced IBM CEO John Opel to consider her son’s company, Microsoft, for IBM’s “Project Chess”. Project Chess was an initiative to develop software for IBM's new personal computer. A company named Digital Research lost the co

Methods of Prosperity#wealth
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Methods of Prosperity 19

There he was. That feeling of a sudden epiphany sent tingles up his spine. Henry Ford had a problem. Combustion engines fueled by gasoline couldn’t ...

Methods of Prosperity#wealth#ford