Top 3 Tips That Changed My Life Forever

Summary

In this inspiring narrative, the speaker shares their journey from a financially challenging post-graduation period to becoming a successful entrepreneur. After their mother stopped financial support, they were motivated to stand on their own. Upon achieving wealth, they established a trust for their children with a unique condition to avoid entitlement. The story highlights the importance of experience and intuition in business, as well as the transformative impact of a tough-love lesson passed down from one generation to the next.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The speaker's mother stopped financial support after college, teaching the importance of self-reliance.
• 💼 The speaker faced financial struggles post-graduation but eventually found motivation and success.
• 💰 After a significant financial gain, the speaker established a trust fund for his children with conditions to avoid entitlement.
• 📚 The trust fund's conditions inspired the speaker's son to improve academically and pursue a career in electrical engineering.
• 🏆 The son's hard work and innovation led to a victory over MIT in a Formula car competition, attracting the attention of Tesla.
• 👨‍👧 The speaker emphasized the importance of not providing a 'free ride' to children to ensure they develop resilience and ambition.
• 🤔 The speaker's experience in business has led to the development of strong intuition, which he uses to assess entrepreneurs and business plans.
• 📈 The speaker believes that experience, not just education, is crucial for developing a successful business acumen.
• 📚 Initially wanting to be a photographer, the speaker took his father's advice to get a business education before pursuing his passion.
• 🏆 The speaker's first company was in sports media, which was eventually sold, leading to the foundation of another successful software company.
• 🔄 The speaker's journey involved multiple business ventures and sales, culminating in the sale of The Learning Company for 4.2 billion.

Q & A

What significant event occurred when the speaker was graduating college?

The speaker's mother informed him that she would no longer be providing financial support, including paying for his college and rent.

What did the speaker's mother mean by 'the dead bird under the nest never learns how to fly'?

This metaphor implies that if someone is always taken care of, they will never learn to be independent and self-sufficient.

How did the speaker's financial situation change after the sale of The Learning Company?

The Learning Company was sold for about 4.2 billion, making the speaker and the other founders very wealthy.

What was the speaker's strategy for setting up a trust for his children?

The trust was designed to provide for his children's needs until they finished college, after which they would receive nothing, following the same philosophy his mother used with him.

How did the speaker's son initially react to the trust fund arrangement?

Initially, the son didn't fully understand or appreciate the trust fund, as he was only four or six years old at the time.

What impact did the speaker's conversation about the trust fund have on his son's academic performance?

The conversation motivated the son to improve his academic performance, leading him to eventually become an electrical engineer.

What was the significance of the speaker's son's success in the Formula car competition?

His success in the competition led to a job offer from Tesla, highlighting the importance of taking risks and working hard.

What advice did the speaker's father give him regarding his career aspirations?

The speaker's father advised him to finish university and get a master's of business, providing him with a versatile skill set to pursue any entrepreneurial direction.

What was the speaker's first company, and what did it do?

The speaker's first company produced short segments for the original six hockey teams for television networks, showcasing hockey players, coaches, and teams.

How did the speaker's experience in his first company lead to the creation of Softkey Software?

After selling his first company, the speaker met John Freeman and together they founded Softkey Software, which grew into The Learning Company.

What was the speaker's perspective on the importance of experience and intuition in business?

The speaker believes that experience is crucial in developing intuition about businesses and people, and that this intuition is a powerful tool in entrepreneurship and investing.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Learning to Fly: The Impact of Financial Independence

The speaker reflects on a pivotal moment in their life when their mother announced she would no longer financially support them after college graduation. This unexpected news, metaphorically described as 'the dead bird under the nest never learns how to fly,' forced the speaker to become self-reliant. Despite initial struggles, this challenge ultimately motivated them to succeed, leading to a significant liquidity event when their company was sold for $4.2 billion. Inspired by their mother's approach, the speaker set up a trust for their children that would only support them until college, instilling a similar sense of responsibility and self-sufficiency. This strategy was tested when their son, initially underperforming in high school, was confronted with the reality of the trust's limitations. This conversation sparked a turnaround in his academic performance, eventually leading him to become an electrical engineer and a top student at college, even leading a team to victory in a Formula car competition and securing a job at Tesla.

05:03

🎓 The Value of Experience: From MBA Classroom to Real World Challenges

In this paragraph, the speaker recounts a memorable encounter during their MBA program where a guest lecturer challenged their overconfidence, predicting that only a third of the class would achieve significant success, while the rest would either fail or struggle. The speaker initially dismissed this as nonsense but later embraced the truth in the lecturer's words. Over time, the speaker has come to understand the importance of experience in developing intuition, especially in business and investments. They now use this intuition to quickly assess the potential of entrepreneurs and their ventures. The speaker's journey began with aspirations to be a photographer or cinematographer, but advice from their father led them to pursue a business education. This foundation allowed them to start a successful company producing hockey-related content, which they later sold. This experience, along with the sale of their educational software company, The Learning Company, for $4.2 billion, has shaped their understanding of the value of experience and its role in business success.

Keywords

💡Graduation

Graduation is the act of receiving a diploma or academic degree, marking the successful completion of a course of study. In the video's theme, it serves as a pivotal moment where the speaker's mother announces the cessation of financial support, symbolizing the transition from dependency to independence.

💡Financial Independence

Financial independence refers to the state of having sufficient personal wealth to live, without having to work actively for basic necessities. The speaker's mother emphasizes this concept by cutting off financial support, prompting the speaker to become self-sufficient, which is a central theme in the narrative.

💡Liquidity Event

A liquidity event is a transaction that provides cash to shareholders, such as an initial public offering (IPO) or a merger and acquisition. In the script, the speaker's first big liquidity event was the sale of The Learning Company, which significantly impacted his financial status and life trajectory.

💡Trust Fund

A trust fund is a legal arrangement where a third party, the trustee, manages assets on behalf of a beneficiary. The speaker sets up a trust for his children, which is designed to provide for them until college, instilling a sense of financial responsibility and preventing entitlement.

💡Entitlement

Entitlement is the belief that one inherently deserves privileges or special treatment. The speaker is concerned about his children feeling entitled due to wealth, and thus structures the trust to ensure they understand the value of hard work and self-reliance.

💡High School

High school is a stage of secondary education that typically serves students between the ages of 14 and 18. In the script, the speaker's son's performance in high school is initially poor, but the conversation about the trust fund motivates him to improve and eventually excel, illustrating the impact of incentives and consequences on behavior.

💡Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. The speaker's son becomes an electrical engineer, showcasing a turnaround in his academic and professional life, which is a direct result of the life lesson imparted by the speaker.

💡Intuition

Intuition is the ability to understand or know something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. The speaker attributes his success in identifying winning business ventures to his intuition, which has been honed by years of experience, underscoring the importance of experience in decision-making.

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching, and running a new business, which typically requires considerable initiative and risk-taking. The speaker's journey from a photography enthusiast to a successful entrepreneur reflects the spirit of entrepreneurship and the value of pursuing one's passions.

💡Master of Business Administration (MBA)

An MBA is a master's degree in business administration, focused on leadership and management skills. The speaker's father advises him to pursue an MBA to gain a comprehensive business education, which later proves instrumental in his entrepreneurial endeavors.

💡Investment

Investment in the context of the script refers to the act of committing resources, usually money, with the expectation of generating profit or benefit. The speaker's investments in various businesses have yielded a range of outcomes, from failures to euphoric successes, highlighting the inherent risks and rewards of investing.

Highlights

Graduation surprise: Mother announces no more financial support post-graduation.

Life lesson: 'The dead bird under the nest never learns to fly' - a metaphor for self-reliance.

Financial struggle post-graduation leads to motivation and eventual success.

First liquidity event: The Learning Company sold for $4.2 billion.

Wealth realization: Founders continue working despite sudden wealth.

Establishing a trust for children with conditions to avoid entitlement.

Children's reaction to the trust conditions at a young age.

Son's academic turnaround after understanding the trust's implications.

Son's success as an electrical engineer and achievement in a Formula car competition.

Lesson on not making life too easy for children to avoid ruining their drive.

Experience and intuition's role in evaluating business and people.

Speaker's transformation from skeptical MBA student to a respected guest lecturer.

Importance of 30 years of experience in developing business intuition.

Initial career aspiration to be a photographer or cinematographer.

Father's advice to get a business education before pursuing creative passions.

Starting a company producing hockey-related content for networks.

Evolution of Softkey Software Products into The Learning Company.

The impact of selling The Learning Company and returning to work.

Transcripts

[Music]

when I was graduating college my mother

came to the graduation she said I've got

great news I'm coming to the graduation

um but um I also have some other news no

more checks and I said what do you mean

because she'd been paying for college

and my rent and everything and she said

the dead bird under the nest never

learns how to fly I said what the hell

does that mean she said no more checks

I'm not writing any more checks you're

going to to figure this out on your own

you know we I paid for your education

from I paid for you from birth the last

day of college we're done and I thought

I mean because I really had no job

or anything and I had a tough couple of

years I mean I couldn't even pay the

rent but it worked out and I got

motivated and you know obviously I'm I'm

pretty happy about the outcome so when I

had my first big liquidity event when

The Learning Company got sold it got

sold for about 4.2 billion and there was

10 of us that were Founders so we woke

up the next morning said we're rich

like we didn't think about it we came

back to work and kept going but when I

went over that was in in Cambridge and I

went over to Boston saw the lawyers and

said look I want to set up a trust um

that basically provides for my kids

because they were like four and six at

the time and um it pays for everything

for them um until they finish college

and then they get nothing and he said

what the hell is that I said well it's

it's it's a way that I can provide for

them to set them up in life but not

entitle them I was taking a queue from

my mother's strategy same idea and I

went home that day and I I told my wife

I was going to do this and I sat down

with my two kids and I said here's how

this trust works and everything's good

until even if I get run over by a truck

you're good till you finished college

and they went yeah that's great that you

know didn't give a about it they

were four and six

so I can't believe you sat your four and

six-year-old but I had to disclose what

I done years later years later we're

still in Boston and my son is doing

really poorly in high school he is

sucking and just not applying himself

and you know his his marks are terrible

and the way to look at high school is

it's just like a test to get into

college you got to you got to pass a few

things and I so one day he says to me um

I'll never forget this conversation Lyn

and I were going out to a movie that

night and he says Hey Dad one of my

friends was telling me about his trust

fund and um

what does my trust fund look like and I

said well I don't know about your

friends fund but here's how yours works

if Mom and I get run over by a truck

you're good until you finish high school

because it doesn't look like you're

going to college he said what do you

mean I said well the trust only pays

till you finish college then it's it's

done he says what do you mean it's done

I said it means no more checks and I

said to him the dead bird under the nest

never learns how to fly and he said what

the does that mean I said what it

means is you should start thinking about

taking advantage of this now CU you're

not and you're you're not I don't know

what's going to happen to you you you're

you're not even to finish high school

here and I think at that moment that

that the lesson of life you know given

to me by my mother must he saw the abyss

he saw the darkness he saw the situation

he was in and went this is bad and

so he he knuckled down and he started

getting into uh in what he was into and

and he he eventually became an

electrical engineer and he he he was at

the top of his class all through you

know college and right into engineering

and in in all these electrical

engineering uh cohorts they all build a

combustion F1 race car and an electric

one and they brace them all around the

world against each other because that's

how they're learning if they're

interested in electrical engineering or

building that F1 Formula car and every

year MIT would win and cuz they always

built the best car well in Trevor's case

he became the captain of the team and he

worked on the software that released the

energy out of the battery in a different

way and he beat MIT and so the Tesla

guys came over and said who are you guys

and he he went to college in McGill he

said we're the McGill team and he said

you're all hired at Tesla all of you the

whole team wow that's where he works

that's where he lives in San Francisco

wow that's the lesson of the dead bird

right there yeah yeah applicable advice

too I'm going to do that yeah yeah

because you can take care of them in

health issues but if you guarantee them

a free ride and they never have to take

any risk they won't and you'll destroy

their lives it's the worst curse you

could do everybody knows people that

have really screwed up rich kids it's

and they made that mistake they just

made it too easy for them it's not going

to happen in my family and my trust goes

you know in multi-generations when he

has kids even if they're not married it

takes care of them till right the end of

college when I was in my final months of

of getting my business Masters my MBA in

that class of maybe 160 cohort you know

that was at that size we thought we were

such hot I mean you know you're

finishing and you know everything and

you're ready to go and just take on the

world and in comes this guy and he says

he looks up he was a guest lecturer but

usually guest lecturer you know gets

some slides up or starts talking about a

presentation about the company they're

work for he was different he walked in

no slides no PowerPoint nothing he just

walked around and looked at all of us

and he said

you guys think you're so damn good don't

you well when you walk out of here the

real world is going to kick the living

out of you and you won't know what

hit you it'll be brutal about a third of

you will be a complete failure another

third will be spinning their wheels a

decade from now and the other third will

be phenomenal successes too too bad

about the other twoth thirds but I'm

just telling you the truth and I look

down at him and I thought what an

what he claimed in that

presentation was that

experience is very important in life and

that in fact intuition is just

experience distilled the longer you're

at something the better your intuition

is about businesses and people and I

thought what a load of crap today I'm

that guy I'm that guy walking in those

MBA classes at Harvard and MIT looking

at them and saying you know nothing and

the real world's going to kick the

living out of you and I can't

believe this has happened to me but but

he was absolutely right and so today

with all of the experiences I've had all

The Good the Bad and the Ugly and all of

the horrible things that have happened

in the businesses I've invested in and

all the euphoric ones and the amazing

outcomes that experience is distilled to

intuition I can sit in a room with

somebody for 15 minutes and know if I've

got a winner or not and 99% of the time

I'm right so I listen to the gut and I

listen to the person I listen to the

plan I know know it's going to work or

it isn't I just know I'm that good but

he was right the only way to get to

where I am today is having spent 30

years doing it it's the only way you can

do it you can't you can't buy it and so

I really really believe that about

entrepreneurs and investing in them and

supporting them you need the experience

that the road traveled gives you that

turns into in intuition and that becomes

a very powerful tool my journey started

this way I wanted to be a photographer

or a

cinematographer and I was doing a lot of

Photography in school and I said to my

father I'm going to make this my my life

he said you'll starve to death there's

so many good photographers you're going

to have to compete with so many good

cinematographers so many great editors

it's very hard to break out and I said

well GE you're not being very supportive

he said what I'd like you to think about

doing is because you don't know yet why

don't you go and get finished school go

into University finish that and then get

a master's of business so that you have

the tool set as an entrepreneur to

choose any direction you wish and that

was very good advice because it gave me

time to mature a bit and learn the

things I needed to know about running a

business and then soon as I got out I

went back to what I wanted to do I

started a company that made shorts for

the original six hockey teams for the

networks so you know we we would run

around all week shooting hockey players

and coaches and teams in Detroit and

Toronto and New York and and then we

send it I'd edit it and and we send it

up to the satellite and it would appear

on Saturday hockey games and that was my

first company and we we started

producing uh Don Cherry's grape vine

which is a format we owned I didn't even

know what a format was but a format is

ownership it's IP and television and

then another program called the original

six well in a couple of years the

network started knocking in the door

saying we want to buy the company and I

said this is how it works this is pretty

good so we sold that and I started

softkey software prod prod us cuz I'd

met a a guy named John Freeman who did

plotter technology with Osborne

computers very way back CPM and we

founded that together and I sold the

software to Giant plotter manufacturers

because back in those days you want to

do graphs they did it on a multi-axis

plotter and we had the controlling

software and softkey grew Into The

Learning Company which was the world's

largest educational reference software

company and we sold that one for 4.2

billion and then I woke up with the you

know founding team in Boston we were in

Cambridge and I said

wow we're rich how'd that happen we

didn't even notice it we just I'm not

kidding we just woke up one day said

okay what do we all do next we went we

went right back to work that's what

happened so we didn't stop we just kept

going and that was many deals ago I've

had many many deals since then