This book, by Mr. Sam Zell, outlines this author’s key business principles, and also details some of his business dealings. Mr. Zell is a self-made Chicago-based billionaire. His major area of business has been real estate. However, as a true entrepreneur, he has also experienced substantial successes in several other business areas.
Here are his three major business philosophies:
Strategic outlook: Be contrarian: “if everyone is going left, look right!”, i.e. find opportunities, often in unglamorous industries, and be long-term.
Values: Urgency is key, and be transparent; base your business on building fast with realistic partners (win-win), and safeguard your own reputation and integrity. Develop strong negotiating skills, even toughness, but without negotiating for “nickels and dimes” (as this so often creates win-lose dynamics).
Being an entrepreneur: Focus on opportunities and potential upside! How sales is key, and liquidity equals value. To accept key risks and potential for downside is a part of the entrepreneurial experience, and to manage risk is a key part of the experience, as well. Critical thinking is the trademark of an entrepreneur!
A key learning from being an entrepreneur, as Mr. Zell sees it, is “someone who doesn’t just see the problems but also sees the solutions – the opportunities.” He stresses that this would imply that the successful entrepreneur would go for any business opportunity that he finds attractive, irrespectively of the industry. The entrepreneur might typically, however, be able to draw on relevant experiences and insights from other involvements, in other industries. This view might be in contrast to what many family offices and individual investors might preach, namely that one should focus exclusively on one or a few industries, to build up a relevant in-depth knowledge here. In contrast, Zell disagrees: For a true entrepreneur, it is the specific business opportunity that matters, not the industry!
Mr. Zell sees no boundary between work and fun. Hard work is fun, and should be driven by being truly hungry!
As noted, Zell stresses that successful entrepreneurs also tend to be effective revenue generators. They enjoy the function of selling! Again, there might be a contrast here relative to the typical family offices or individual investors where the revenue generation dimension might be less at the center.
A personal experience comes to mind: The former CEO of Nestlé, Peter Brabeck, once told me, “Peter, you are the best salesperson I know!” Since I consider myself to be an entrepreneur, this was the most meaningful compliment I could get!
Mr. Zell emphasizes the critical importance of philanthropy and entrepreneurial education:
Philanthropy. Mr. Zell was brought up with charitable giving from childhood, with his parents giving generously to Jewish causes, especially to Polish issues. Thus Mr. Zell finds it both natural and important that philanthropy is linked to causes that the donor(s) are deeply passionate about.
Entrepreneurial Education. He and his Zell Foundation have been very active in entrepreneurial business education activities. This means supporting several original approaches, including a very successful one, at IDC, Herzliya, Israel. By the way, Mr. Zell feels that the typical Israeli graduate student might be even more driven, even more super-motivated, than U.S. counterparts. Active involvement in the Israeli armed forces may have had a positive impact here.
In conclusion, I can highly recommend this book. It provides a lot of take-home value and practical insights! It is the work of a highly successful entrepreneur, and it presents valuable “how to’s”, in clear, straight-forward ways, without being marred by a too complicated prose!
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