I would like to thank all of my partners for believing in me. This book is your work as much as it is mine. There is no such thing as a truly self-made man; I am a synthesis of my environment and everyone around me. Without you, none of this is possible. A small pebble rolling down a hill will eventually become an avalanche. You are the force that pushed the first pebble down the hill. Your faith has created my success.
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Introduction—Why
Greed Keeps Most
People from Getting
Wealthy
We all want to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Unfortunately, everything in life has a price of admission. In some shape or form, we must always pay for the things we want. For our health we must invest our time, focus, and discipline to go the gym and maintain a healthy diet. To be wise, we must invest our time, effort, and energy to study with the wise men and women of the past, present, and future. To be wealthy we must study money, solve problems, and be prepared to share the wealth along the way. Those who fail to pay for success rarely see it.
Money People Deal explores the fastest way to real estate Wealth—joint ventures. Joint ventures are a technique few people truly understand. Of course, many of the largest, most successful corporations use joint ventures every day to earn massive profits while most struggling small investors and entrepreneurs have no knowledge of joint ventures. The truth is that most small entrepreneurs and investors are too greedy and small minded to create wealth through their endeavors. Everything in life has a price of admission, and so do joint ventures. Joint ventures are based on giving, sharing of resources, and creating larger value for everyone involved.
When I form a joint venture, I focus on what I give, not what I get. The more I give away, the richer I get, the happier my investors are to work with me, and the more money I have to invest. The game is simple and easy if you know the rules; the game is impossible if you try to be greedy. The problem with most novice entrepreneurs and investors is that they are conditioned to consume instead of create. We are conditioned to focus on what we are getting, not on what we are giving. Too often we want to own everything entirely by ourselves. So many investors and entrepreneurs are happier to own a single grape than share half of a watermelon.
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To pursue the fastest way to real estate wealth, we must kill the greedy person on the inside and focus on creating greater value for our partners, our families, and ourselves.
Why We Need Entrepreneurs More
than Ever Before
We are facing a crisis in the US today, and although I am a born Canadian and explicitly not an American, I am concerned for America. America was once the greatest country in the world, an industrial juggernaut and the envy of other nations. America had the best of everything—the best jobs, the best houses, the best companies—and the American dream was desired all over the globe. Immigrants from around the world would risk their lives and the lives of their families to move to America and chase the dream of “making it” in the best country in the world. Today, families who move from Mexico to pursue the American dream are moving back to Mexico because America’s dream is over.
The world faces a huge problem while we watch America fall apart. America is supposed to be the poster child of capitalism, a supporter of small and large business, and a place where anyone can make the dream happen. Unfortunately, America is sick because it has more problems than it has entrepreneurs to solve them. Today high schools and universities are churning out record numbers of robotic young people who are programmed to be employees. The sad thing is that these young people have nowhere to go after they step off the conveyor belt of the education system. America does not have enough jobs for these young people, and the trend is becoming global. In China, young men are finishing university decorated with bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees with nowhere to go. These people, both American and Chinese, are educated, conditioned, and programmed to look for jobs—not create jobs.
Times Are Changing
Current thought leaders would argue that we are entering a new age. Some say the Information Age is over and we are entering the Conceptual
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Age. It is no longer good enough to “go to school, get a good job, and save money for retirement.” It’s time for everyone to become an entrepreneur, at least part time. A career is not enough anymore. In the near future, everyone with a career will also need a side business and a portfolio of investment real estate to maintain a healthy standard of living. The middle class is becoming an endangered species, and job security is disappearing. The average Generation Y or echo boomer will change career paths every four years. Specific career-path skills are less important today than ever; what is more important in the Conceptual Age is to become a generalist, understand general concepts, and be able to put the pieces together. In the Conceptual Age, the creative people, the conceptual people, and the entrepreneurs are becoming the leaders in society. People who can put Money, People, and Deals together will enjoy the greatest freedom in the Conceptual Age, while people who cling to job security, entitlement, and old ideas will have the hardest time of all.
Who This Book Is for
Money People Deal is for those who want to become leaders in the Conceptual Age. It’s a book for people who want to create jobs instead of looking for jobs. This book is for people who want to retire early and retire rich. It’s a book for people who want more freedom of time and place. This book is for people who want to pursue the shortest way to wealth. This book is for parents who want to look after their children and children who want to look after their parents. This book is for people who embrace change. But most of all, this book is for you.
How to Read This Book
Money People Deal is written in three parts. Part 1 is “The Rules of the Game,” and it outlines how the game of Money, People, Deal is played. The first part of this book outlines broad concepts, ideas that must be understood, and rules that must be known to play the game to win.
Part 2, “The Dealmaker, the Mind-Set, and Who You Have to Become,” focuses on the mind-set you must develop and the person who you must
become in order to be a dealmaker. This section is mostly conceptual and focuses on attitude, because entrepreneurship is 99 percent mind-set. In life, success is built on attitude, not aptitude.
Part 3 is called “The Execution: The Art of Deal” and focuses on components of real estate and making a profit. This section is specific to real estate and offers some unique strategies and techniques to consider when putting together great deals.
At the conclusion of most chapters, you will discover an action step relating to the concepts presented. To get maximum benefit from Money People
