09/10/2025
๐๐๐ฅ For the Love Entrepreneurship another ๐ gem rare information is here
"If you see a bandwagon, it's already too late [or almost]"...
__Where are you? Waiting and watching? In the driver's seat already? Or?
When I was a student in the late 1970s, the first billionaire I ever heard about was a man called Sir James Goldsmith, who was a buccaneering type of entrepreneur from a bygone era [that I'm glad is behind us!] Nevertheless, in his memoir, he had one catchy phrase that stuck with me:
"If you see a bandwagon, it's already too late"...
It reminds me of the type of people who start running around only when a new opportunity is well established, and there isn't anything to be made from it, or the cost is now too high. Some of these people get caught in a bubble and lose their money to fraudsters who are also trying to cash in.
Many years later, when I too became an entrepreneur, I realised that the best way to avoid bandwagons was to stick to one thing, and do it so well that you are always ahead of the curve. When a new technology comes along, I try to integrate it into what I'm already doing or just pivot [without leaving my own domain!]
Let me give you some examples:
I think what is happening in cryptocurrencies is truly remarkable, but I was never in when it was a nascent technology, even though I heard about it long before it started appearing in newspapers.
Today, I completely stay away because I know that I don't have the "right to play". It's like trying to play basketball when you are a soccer player. Reminds me of the time when Michael Jordan [top basketball legend] decided to go and play another sport called baseball. Let's just say it was rather humbling for him!
Another example is the amazing stuff going on in life sciences. Things like gene editing where they can develop medicines to completely eliminate some diseases. It's really cool but I'm just not going to put money in it, because I can't bring myself to the level of understanding that would make me comfortable that I won't be taken on a merry-go-round!
I have told you before that I also don't really invest. I'm not an investor in the sense that I don't look for things to put money in. I build my own businesses based on my own ideas and those of my teams, who I know well and trust. This is because for me [personally], investing is actually a very specialised field.
There are many types of investors that you should know about as an entrepreneur: Venture capital investors, private equity investors, public market investors, institutional investors... [and more]. These are each highly specialised fields. You must study what they do because it's important.
One of my closest friends is a professional investor in New York. He loves to send me analyst reports on deep research into potential investment targets. It can be mind-boggling to me, to be honest.
If you [yourself, being much younger than I] want to be an investor, that is good! We need them... but I counsel that you must take it seriously and do some serious, certifiable study first. You can find credible learning resources online, as well as read good books [biographies of investors, too].
You must also reach out and meet people in the industry in person, going to lectures and industry events, expanding your learning network, and listening to the latest. [Keeping up with tech developments alone is more than a full-time job these days!]
I am not saying that you should not make investments to help family and friends [or even gifted young people in your community]. Just don't throw your life savings into it, as I have pointed out before.
We live in a time of some truly spectacular technological developments, but these things actually come in waves, in my studied experience. Some have even argued that the period from 1860-1950 was probably more spectacular than the last 50 years.
Look at all the things they did, including electricity, flight, modern medicine, and the industrial revolution. If you are living now, it can be just as great or even greater!
"Where are you?"
How are you preparing yourself? Don't just buzz around like a blue-bottomed fly, or simply watch what's happening around you like it's TV show involving someone else. Settle down, focus, get serious, and get moving.
No one, not even the government, owes you a living. Don't be like those whose hopes lie in the outcome of election cycles. Take charge of your own life.
Image credit: KWB - Ubuntu Hope via AI. Are you on the sidelines hoping will eventually stop for you to hop on? Think again!