Steve Jobs on Failure

In 1 minute and 43 seconds, Steve Jobs has our trainer throwing in the towel and asking for mercy.  He draws a line between dreamers and doers.  It comes down to two points.

Dreamers:

  • Don’t ask for help – which becomes a justification for not acting

  • Are not willing to fail

There are several directions I can go with this, but I will just tackle the first point.  I recently read a survey where 71% of workers are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” from their work. Look around your office 7 out of every 10 people would rather be doing something else. There are many reasons, but mostly people are not fulfilled.

How many opportunities for advancement are there? If you are honest – a fat pay raise is not going to make you happier. Even changing jobs is not the answer. How long before you stall out there?

People live unfilled lives for a variety reasons, but they continue to do the same things over and over again.

Question: You encourage your kids to dream, but you are afraid to act on your own dreams. Do you really think your kids are going to do what you say not what you do? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Steve Jobs – Think Different

 

“Here is to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes, the ones who see things differently.”

It is very easy to watch this video and say – Come on Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Amelia Earhart, Pablo Picasso – those are truly world changers. The probability of me having a similar impact on the world is ZERO.

LOL, if you are reading this post that’s probably true. Maybe a little bit higher than zero.  All kidding aside, Steve Jobs is challenging us to make a difference. Consensus thinking is not going to cut it.

At the end of our lives, we will ask ourselves several questions and one will be – Did I matter? Personally, my goal is to have an impact on a broader number of people than my direct family. Thru entrepreneurship and helping others pursue this path is how I’m attempting to make a difference. This can be a difficult and at times very lonely journey, but the rewards outweigh the risk in my opinion.

Note: Obviously there are numerous people who slave away all day or their day job and then spend countless nights and weekends volunteering and doing other things to make an impact. It is not my intent to imply that only entrepreneurs can make an impression. My hope is that we simply flip the switch and aspire to spend our most productive hours on our passion.

Question: Even if it your entrepreneurial endeavor completely falls apart, will you look back at it as a waste of time? Or will you smile and say at least I mattered – if only for a short time? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Steve Jobs “They’ll Get Used to It”

I have been slacking off on blojobsgging, but saw this story today by Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen on Steve Jobs (The Atlantic Wire) and just had to share it.

In the fall of 2006, my wife, Laura, and I went out to dinner with Steve and his brilliant and lovely wife, Laurene. Sitting outside of the restaurant on California Avenue in Palo Alto waiting for a table to open up, on a balmy Silicon Valley evening, Steve pulled his personal prototype iPhone out of his jeans pocket and said, ‘Here, let me show you something.’  He took me on a tour through all of the features and capabilities of the new device.

“After an appropriate amount of oohing and aahing, I ventured a comment. BlackBerry aficionado as I was, I said, ‘Boy, Steve, don’t you think it’s going to be a problem not having a physical keyboard? Are people really going to be okay typing directly on the screen?’ He looked me right in the eye with that piercing gaze and said, ‘They’ll get used to it.’

Wow, if I only had half of his conviction!

The 101 Finance People You Have To Follow On Twitter

I knew something was up as my inbox began filling up with messages from Twitter announcing new followers. I couldn’t recall any thought provoking tweets that would have enticed that kind of response. Certainly my retweet of “The Sam Jackson siri ad is so effing good http://stks.co/3NKP $AAPL” couldn’t have won over more than a couple of new followers.  Then I saw someone on my stream thanking Business Insider for including them on their “The 101 Finance People You Have To Follow On Twitter” list.

As I clicked over to the list, I began scrolling down.  There was former White House Advisor Austan Goolsbee.  Dr. Doom Nouriel Roubini.  Josh Brown. Those guys are on TV all of the time – it made sense for them to be on the list.  As I continued scrolling, I passed a few guys that I have exchanged tweets with in the past.  I began scrolling faster and then – low and behold there I was smiling ear to ear.

I am very humbled to be on this list and thank Business Insider very much for my inclusion.  According to them, the reason to follow me is “specific ideas and general hilarity.”  I laugh at my tweets all of the time, but you really have to be a geek to think some of the stuff I say is funny.  Here are a couple samples:

Hopefully, my ideas are better than my humor. One of my favorite plays right now is Liquidity Services (LQDT).  It is often referred to as the E-Bay of Government and Business surplus and salvage assets.  That may not sound exciting,but take a look at this Nightline video featuring the company.

Wall Street is loving LQDT as they are delivering the goods.  Last quarter its earnings were up 85% year over year and its revenue was up 41%.  Its IBD rankings are off the charts.

If you are not sold yet – check out its chart. As the market has pulled back over the last 10 days, LQDT has bucked the trend – showing incredible relative strength.  It may need to rest here, but LQDT is definitely one to keep your eye on.

 

Disclosure:

Long LQDT.  I may sell at any time.

 

Evolve as a Trader or Polish Up Your Resume

Six years ago to this very day I walked away from corporate America to trade full time.  As each anniversary day comes, I can’t help thinking back on March 31, 2006.  Well over a year of preparation, planning and deep reflection went into that moment.  After all, I was walking away from a great 6 figure job with significant responsibility and latitude.  It wasn’t like I was leaving a dead end job that I hated.

We have all seen the statistics that claim that 90% of traders fail. Although I have never seen any data behind the claim – it is easy to accept as true.  We all know many people who have been wiped out in the market, but very few who have been trading full-time for 5 years or more.  That being said, I would still love to see the data.  Who are these people?  Did they work on Wall Street before venturing on their own?   Were they capitalized sufficiently?  How is success or failure being measured?   A few weeks ago I received an email from a writer that was  working on a story on people who lost their jobs or took a buyout and turned to trading instead of pursuing another job.  I think my response may have surprised the writer.

I can’t recall anyone who has attempted to trade after losing their job in the last few years. As you know that was quite common in the late 90s. After the internet bubble many decided that their time would be better spent looking for a job.  2008 reinforced it for those that had forgotten.  IMO, entering trading reactively (like after job loss) is asking for trouble.  Trading full-time is very difficult. It requires a well thought out proactive plan for any hopes of success.  Even with a plan it is still a difficult endeavor…

With all of my preparation and planning – it nearly all went out the window in the recession/depression of 2008.  Like Mike Tyson says “everyone has a plan til they get punched in the mouth.”

 

Up until 2008, I was primarily as position trader / investor.  I preferred thinking in terms of months instead of days or weeks.  Some of my best trades have been 18 months or longer.  To capture longer term moves you will have to suffer through some significant pull-backs.  This works well when there is a guaranteed paycheck coming in, but sans paycheck it is a whole different ball game.  I had thought through this scenario before resigning, but 2008 was 10X worst than any situation I had imagined.  Fortunately I was well enough capitalized to survive, but emotionally I was a wreck.  It was clear that changes were REQUIRED.

One way to control draw-downs is to reduce your time frame.  A good swing trader can stay near their highs by thinking in terms singles or doubles instead of home runs and by only trading when the market is in a confirmed up trend.  I have spoken about Mark Minervini’s seminar that I have taken to help with this style (here and here).

After I had taken the Minervini seminar in October 2010, the market made a nice move higher.  It was easier to stick to my old strategies than to adopt the new ones I had learned. However, when the market turned back down in March – my old ways failed me once again.  I had just lived through this in 2008. Clearly, it was time to either evolve as a trader or polish up my resume.

BTW, My resume still has dust on it.