Billionaire Growth Strategies
How Does Tom Gores Do it?
Most of the news about Tom Gores has to do with the Detroit Pistons, so it’s always great to hear some business news about him and Platinum Equity.
“This is a good story for Michigan,” Remenar said. “It’s a good story for Michigan, Platinum Equity taking two businesses in need of growth capital and providing it, to create a stronger, more capable auto supplier.”
Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill. — Warren Buffett
The answer to the question of how Carlos Slim Helu became so wealthy can be traced in large measure back to his childhood. Carlos was fortunate enough to receive an early start in his business training from his businessman father. There’s a school of thought that kids who grow up in a family where dad (or mom) is an entrepreneur are far more likely to become entrepreneurs themselves. I participated in an extended debate over this years ago with a couple of colleagues. At first I resisted the proposition but came to accept it over time. I know a well-known entrepreneur who explained how he got the entrepreneurial bug early on this way. One evening, when he was about 10 years old, he sat silently in the living room listening to his dad negotiate a bank loan over the telephone. That’s when it hit him that he wanted to be a businessman too. Most of my successful entrepreneurial associates had entrepreneur fathers.
Warren Buffett Wins Again: Train Traffic Is Going Through The Roof
It feels like an anachronism in this age of Internet to see a tycoon make a huge investment in an old school industry such as railroads. Even more so when it pays off in spades. However, that’s precisely what Warren Buffett did about three years ago. Now he is being rewarded.
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
For anyone stuck on what industry to go with, here’s a list of fast growth ones.
Fastest-Growth Industries for U.S. Small Businesses in 2012
- Residential building construction: 14.77 percent
- Building custom software and servers for businesses: 14.29 percent
- Machinery, equipment, and supplies merchant wholesalers: 13.75 percent
- Management, scientific, and technical consulting services: 12.31 percent
Tom Gore of Platinum Equity is one of the best examples of someone taking the tycoon playbook strategy to its fullest limits. He’s just one third of an impressive trio of brothers who all came from pretty humble beginnings. Older brother Alec is in the same line of business running The Gores Group. Sam Gores is a former butcher turned high-powered Hollywood agent and founder of the Paradigm Talent Agency.
Here’s an interview with Tom.
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