People keep asking for a detailed breakdown of the modules. So here it is out in the open. The course consists of 12 learning modules comprising approximately 900 pages. It takes 3 months to complete.
Bebo’s $849M Implosion Teaches a Brutal Lesson in Business
This news story gave me a chuckle as I have a long-held fascination with revolving door deals. There are two basic kinds. The unintentional and the intentional. The Bebo one is an example of the unintentional variety with a spectacular payoff.
Also-ran social network Bebo has been bought back by one of its founders for $1 million five years after that same founder, along with his wife, sold Bebo to AOL for $850 million. Sure, the couple made out like bandits, but there’s a bigger lesson here: Buying a copycat social network is a terrible idea. (source)
Some are seemingly intentional.
In a nutshell, a revolving door deal is one in which a company is sold and then taken back when the buyer is unable to make his payments. The seller gets to keep the down payment and all the other payments received to date in addition to regaining full control of the business. I believe the term was first coined to describe Kirk Kerkorian’s various deals involving Las Vegas casinos and movie studios. When a buyer came along who needed seller financing help, Kirk would accommodate them but under some pretty onerous conditions. These were created by having a set of covenants that would create a death spiral in the event that the buyer failed to comply with even a single one.
How Richard Desmond Became a Billionaire
Richard Desmond is a British media mogul worth over $1.5 billion in USD. Here he talks about his rise from an impoverished childhood. His business career started at the ripe old age of 5 after his father became deaf from an illness and required a sign language interpreter to accompany him to meetings. Young Richard won the gig. When he hit 13 he was hired by a popular London music venue, Manor House, to work in the cloak room which afforded him the opportunity to meet and befriend some of the 1960’s biggest rock stars.
Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express. Northern & Shell also owns British television network Channel 5 as well as Portland TV[3] which, in turn, owns the adult TV channels Television X, Red Hot TV, and others.
In 2010, Desmond was ranked the equal-57th richest man in Britain according to the Sunday Times Rich List,[4] with a net worth of £950 million. He was once again listed on the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List, with his fortune still at £950 million. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Desmond)
This a well done profile of a highly successful man from humble beginnings.
How to Master the Rockefeller Habits
This is definitely worth a read. Entrepreneur Dane Maxwell summarized the colossal 832 page David Nasaw biography of John D. Rockefeller.
Strangling Innovation: Tesla versus ‘Rent Seekers’
Tycoons are invariably on the look out for disruptive technologies and strategies because they act as accelerants for growth. Moreover, tycoons are not afraid to upset the apple-cart and make enemies by dislodging the fat cats who control an industry and suck out huge rents in return for delivering minimal value to customers.
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