The story of a 3.5-million-dollar violin that you’ll never forget — “A 3.5 million-dollar violin?” Mario exclaimed, intrigued by the news. “What? Did you say 3.5 million?” Luigi reacted. Mario continued reading the article. He started laughing as he read a little further. Then paused. “No way!” he shouted in disbelief. “Ohh my goodness, Luigi, you won’t believe this!” “Tell me…

Henry Ford woke up early one morning with a paper in hand. He had envisioned a V8 engine design. He called his team of engineers to discuss the idea with them. “Mr. Ford, you don’t understand. …

No Money in Your Wallet, Doesn’t Mean “No Money in Your Head” — We‘re always brainstorming ideas, yet we frequently find ourselves with limited resources to execute our “extraordinary” dreams — don't we? Believe me, I know everything about the “no-money” mindset. For years I struggled with this painful scarcity in my head. It took me multiple years to realize that this “no-money”…

“The more I accelerated the deeper we got stuck in the mud” — “Hey, Pete, I just purchased a new Land Cruiser. Let’s take it off-road to test!” My friend immediately agreed. We had no idea what lay ahead of us that day. Soon we found ourselves riding over boulders, pits, ditches and sandy areas. The powerful SUV conquered everything without a problem. That was until we encountered the river. “This is where the…

Cash isn’t what it used to be — Henry Ford revolutionized our world. To date, our entire global economy relies on the efficiency of the assembly line. On January 1914, Mr. Ford announced he would start paying his workers a remarkable $5 a day — raising the salary of his workers overnight from $2.25. Competitors considered Mr. Ford…

The Value is in the Knowledge — Not Technical Skills — Captain “Sully” had only 208 seconds to land the Airbus A320 in New York’s freezing Hudson River following a bird strike that induced the loss of thrust in both engines. Here are the 208 seconds recorded by the black box: (Source) 3:27 pm The plane is at an altitude of…

The Silent Startup-Killer — “You’ll never succeed,” my father said with his deep authoritative voice. “What are you talking about dad?” I asked. “You want to start another business, but you don’t have what it takes to make it succeed,” he said. You can imagine how this conversation went… Fireworks anyone? You bet! I…

Imagine you have the opportunity of a lifetime to win one million dollars in a golf tournament. These are the rules: You have one chance to get one golf ball inside a par-4 hole. You have only four shots to get the ball inside the hole. (This is an average…

Between 1924 and 1929 the Dow Jones Industrial Average had experienced one of the longest bull markets in history. Some thought this “party” would last forever. This easy-money opportunity attracted inexperienced investors, many “gambling” with borrowed money. History tells that by 1929, nearly two out of every five dollars that…