Valuetainment - October 29, 2018


Episode 198： 25 Business Lessons from Mobsters & The Mafia


Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

242.55574

Word count

3,242

Sentence count

255

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, Patrick talks about the 25 business lessons you can learn from the mafia and the people that built their empire. 1. Negotiation 2. Unorthodox strategies 3. Surprise 4. Putting together a team 5. Selling a vision 6. Paying commission 7. Keeping your word 8. Loyalty 9. Keeping a good team 10. Being a good manager

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 30 seconds. One time for the underdog. Ignition sequence start. Let me see you put them up. Reach the sky, turn the stars up above. Cause it's one time for the underdog. One time for the underdog.
00:00:17.320 I'm Patrick Bedevi, host of ITM, and today we're going to talk about 25 business lessons to learn from mobsters and the mafia.
00:00:24.440 There's a reason why when you ask many CEOs and entrepreneurs what is their favorite movie of all time, you'll hear them say Godfather 1 and Godfather 2.
00:00:33.380 You know why? Because every element of what a CEO and an entrepreneur goes through is in those two movies.
00:00:39.660 Practically every one of them, minus all the killing and all that other stuff.
00:00:43.620 Every one of those things an entrepreneur goes through.
00:00:45.640 So let me cover with you some of the points I got here that you can learn from some of these mafia bosses, mobsters, and some of them are even criminals that they build their empire.
00:00:52.960 Number one, negotiation. By far, if there's one thing they are very good at, is negotiation.
00:00:58.320 Whether it's negotiation when it's at court, negotiation with their enemies, negotiation with their employees, negotiation with their teams, negotiation with their customers.
00:01:05.180 They have to be a good negotiator in order for them to make it.
00:01:08.740 Sometimes they have to negotiate with an enemy that wants to kill them and put them out of business.
00:01:12.720 It's like you having to negotiate with a competitor of yours that's locally putting you out of business.
00:01:17.220 How do you figure out a way to make it work with them?
00:01:19.300 Number two, they have some of the most unorthodox strategies that they use that's not conventional.
00:01:24.360 Everybody's trying to do the conventional way.
00:01:26.460 They use different strategies.
00:01:27.920 If these guys were in war, they'd be a Napoleon type of a strategy or a Sun Tzu type of guy because they don't do what everybody else does.
00:01:34.140 Number three, surprising their competition.
00:01:36.380 They're famous for surprising their competition.
00:01:38.660 Out of nowhere, all of a sudden, boom, something happens.
00:01:41.260 They weren't expecting this thing to take place.
00:01:43.200 You see this happen in Silicon Valley all the time.
00:01:45.220 You see this happen in business all the time.
00:01:46.640 You see CEOs, competitors, Ford surprising Chevrolet.
00:01:50.600 You'll see this happen with McDonald's surprising Burger King or Pepsi surprising Coke.
00:01:55.100 It happens all the time.
00:01:56.940 The biggest ones do this all the time.
00:01:58.480 Number four, they're experts at putting a team together.
00:02:00.940 If you look at somebody, a criminal that goes out and gets the job done, they know.
00:02:04.920 Just think about the movie Ocean's Eleven.
00:02:06.720 Do you notice how many different personalities that get recruited?
00:02:10.000 It's not the same strength.
00:02:11.020 One is technology.
00:02:11.820 One is transportation.
00:02:12.820 One is connection.
00:02:13.560 One is the charm.
00:02:14.300 One is the looks.
00:02:15.100 One is the deceit.
00:02:15.820 They have so many things that they know we need a good team to put together to go out
00:02:20.320 and get the job done.
00:02:21.360 The same happens with business as well.
00:02:22.840 Number five, selling a vision.
00:02:24.100 They're always selling a vision.
00:02:25.660 Number six, paying commission.
00:02:27.440 Listen, the story of Paul Castellano.
00:02:29.460 He was known for only being a business guy and keeping a lot of the money to himself.
00:02:33.780 You know what eventually happened in front of Sparks' restaurant in New York?
00:02:36.980 We all know what happened.
00:02:37.820 He got shot by Gallo.
00:02:39.140 Joey Gallo who was working for Sammy the Bull who was working with John Gotti because he wasn't
00:02:43.820 willing to pay commission.
00:02:44.820 The same goes in business.
00:02:46.060 I see a lot of stingy CEOs, a lot of stingy sales representatives that don't pay a lot
00:02:50.120 of commission to their people and they're wondering why they constantly lose their people.
00:02:54.040 You got to pay your people properly for them to stick around knowing you take care of them
00:02:59.380 as well.
00:02:59.820 Number seven, there's a lot of value in being liquid.
00:03:02.220 You see a lot of people pitching.
00:03:03.840 You're putting all your money in everywhere.
00:03:06.140 They didn't work that way.
00:03:07.360 They had cash.
00:03:08.200 When things came up, they knew how to move.
00:03:10.040 The same goes with bigger companies.
00:03:11.320 There's a reason why Apple is always known for having a lot of cash.
00:03:15.380 Apple is so stingy.
00:03:16.620 They have $60 billion in the bank for what?
00:03:19.420 Because like this, they can buy beats.
00:03:21.600 Like this, they can buy another company because they have the cash to be able to do that.
00:03:24.740 The same goes with them as well.
00:03:25.920 Number eight is keeping your word.
00:03:27.440 If you do not keep your word with the people you work with in that world, you are not going
00:03:31.720 to be around for a long time.
00:03:32.780 The same goes with business.
00:03:33.900 You need to build a team around you that you know if they say they're going to do something,
00:03:36.880 they come through and pull it off, right?
00:03:38.420 Number nine is very, very, very big.
00:03:41.280 And that's about loyalty.
00:03:42.360 You see, they use the word rat.
00:03:44.420 That is the terminology they use.
00:03:45.920 And in their world, if they have a rat on their team, that person gets killed.
00:03:50.580 By the way, in the world of business, if you have a rat in your company and they go and
00:03:55.200 rat out numbers of yours to your competitors, you have to fire them immediately before they
00:04:00.660 put you out of business.
00:04:01.920 Immediately.
00:04:02.620 Enemy of the state, number one, is a rat in your company.
00:04:05.920 Fire them and move on.
00:04:07.360 Number ten, they have trusted advisors.
00:04:09.320 Some call them conciliaries, which means what?
00:04:11.400 It's an advisory board I can go out there and talk to and say, should we do this?
00:04:15.000 Should we not do this?
00:04:16.220 What do you think about this?
00:04:17.280 Is this a power play?
00:04:18.340 Should we put our money here?
00:04:19.520 Should we fire this guy?
00:04:20.440 What should we do?
00:04:21.200 The same thing goes with business.
00:04:22.320 You got to make sure you have trusted advisors around you that are giving you the right direction.
00:04:25.220 Number eleven, collaboration with other families.
00:04:28.440 They find ways to collaborate with other people.
00:04:31.540 Hey, this business here we're starting, what about if we do this together?
00:04:34.780 And we make money on this and you make money on this, but you bring help on this side, we
00:04:38.460 bring help on this side, that becomes a collaboration.
00:04:40.740 Hey, on this market over here, I know you're good on this side of the business, I'm good
00:04:44.220 at this side of the business, what about we figure out a way to work together and do
00:04:46.900 collaboration?
00:04:47.520 No problem.
00:04:48.360 They're very good at collaboration, especially the ones that go higher and higher.
00:04:51.520 Collaboration really, all it does is it speeds up you getting to the top faster
00:04:55.360 is what it is, right?
00:04:56.340 Next, number twelve, recruiting.
00:04:58.000 They're masters of recruiting.
00:04:59.140 They're constantly recruiting.
00:05:00.360 They're constantly selling the dream of what could happen if you're part of the family.
00:05:03.940 You're going to get protection, you're going to be part of it for a long term, we're going
00:05:06.820 to make a difference, we're going to have power, we're going to have freedom, we're
00:05:09.280 going to do all this other stuff.
00:05:10.400 Similar things happen in business when some of those conversations are happening.
00:05:14.020 You better believe when you work for Google, you have a big backing.
00:05:17.220 You better believe when you work for Apple, you've got a big backing.
00:05:20.140 You better believe when you're working with Amazon, you've got a big backing.
00:05:23.180 These things take place, the same goes with them as well.
00:05:25.740 Number thirteen, staying ahead of the curve.
00:05:28.460 They're always curious.
00:05:29.560 What's going on over here?
00:05:30.640 What are they doing in this place?
00:05:31.860 Tell me about this part here.
00:05:32.940 They have people that are out there going and doing footwork.
00:05:35.280 Maybe you could call it that, but they're going out there researching.
00:05:37.480 Hey, what if we did this?
00:05:38.320 What's this guy doing?
00:05:38.960 What is going on over here?
00:05:39.800 Did that guy start a business?
00:05:40.760 Are they thinking about opening this new product?
00:05:42.360 Did they go into that state?
00:05:43.220 Did they go into that new market?
00:05:44.340 There's always that taking place for them to know what's next in the marketplace so they
00:05:48.020 can be on the edge as well.
00:05:49.000 Number fourteen, face-to-face communication.
00:05:51.900 A lot of times, has this ever happened to you where you text somebody and you're having a
00:05:55.800 serious conversation, but maybe your level of seriousness is five, but your tone
00:06:00.260 and your text sounds like a nine, the other person's thinking it's a ten, but you're
00:06:03.920 just talking to them as a five because that's just your tone, the way you text.
00:06:06.800 They like face-to-face because face-to-face, I don't like it, but this is how I say it.
00:06:10.980 I don't like it.
00:06:11.780 And on text it says, I don't like it.
00:06:13.520 It's a big difference.
00:06:14.320 They like to do face-to-face.
00:06:15.640 Let's sit down and figure out a way to get this thing done, right, instead of text.
00:06:18.700 Next, backing each other up.
00:06:20.360 You've got to back me up.
00:06:21.160 I'm going to back you up.
00:06:21.920 If I call a shot, you're going to back me up.
00:06:23.620 If you call a shot because you have a history of backing me up, guess what?
00:06:26.520 I am definitely backing you up.
00:06:28.020 But we've got to back each other up because there's a certain thing about you want a lot
00:06:31.160 of power.
00:06:31.640 You want a lot of influence.
00:06:32.640 It comes with a group of people backing each other up.
00:06:35.060 If you want to be a solo guy, you can be a solo guy, but you're probably not going to
00:06:38.440 have a lot of backup, right?
00:06:39.700 Sixteen, hustle and grind.
00:06:40.840 And it's constantly hustling, grinding, because if you don't, someone's trying to put you
00:06:44.880 out of business.
00:06:45.580 Same game here.
00:06:46.480 The same thing that happens in the world of business.
00:06:48.160 Number seventeen, you've got to know the world you live in.
00:06:50.420 What do I mean by this?
00:06:51.220 You see, criminals know that there is a thin line between you and your competitors.
00:06:55.100 Your competitors are going to talk to you.
00:06:56.400 It's going to be all good.
00:06:57.220 But if they have a way to get a bigger piece of the pie than you, they're going to do it.
00:07:00.620 If they've got a way to get one of your best guys to go represent them, they're probably
00:07:03.880 going to do it.
00:07:04.400 The same goes in the world of business.
00:07:05.700 You can have a good relationship and a bond with another CEO who's a competitor.
00:07:08.900 But if that guy can get your best engineer, he's probably going to get your best engineer.
00:07:13.300 That's the line between competitors.
00:07:15.080 Pat Riley can have a relationship with Popovich.
00:07:17.380 But if Pat Riley has an opportunity to pick up Kawhi Leonard, of course he's going to do
00:07:21.340 it.
00:07:21.500 That's the same exact thing in the world that they're in, as well as the world in the world
00:07:24.480 of business.
00:07:25.000 Eighteen, willing to fight for your turf.
00:07:26.820 You've got to fight.
00:07:27.820 You're going to be bullied.
00:07:28.800 People are going to push you around.
00:07:30.020 And one of the things about bullies, if they bully you, you don't stand up, they're going
00:07:33.320 to do it again.
00:07:33.940 Because they know you're afraid.
00:07:35.100 But if they bully you, you stand up, they're going to say, we can't mess with this company.
00:07:38.000 Number 19, they go for huge payoffs.
00:07:40.040 There's a lot of petty criminals that go for small things, like stealing stuff out of your
00:07:44.240 car for a $500 speaker or stereo sound.
00:07:46.580 For what?
00:07:47.080 Some of these guys go for the bigger payoffs.
00:07:49.580 I interviewed Michael Francisi.
00:07:51.180 And one of the things Michael Francisi, right now if you go on YouTube, you type in the word
00:07:54.460 mafia on YouTube.
00:07:55.600 It's the first video that typically pops up.
00:07:57.420 It'll say, highest paid mafia boss tells the truth about the life.
00:08:00.880 He went after the oil and gas business.
00:08:03.180 And he started making a lot of money.
00:08:04.280 Based on the numbers, he's saying he was making anywhere between $4 to $8 million per week
00:08:08.060 as an earner.
00:08:08.880 The point is, he went for the bigger payoffs.
00:08:10.840 In the world of business, if you go for the smaller payoffs, you may make a 50 grand, you
00:08:15.220 may make $100,000, you may make a quarter million dollars.
00:08:17.800 You got to go for the bigger payoffs is what you got to do.
00:08:20.040 Because that's what they're thinking about as well, right?
00:08:21.820 Number 20, you got to respect and value other people's assets.
00:08:25.320 Just look at what happened with Bernie Madoff.
00:08:27.080 Here's a guy that's got a reputation in New York.
00:08:29.620 Everybody knows this guy.
00:08:31.540 Massive building.
00:08:32.600 I was there when he went down the day everybody talked about it.
00:08:35.800 But he didn't respect other people's money.
00:08:37.560 He ends up losing everything.
00:08:38.880 That last name, the Madoff last name is so bad, his son ended up committing suicide just
00:08:44.040 because of father's decision being made because there was no respect for other people's money.
00:08:47.800 You don't respect your investor's money when they give you money for your business.
00:08:50.400 Guess what happens in your business?
00:08:51.560 Go try searching for some other money later on in business.
00:08:53.760 It's not going to happen because you don't respect somebody who gave you money to go out
00:08:56.360 and run your business.
00:08:57.120 Number 21, creativity.
00:08:58.400 There's creative financing like back in the days in the mortgage business, they used to
00:09:01.980 say, we do creative financing.
00:09:03.540 I kept saying, what is creative financing?
00:09:05.180 Well, we do creative financing.
00:09:07.060 Let's just say we can get you approved for this million dollar loan.
00:09:09.180 But tell me what you mean by this creative financing.
00:09:10.980 Look, listen, instead of saying you make $180,000, we can put $620,000.
00:09:15.160 Instead of saying you have $50,000 in the bank, we can tell them you have $500,000 in the bank.
00:09:19.460 We can do creative financing.
00:09:20.780 Don't worry about it.
00:09:21.480 That's not what I'm talking about with creative finances.
00:09:23.040 I'm talking about there's creative ways.
00:09:24.940 Get your business positioned in a way that has an edge over your competitors.
00:09:29.040 By the way, Elon Musk is creative.
00:09:31.800 Jobs is creative.
00:09:33.400 Bezos is creative.
00:09:34.820 They found creative ways to position themselves to move up their empire, whatever industry
00:09:39.620 they were in, so they compete with the marketplace.
00:09:41.520 But you got to get creative.
00:09:42.500 Number 22, rituals.
00:09:43.920 Criminals have rituals.
00:09:44.860 They think about mafia families, they have rituals.
00:09:46.640 There are certain things that you do.
00:09:47.720 You don't cross the line with this.
00:09:48.920 You don't do this with that.
00:09:50.180 You don't do anything with the wives. 0.96
00:09:51.580 You don't do anything with the sisters.
00:09:53.180 You don't do anything with the daughters.
00:09:54.600 There are certain rituals you follow, and the same goes with business.
00:09:57.360 Every company I know has certain rituals that cannot be broken.
00:10:01.480 When you work over here at the home office, we have certain rituals.
00:10:04.180 Anytime I bring new executives, one of the first things we talk about is, these are the
00:10:08.000 rituals we follow.
00:10:08.960 Do you have any problems with these rituals?
00:10:11.020 That one thing is a little bit weird.
00:10:12.680 I know it's weird, but I want to tell you up front, because we're not compromising this.
00:10:16.380 This is who we are.
00:10:17.180 Are you okay with that?
00:10:17.900 Yeah, I'm okay with that, but it is a little bit weird.
00:10:19.780 I understand, but it's what we're doing.
00:10:21.040 Same goes with that as well in the world of business.
00:10:23.180 Number 23, having a succession plan.
00:10:25.300 Who's going to power next after you?
00:10:26.620 Who's going to run the show after you? 0.97
00:10:27.880 Are you already looking for it?
00:10:29.080 Do you know what you're looking for?
00:10:30.240 Do you know what's going to happen when you're no longer there?
00:10:32.060 Do you know who's going to run the company?
00:10:33.360 Do you know if you give it to your 28-year-old son, who has no clue what it is to work 80
00:10:37.440 hours a week.
00:10:37.960 He's just daddy's son, but he wants to come and run the company.
00:10:40.360 Do you know that 60% of your employees are going to leave if you give it to him?
00:10:42.980 Do you know that?
00:10:43.560 Is it too early?
00:10:44.400 Is the timing well?
00:10:45.260 What do you want to do?
00:10:45.900 What are people saying about it?
00:10:46.860 Have you gone to a school?
00:10:47.680 Have you read the books?
00:10:48.640 Have you had an advisor tell you how to properly do a succession plan?
00:10:51.100 Have you spoken to three people that did it the right way, three people that did it the
00:10:54.240 wrong way?
00:10:54.580 Are you prepared for all that other stuff?
00:10:56.100 If you are, great.
00:10:57.480 If you're not, this is what happens when a succession plan has gone wrong.
00:11:00.880 Company collapses because the power was given to the wrong person following the original
00:11:05.360 founder.
00:11:06.140 24, lead by example.
00:11:07.720 See, if you do it right, you'll have your nephew, your niece, your kids, your daughters,
00:11:11.320 your family.
00:11:12.060 People will say, I want to grow up and have the kind of influence that my auntie has.
00:11:15.500 I want to grow up and I want to be an entrepreneur like my uncle.
00:11:18.120 I want to grow up and be like my father.
00:11:19.580 I want to grow up and be like my sister.
00:11:21.100 I want to grow up and be like my brother because you've done it right where you've set the example
00:11:24.880 for somebody else who want to follow your footsteps.
00:11:26.780 And last but not least, out of control greed.
00:11:29.820 This is one thing you've got to learn.
00:11:31.180 What I mean by out of control greed, everybody is greedy.
00:11:34.000 I don't know a single person that's not greedy.
00:11:35.820 Everybody is greedy.
00:11:36.980 In every aspect of our lives, we're greedy.
00:11:38.980 And by the way, every time you talk about the topic of greed, someone's always going to
00:11:42.360 tell you, I'm not that greedy.
00:11:43.580 Everybody else is greedy.
00:11:45.440 Everybody's greedy to a level.
00:11:46.960 But then there's a different level of greed.
00:11:48.940 And by the way, this next level of greed is what typically follows a massive fall and
00:11:53.280 legacy collapses.
00:11:54.420 You've got to know if you're getting close to that out of control greed.
00:11:58.040 Because sometimes you may not even know about it that you're getting to this place here.
00:12:00.860 Because typically when you get to this place here, these things shut off.
00:12:04.020 You don't listen to anybody.
00:12:04.920 All you're doing is listen to yourself.
00:12:06.200 You just hear yourself.
00:12:06.800 You don't hear anybody else right when you get to that level.
00:12:08.600 When you get to out of control greed, you have to be so careful.
00:12:10.580 Because like this, the 22 years that you put into this business to build it can be gone.
00:12:14.760 The seven years of 80 hour weeks you put into that business can be gone because of out of
00:12:19.700 control greed.
00:12:20.360 You've got to make sure you have those things in place as well.
00:12:21.980 Thanks everybody for listening.
00:12:23.580 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.
00:12:28.160 Give us a five star.
00:12:29.620 Write a review if you haven't already.
00:12:31.060 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,
00:12:35.140 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
00:12:37.100 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid.
00:12:39.000 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.
00:12:43.980 With that being said, have a great day today.
00:12:45.720 Take care everybody.
00:12:46.440 Bye-bye.
00:12:46.700 Bye-bye.
00:12:46.760 Bye-bye.
00:12:48.760 Bye-bye.
00:12:50.760 Bye-bye.
00:12:51.980 Bye-bye.