Two years ago, at about this time of the year, I was sitting in the basement of an expensive hotel in a city in central china. This basement was the VIP area of the hotel, and opposite me sat my boss, talking animatedly to the man beside him. Around the circular table sat a number of men in simple shirts, eating from the array of dishes on the table. My boss turned to me and barked – Max! Take some meat!
I took a chunk from the meat bowl on the spinning center of the table, ate it and he asked – how was it? Great, I said. It was actually good meat, a bit rubbery with an unusual flavour I had never tasted before. My boss laughed and said: That’s dog meat you’re eating.
I swallowed hard but smiled and said: “It’s delicious”. I had no choice but to say that – the rest of the people sitting around the table were business men that we were about to go into a partnership with. It was my first time at a business dinner this important, and I did not want to spit out the meat.
I raised my glass of Baijiu and cheersd with the guy sitting beside me. He waited a few minutes and did the same back to me. By the time we entered the karaoke room, everyone was very drunk but doing their best to stay as normal as possible. We sat with the karaoke girls till the other businessmen had left, and then we proceeded to sing “my heart will go on” and other 90s pop songs till 3 in the night.
After the singing was over, we took a taxi to a little restaurant that was usually open 24 hours. We were four people, but the other two had stopped talking – one was looking into space and the other had his head on the table and was drooling.
Mr. Chua, my boss, is also a friend and I consider him my mentor. There was one thing he was incredibly skilled at – and that was getting people to do what he wanted, and to believe what he said. When I first arrived in china he had told me – roll with me, and by the time you leave you will be a different person. He was right. Hanging with a confident man who walks everywhere without fear and as if he owns the places rubs off on you – you start to do the same, and people react to confidence and do what you want.
We sat there in that diner and he said one of the many things from him that I adopted. It’s a lesson that some people will understand, and some won’t ever. I’m paraphrasing here:
“Many people think they want to be rich. But most people don’t really want to be rich. They want something else. Before you go into a business partnership with other people, or before you start a business, discover what it is you really want and what it is they really want.
For these men we sat with, I spent over 10.000 yuan on the program this evening. I took us to an expensive hotel, I paid the tips for all the girls, I ordered really expensive food. But when we spoke to these men, they never mentioned how much money they had. They never tried to impress me, in spite of me doing all this.
That’s why we’re going to do business with these men. They want to make money, and I like people who want to make money.
You see, there are three types of people who want to make money:
- Those who want to be looked up to
These are the people who talk about having expensive cars, living in a big house, or having a hot model girlfriend. I will never do business with these type of people, because they don’t really want money. They are insecure and unsure of themselves and they think that having money is going to change this. The problem is that these people, once they get into a position of power, they will lose their hunger for money. Once they are being looked up to, they will lose their interest in the money and they will fail you.
You can see these people in that they want people to recognize them, they want people to ask their advice, they want people to pay attention to them. Fame and popularity will always be first for these people, and money will take a secondary role.
- Those who want to be comfortable
These people are even more dangerous because there are so many of them. They are poor, they are broke, and all they want is not to be broke. They say that they want to be rich, but once they start making $6000 a month and they can buy all the toys they want, and can have a kid comfortably, they are going to get incredibly lazy. These people are employees masquerading as entreprenuers. They don’t want to be rich, they just don’t want to be poor.
You can recognize these people in that they dream of getting rich and then retiring to some beach to drink cocktails and doing nothing. They work so that they don’t have to work, but that doesn’t work.
- Those who want to have more money
These are the people who see making money as a game, and can’t ever stop. All they want to do is make more and more money, and the toys and the fame are completely incidental to this. Do business with these people, partner with them, because when there is an opportunity, they will go along with it. They will not drop out of the game because they have got enough, and they will not drop out once they make a certain amount.
These are the people who don’t care about their dress or about what car they drive or that people know their name. And these are the people that you do business partnerships with.”
If you're interested in technology & startups, then follow me on my low volume twitter account
What of those rare individuals who aren’t in it for the money, for large numbers in their bank accounts, but for the thrill of the pursuit of interesting experiences involving other people?What if it isn’t, for such people, about closing the sale and watching the bank balance getting bigger and worrying about taxes and the net worth of our investments and stock portfolios, but instead it’s about going and meeting fascinating people and eating dog meat (and genuinely loving it) and thinking, at all times, “Now this is going to be really interesting, whatever the outcome”?Incorrigible social networkers like me aren’t so much interested in the game of making money, as much as we’re into keeping our networks up and running. The money’s a byproduct of this game.There’s always a flagging friendship to be cultivated, a tenuous new connection to be watered, an event to be arranged to bring disparate strands of one’s network together face to face …And yes, I encourage you to email me back.
All the world is a stage !Different people get by in different ways, generalising is what people do in order to deal with complexity .Whilst your story was interesting, like wise advice from a charismatic person, I find it difficult to accept it as an absolute.Business is not about money , it’s about value adding , sure it’s possible to make money by using money but to be truly rich you must understand value.
it is good say good words
Great Post,
…A lot of people don’t know which category they fall into and show signs of awanting money for all of the reasons you list at different times.
Love the post! The next question is how do you spot these various traits in people and what do you to attract those who want to have more money to work with you
I don’t think its apparent from the start.
Actually there is a fourth kind – Those who want freedom. Sooner or later some people (me included) realize that more money doesn’t give more happiness, or rather the amount of energy spent making more money isn’t proportional to the happiness it gives. We aren’t lazy but need the money to pursue the challenges and things we want on the other hand we won’t dedicate our life to an empty pursuit of money. These individuals might be the most dangerous of all because they can say no to money when they have enough of it.
apperantly you do'nt uderstand in reallity money is the only goal nothing else matters
I believe there is yet a fifth type – those that love what they do, regardless of respect, money, or hard work. They are probably the least desirable of all people for you to work with, as they are likely to be the most ethical, and for whom money is irrelevant as long as they get to do what they love most. Unfortunately for you, this goes both ways and you have no control over them.But, as someone in this category would say: Who cares what you think?
If my boss tricked me into eating dog meat I'd have given him a proper ass-kicking in front of and for the entertainment of our guests.
shut up larry, your fired bitch
You’re leaving out an important demographic; those who want to grow stronger, those who want more power. Money is but one path to it.
don’t know that it matters too much to the story, but do you mean dog meat – i.e. meat intended for consumption by dogs, or dog meat – i.e. meat that is quite literally meat from a dog?
Never been in Asia? you should, at least once! Even cat meat, and they pay a lot of money (relatively), depending on the color of the fer.
@Danielle, tal, Mattias: Go read Machiavelli. Love is capricious: It’ll leave you when it feels like moving on to something else or when it’s needs aren’t being met any more. If you get in business with people who love what they do, for whatever reason, they’ll spend your money to do what they love. These are the employees and the workers: they’re the ones that you use to get more money and don’t mind it. If your goal is to make more money, find people who also want to do nothing but make more money. They don’t want to spend it, they just want to have more of it.@Alex Apetrei: Value is what you use to get more money and business is about money, nothing more. If money doesn’t matter to you, give your work away for free. Or better yet, sell it for as much as you can and spend the money on charity.@All: If making money isn’t paramount to you, don’t start a business: you’ll just hurt the people dumb enough to partner with you.
@colm: Apparently, the meat consumed appeared to be the latter – meat that used to bark perkily and wag a tail.
Another way to look at it is that people want 3 things: power, fame, or money. And then there are people like me who see the world as broke and imperfect. Such people, which includes a lot of entrepreneurs, work their ass off in the hope of making it a perfect place.
37signals sends huge flairs about being #1 to me.
Interesting post! One thing I didn’t understand: why did the people not asking about money or trying to impress him demonstrate that they were in the third category?Thanks for sharing the story.
I would not go into business with the third type. Okay maybe I would, but as a venture capitalist, not a partner. The kind of person who likes to make money because they see it as a game will go where the capital is, and that’s it. This kind of person, though useful in small doses, unfortunately makes up most of the super-rich entrepreneurs. And in the kinds of quantities we see in the financial world, are what has corrupted capitalism and made it a dirty word, because the attitude they embody is the cancer that is sweeping the world: wealth and power for no other reason than the pure pursuit of it.There is a fourth kind of person, one who sees money as a challenge, and maybe even a game to some extent, but towards building something: a company, a foundation, a charity, a building, an organization, an empire even. These are the kinds of people who create, who change the world mostly in positive ways IMO. These are the kinds of people you want as partners, for they will help you build whatever it is you are trying to create.Unless you’re of the third type who’s only in it for the thrill of the hunt, and then they’ll have little use for you.I aspire towards becoming that fourth sort of entrepreneur.
Interesting read but it just artificially feeds peoples need to put people in boxes so they can move on. You arbitrarily picked 3 boxes. You could easily add 2 more and you will still make people feel good about reading this article. Proving how ridiculous it is in the first place to suggest there are 3 definitive types of people. Its way more complex than that and its better to accept that. You will get far more understanding if you do.
Love this post.I think I want to be that person that is rich and be on that Island with coktails and make more money, and I would invite all my business friends over there
I have no desire to work with “Those who want to have more money”. They can’t relate to anyone else’s goals, and frankly, their limitless greed is actively hindering everyone else from reaching them. I’m in the “want to be comfortable” group, and proud of it! Unlike somepeople, I actually have more interesting things to do with my life than the pursuit of extra zeroes on the end.
“people that you do business partnerships with” = people who want more money. You might be “practically” right to get to your goal, but remember that life is short…Using your precious time with INSANE people such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9JpYRulSk who cannot hold back and wonder “Why am I earning more and more money … just for hearing the sound of it in my pocket” IS A WASTE OF TIME. Period.
“These are the people who see making money as a game, and can’t ever stop. All they want to do is make more and more money, and the toys and the fame are completely incidental to this. Do business with these people, partner with them, because when there is an opportunity, they will go along with it. They will not drop out of the game because they have got enough, and they will not drop out once they make a certain amount.”And those are also the people who ruin an otherwise beautiful planet and existence. Those people need to be thrown in jail because they’re addicted psychopaths. Ever watch watch The Corporation?
Such naked greed and extravagance is not without cost, and a headlong rush to make more money can leave a person oblivious to the world around, until it is too late and calamity falls upon the person. To that end, I would counsel that if you really want to be rich, take up Stoicism as a philosophy.Stoicism, as studied and practiced by Emperors, Kings and Statesmen throughout history from Roman times, is a way of looking upon life with compassion for oneself and for others in the face of the ultimate horror – namely, that we all must die one day. You can still become a King or a CEO, and rule over a vast financial empire, but Stoicism reminds the highest and the lowest alike that there is a limit to the money we can have, the power we can have, and a finite number of heartbeats and breaths in our bodies.I commend the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor, as your guide. Study his works, and whatever the state of your bank balance, you can truly be rich in yourself.
uh huh and how did you pay for the food you ate today? Stoicism? WORK and MONEY= LIFE to whatever degree you are comfortable, then ARCHAIC PSEUDO-PHILSOPHY with a full belly
you know what I want to make more AND more money. plus i want those cars house plus i wanna stay at the beach drink beer shi^(*$) anyone wanna do business with me
I think I want to cuz i am also just like dat!!! thats what even i want in life….
yah i wanna do it please
no, beacuse you didnt say you'd pick up the check,dood
ok iam in india my number is 9786245730 call ma
this article is lame. why would you want to make money if you dont want to enjoy it. arsehole
Brutus, I agree with you… but consider: if we could answer your question (why do people work so hard to accumulate money but not enjoy it?), the world could be a much better place.
you are both wrong…and gay ..and dumb..and gay,too
HA HA HA HA i dont like you and you're a gay gay…. mlah
Money is not the target, its a tool that make the things work in this cruel world.
A very good post!
I have not any great backgound, but i wants to be rich!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pl suggest, How is it possible?????????
Nice, really nice but eating dog for money is just like you behave to be a dog for money, second man life is too short earn and spend your life with happiness because you do not know exactly when your eyes will be closed.
thanks
The only thing i want in this world is MONEY…. in today's world YES you can BUY happiness with Money…. i believe that…..
I want to be Rich but the big question is how?have no money to invest.
i want to money but have noting now so tell me what to do, i want to be connection
Thr is something called as Self Actualisation.
Your boss might have forgotten that…
i want to be rich
Do you want to be rich?
In a way that easily. Relax, Good health, To be creative,
All parties receive maximum benefits and value together.
Focus on building assets that generate income.
Without hard work.
Learn that : http://www.richautorun.blogspot.com
HAI IAM waseem
i want to become a rech parson in the world and
my family should happy with me ……..
i want to beee rechhh
how i can iiiiiiiiiiiii
ghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
One day I will really become rich…I would like to be a successful person so that i can proud of myself…
good one. i came to know that i belongs to first type…thank u…..
please some should help me i wanna be rich __
hi
i'm samina i have completed my sslc+computer course basic,ms-office,tally+internet.I want home based job without investment
I will be rich…mark my words coz i have found the secrets of riches…any1 reading this i am sure is looking for how to be rich ….you only need 3 things…..to be continued
how can i make mony oru how can i fastly become a rich man??? pls help me frnds
Great.. It got me thinking.. I m really confused about what I really want….
But putting everything aside, who doesnt like money ? Who doesnt like big house, nice cars, hot girlfriends.. ?? All rich people seem to enjoy these things..