Dare to play with risk
"Risks are often proportional to gains."
- "The Talmud"
Being adventurous, that's a positive word, and many Jews are like that. In their view, every risk contains an equal amount of seeds of success. The greater the risk, the higher the reward.
Jewish merchants have always carried the reputation of a speculator. For quite some time, the word "speculation" was a derogatory term. Now it's different, and economists have given "speculation" an aptly elegant term, called "risk management." The name was changed, and Jewish merchants changed from "speculators" to "risk managers."
Indeed, the Jewish businessman has long been not only doing business, but also "managing risk", and even his survival itself requires a strong sense of "risk management". Jewish merchants could not just sit and wait for the arrival of "expulsion orders" or the like to catch themselves off guard. So preparing for the rain became a necessary skill for the Jews. Once this kind of life-and-death skill is formed, it will be used in the business field with ease. There have been many times when Jewish merchants have been able to make their mark by accurately grasping this "risk."
To accomplish anything, there are two possibilities: success and failure. When the possibility of failure is great, but you want to do it, it is naturally a risk. The problem is that many things are difficult to distinguish between success and failure, so it is also a risk to do it at this time. The law of business warfare is that the greater the risk, the more money is made, and when the opportunity comes, the person who does not dare to take risks will always be a mediocre person. This is not the case with Jewish businessmen, most of whom have an optimistic sense of risk and often make a fortune, as illustrated by a successful adventure by Jewish oil tycoon Hamer in Libya.
At that time, Libya's fiscal revenue was not high. During the Italian occupation, Mussolini spent about $10 million here in search of oil, but found nothing. Esso spent about $50 million on Shell Oil, but none of the wells drilled had commercial value. When the European and American oil companies arrived in Libya, the Libyan government was preparing for a second round of negotiations to transfer the leased land, and most of the leased areas were Libyan leases that had been abandoned by some large companies. Under Libyan law, oil companies should develop their leased land as soon as possible, and if oil cannot be extracted, they must return part of the leased land to the Libyan government. The second round of negotiations included land on which several "dry wells" had been drilled, but there were also many deserts adjacent to the oil-producing areas.
More than 40 companies from 9 countries participated in the tender. The Libyan government allows some smaller companies to bid, but it first avoids being controlled by big oil companies and big conglomerates, and then it has to think about money. Hammer's Western Oil Company also participated in the bid, and although it was not financially strong enough, it was at least qualified to run the oil industry.
Hamer has a good personal relationship with the Libyan king, and despite his confidence, he is not only inexperienced in this area, but also has a great competitive power gap compared to the oil giants who can tear down mountains with a single move. Fortunately, the key to success or failure depends on more than that.
Hammer's directors flew in and bid on 4 leased lots. Their bidding methods are unusual, with tenders in the form of sheepskin documents, rolled up in a roll and tied with red, green and black ribbons representing the color of the Libyan flag. In the body of the tender, Hamer added that he was willing to take a portion of the untapped gross profit for Libya's agricultural development. In addition, he promised to find water in a desert oasis near Kufra, the birthplace of kings and queens. In addition, he will conduct a feasibility study, and once water sources are identified in Libya, they will jointly build an ammonia plant with the Libyan government.
In the end, Hammer finally got two leases, surprising his formidable rivals. Both leaseholds were abandoned by other companies after spending huge sums of money to get nothing.
These two leased lands soon became the source of Hammer's troubles. The first three wells he drilled were drip-drip dry holes, costing nearly $3 million alone, along with $2 million for seismic detection and ulterior bribes paid to Libyan government officials. As a result, many on the board began to call the ambitious plan "Hammer's folly," and even Hammer's confidant, Reed, the company's second-largest shareholder, lost faith.
But Hammer's intuition made him stubborn. In the weeks of disagreement with shareholders, the first well was oiled, and since then eight others have been. The company's coke was broken, and the oil field produced 100,000 barrels a day and was an unusually high-grade crude oil. What's more, the oil field is located west of the Suez Canal, which is very convenient for transportation. Meanwhile, Hamer used state-of-the-art exploration on another leased site to drill a 73,000-barrel-per-day oil-injecting well, the largest in Libya. Hammer then invested $150 million to build a pipeline with a capacity of 1 million barrels a day. At the time, Western Oil's net worth was only $48 million. Hamer then boldly annexed several large corporations, and by the time Libya was "nationalized," he was already full fledged. In this way, Western oil companies have become the eighth largest company in the world's oil industry.
Hammer's success in a series of things is entirely due to his courage and boldness, and he is worthy of being a Jewish adventurer. Of course, another great adventurer, Rockefeller, also amazed the world.
Rockefeller's first job as a clerk in a company called Huey Ted was a good start to his adept at calculation.
In his third year at The Company, he had mastered the business of middlemen nine times out of ten and was eager to try it out. In that year, without the consent of his boss, he took matters into his own hands in the wheat flour and ham business. Soon after, the famine reported by the media took place in Britain, and his plan was put into practice. The company shipped food goods hoarded in warehouses to areas where famine was spreading in Europe, making huge profits. To that end, Rockefeller asked the company to raise his salary to $800, but the boss was in a position to do so. So Rockefeller decided to quit his job and start his own company.
On March 18, 1859, at 32 Cleveland Street, Rockefeller's "Grain and Grass Agency," a partnership, opened when Rockefeller was only 19 years old. In this brokerage firm, he still mainly works in the old bank - running a variety of projects such as funds that are closely linked to digital. His partner Clark is the "outfield" – dealing with customers and commissioning the handover of goods. Clark admired Rockefeller's meticulous work. He described: "He was methodical to the extreme, paying attention to details and not making any mistakes. If there is a penny to give us, he wants to withdraw it, and if he gives the customer a penny less, he wants the customer to take it."
Because of Rockefeller's hard work and shrewd mind, the outbreak of the Civil War once again became an opportunity for Rockefeller to make a fortune. In order to escape the war, Rockefeller found more than 20 stand-ins and donated a large amount of money to the Northern Army, perhaps because of the effect of more or less guilt.
Although Rockefeller escaped military service and avoided the same trope as 600,000 young people in this brutal war, he did not turn a deaf ear to the world, on the contrary, he watched the development of the war situation closely. In the brokerage firm's office, his walls are covered with war maps and various political news from Washington and the latest developments on the front lines. Company employees often saw Rockefeller walking around in his "Army Staff," occasionally dotting and drawing on the informative walls with pens, or burying his head in records. Through his analysis of the war situation, Rockefeller made the speculative business very prosperous.
Do you see the risks? Did not see? Congratulations, you can get some sleep first, because there's not much you can do at the moment; are you at risk? Encountered? Congratulations, profit will reward you with courage not to be afraid of risks.
No one likes to fail, everyone wants to succeed and be a rich man; but when wealth knocks on the door, not all people can seize the opportunity to leave the wealth that comes to their doorstep. People often make the mistake of being hesitant to hesitate in the face of an opportunity that has already hit them, or not being prepared, not reacting to sudden opportunities, and letting the opportunities slip away in front of them.
Don't just stare at the slightest risk you may have and hold your head off. Those who cannot take risks will achieve nothing.
The morgan family's ancestors migrated from England to the Americas around 1600, and when it came to Joseph Morgan, he sold his farm in Massachusetts and settled in Hartford.
Joseph originally made a living running a small coffee shop while also selling baskets for travel. After some painstaking operation and gradually making some money, he built a very grand hotel, bought shares in the canal, and became a shareholder in the steamboat industry and the local railway.
In 1835, Joseph invested in a small insurance company called the Itna Fire. The so-called investment, do not want cash, the credit of the investor is a kind of capital, as long as the name is signed on the register of shareholders. After the investor signs the promissory note, he can charge the handling fee paid by the insured. As long as there is no fire, this business will make a steady profit.
Soon after, however, a fire broke out in New York. Investors gathered in Joseph's hotel, one by one pale, anxious like ants on a hot pot. Obviously, many investors have not experienced such an event. They panicked and were willing to give up their shares automatically.
Joseph bought all their shares, saying, "I am willing to sell this hotel in order to pay for the insurance, but there must be a condition, and the handling fee must be greatly increased in the future." ”
Joseph pressed the treasure into the future. It's a gamble, success or failure, it's all about it.
Another friend also wanted to take the risk with Joseph, so the two scraped together $100,000 and sent agents to New York to deal with compensation. As a result, the agent returning from New York brought back large sums of cash that were double the original fees paid by newly insured customers. Meanwhile, "creditworthy Itna Fire Insurance" has gained fame in New York. After the fire, Joseph made a net profit of $150,000.
This example tells us that being able to grasp key moments can often turn a crisis into an opportunity to make a lot of money. Of course, this should be good at observing and analyzing the market situation and seizing good opportunities. If we can't overcome the weakness of indecision, we may never seize the opportunity, and can only sigh when others succeed: "I could have done the same." ”
The weak wait for opportunities, and the strong create opportunities.
The Jewish people have endured hardships, but they have often taken a positive and optimistic attitude when they look at the development of things. It is also true that whether in business or doing anything else, optimists always have more opportunities and more successes.
Looking for hope in a crisis
"When pressure comes and forces us to change our own laws, we have to fight desperately, even in the face of a strong enemy.
There is such a scientific experiment, the scientist boiled a pot of oil, put a frog next to the hot oil pot, the frog jumped away from the oil pot when it was almost to the oil surface, however, put the frog into the pot filled with water, put the fire below to cook, the frog began to feel warm, and then the water became hotter and hotter, but it did not want to leave the pot, and finally it was boiled to death.
The Jews are like the frogs that are fast approaching the frying pan, they are always full of crisis awareness and vigilant in any situation. Many Jews have experienced many pains and sufferings in their lives, so when they have a stable life, they will never forget the suffering they have suffered. In their hearts, they are always full of vigilance, and the purpose is not to let themselves forget the past.
In order not to let themselves forget their suffering, they have laid down various rules, and in their daily lives, in their commemorative holidays, holidays and even weddings, they always remind themselves not to forget their pain.
Their weekly days off are from Friday until Saturday, which is prescribed as the beginning of the week. Why make Friday's night the beginning of a happy holiday for the whole family? The Talmud explains it this way: "For instead of starting brightly and ending in darkness, it is better to start darkly and end brightly." This suggests that people should suffer before enjoying.
Not only did the days of rest remind them not to forget their suffering, but even on the anniversaries of Jewish society, the most grand and solemn festival, the Passover, was prescribed. Passover is the day when Jews commemorate their departure from Egypt. On this day, they prepared exquisite food and splendid costumes early in the morning, and everyone spent the festival happily, but on this festival, the Jews stipulated that everyone must eat a very coarse bread and a very bitter leaf of wild vegetables, because these represent humiliation and failure. According to Jewish history, the Jews lived a miserable life as slaves in Egypt in the early days. In the 15th century BC, under the leadership of their hero Moses, they crossed the desert, and because they had no time to prepare to eat, they had to eat the unleavened bread and the wild vegetables picked on the way, and finally left Egypt with thousands of miles and hardships. It's been more than 3,500 years since then, but to this day, Jews are still commemorating that period of suffering and not forgetting suffering and humiliation.
Even on such a festive and important matter as marriage, they remind the newlyweds not to forget the suffering. The wedding stipulates that the couple cannot drink the wine, can not put the wine glass intact into the plate, but after drinking the wine to break the wine glass, this action indicates that the two people will have to spend a lifetime together, and warn the two people not to covet pleasure, blind pleasure, forget hardship is the symbol of the loser.
People say of the Jewish sense of crisis and distress: "Whenever luck comes, the Jews are always the last to perceive; and whenever disaster comes, the Jews are always the first to perceive." ”
Every Jew knows that they cannot afford to lose, that they can only succeed, that failure means destruction, and that they have worked extraordinarily hard, and that many Jews have achieved success in desperate situations where it seems impossible for others to make a comeback. Looking at the juvenile experiences of Jewish celebrities, you will find that eight or nine of the 10 Jewish celebrities grew up in hardships and ups and downs. This Jewish spirit of seeking success in the face of adversity will always be admired by the world.
Success for them is not "I need", but "I must".