My Worst Investment Ever May 2021
Ep391: Mohanad Alwadiya – There Is No Such Thing as Passive Income
BIO: Dubbed ‘the wolf of real estate,’ Mohanad Alwadiya is the most celebrated real estate, and business multi-media thought leader in the middle east. He is the CEO of award-winning Harbor Real Estate managing mixed-use institutional portfolios worth over $4 billion.
STORY: Mohanad wanted to secure the future of his soon-to-be-born daughter, so he went for advice from his banker. The banker convinced him to sign up for a long-term insurance plan. A few years later, Mohanad realized that he was losing money from the plan instead of gaining. Any effort to resolve the issue failed, and he ended up stuck with a program where he was losing money.
LEARNING: Do not trust your banker; seek independent financial advice. Don’t make emotion-driven decisions, and continuously monitor your investments. Separate the creation of wealth and the growth of wealth.
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Ep390: Janet Metzger – Trust Your Gut to Find the Right Coach
BIO: Janet Metzger is an experienced Network Marketing Coach and Consultant with a demonstrated history of achieving results.
STORY: Janet found herself jobless after her position was made redundant. She was 59 years without any idea of what to do next. She hired a coach who misguided her from doing what she loved most. Instead, she invested in a franchise that she ran for two years and hated every bit of it.
LEARNING: Get the right mentor or coach, and don’t let anything bring down your confidence.
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Ep389: Flavilla Fongang – Align Yourself with the Leaders, Not the Followers
BIO: Flavilla Fongang is a Top 5 most influential tech woman. She is the author of 99 Strategies to get customers, International Keynote Speaker, BBC Brand Strategist, Brand Growth Coach, Branding & Marketing Agency MD, TLA Black Women in Tech Founder, and Tech Brains Talk Podcast.
STORY: When Flavilla started a personal branding consultancy, she made the mistake of charging by the hour. This made her lose money, and people perceived her low rates as a reflection of her services.
LEARNING: Don’t align yourself with followers who pay less. Align yourself with leaders who will pay premium rates.
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Ep388: Chris Trikomitis – Appreciate What You Have Rather Than Chasing What You Don’t
BIO: Chris Trikomitis has an array of experience from the investment banking sector in London and the US and working in financial services for over 17 years. Chris is currently a coach, investor, and entrepreneur.
STORY: Chris met a group that was in the restaurant business. They dined him in different restaurants seducing him into the good life. Chris wanted a piece of this lifestyle, and so he invested in a restaurant. Unfortunately, he did not have the skills and experience necessary to run a restaurant, so the business failed.
LEARNING: Keep your lifestyle simple, stick to what you are good at, and test theories first before investing in them.
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Ep387: Andrew Bryant – Sunk Cost Does Not Account for the Learning
BIO: Andrew Bryant, CSP is a Global expert on Self Leadership, a C-Suite Advisor, an Award-Winning Coach, and a Best-Selling Author.
STORY: Andrew invested heavily in a gym with the plan to offer service-based health and wellness. Low-cost gyms came up and swallowed his business.
LEARNING: Understand how to get in and out of a business, test your market first and know what your customers want, not what they need.
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Ep386: Andrew Woodward – Do Not Invest in a Product before You Understand It
BIO: Andrew Woodward is the founder of The Investor’s Way. He is on a mission to change the financial lives of 1,000,000 people and believes everyone deserves to know how to manage their money for better money outcomes.
STORY: Andrew invested in a strategy that seemed to work pretty well. Then he decided to add leverage without first understanding how it would work or affect his investment strategy. Andrew lost the money he invested.
LEARNING: Understand what you’re investing in before introducing leverage. Learn how to manage your wealth because you can’t rely on other people to invest your money.
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Ep385: Rael Bricker – Sell before You Buy the Inventory
BIO: From being 6,000ft underground in a mine to starting an education business (that grew to have more than 4,000 students) to spending years working in venture capital, Rael Bricker has seen it all.
STORY: In 2001, Rael bought $85,000 worth of CD covers from Germany. He was attracted by the product but never did any research into how he would sell them and just went in blindly. Rael hardly made any money from the covers and ended up giving them to friends for free.
LEARNING: Don’t spend a dime before researching the product and the market you want to venture into. In business, dive all in and adjust the course as you go.
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Ep384: Michael Morawski – Stay Out of Trouble by Paying Attention to the Red Flags
BIO: Mike Morawski is a 30+ year real estate investment veteran. He has controlled over $285,000,000 in real estate transactions.
STORY: In 2008, when the economic crisis hit the US, Mike decided to find ways to protect his investors. He moved money from companies that were performing well into those that were underperforming. It seemed to work, but he had not informed his investors about it, so he was jailed for 10 years for fraud.
LEARNING: Communicate with your investors regularly and always follow your business mandate. Listen to outsiders and pay attention to red flags.
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Ep383: Gordon Jenkins – You Have the Power to Shape the Life You Want
BIO: As an executive coach, speaker, and international author, Gordon Jenkins helps people make a real impact and difference both in their professional and personal journey.
STORY: Gordon grew up knowing that the only way to build a career was to go to school, go to college or university, then get a graduate job and work your way up. That’s precisely what he did only to realize, 10 years later, that he did not want to prescribe to this convection anymore.
LEARNING: Shape your life after your own terms, not on convections. People are more interested in who you are not what you are.
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Ep382: Chris Slee – Believe in the Idea but Continue Your Due Diligence
BIO: Christopher Slee is the Founder, Principal, and Chief Product Officer at AWH, a Dublin, Ohio software engineering firm currently celebrating its 26th year of creating innovative digital products for business clients.
STORY: Chris has had a fair share of experience helping startups develop and get their products to the market. While he has no one worst investment story, his experience comes with a series of learnings and painful lessons.
LEARNING: Believe in the startup and the products you are investing but also do your due diligence. Know your market and build a financial runway before you work on your product.
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Ep381: Travis Watts – Do Your Due Diligence and Keep Your Investment Simple
BIO: Travis Watts is a full-time passive investor. He has been investing in real estate since 2009 in multi-family, single-family, and vacation rentals. Travis is also the Director of Investor Relations at Ashcroft Capital.
STORY: Travis was lured into an investment that had a 20% cash flow return. The investment, however, turned out to be fraudulent, and he lost his money.
LEARNING: Always do your due diligence, keep things simple and invest in what you know and what makes sense.
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Ep380: Jose Salazar – Success with Startups Takes Passion and Commitment
BIO: Jose Salazar is a B2B influencer marketing consultant specializing in optimizing industry and thought leadership marketing through influencer and employee advocacy strategy.
STORY: Jose’s twin brother looped him into a brilliant business idea, but due to their lack of startup experience, the business never took off. They were left paying off a loan that brought no return on their investment.
LEARNING: Do your research before investing in an idea, even from family or friends. Be mentally ready before investing in a startup and make sure you are not the only or major shareholder.
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Ep379: Jennifer Murtland – Expect Trouble When Buying an Old House
BIO: Jennifer Murtland is a licensed Real estate agent and investor in Ohio and Northern KY. She is the co-host of the Real Estate Fight Club podcast that focuses on battling through residential real estate topics.
STORY: Jennifer bought a 200-year-old patchwork house on a whim, and it ended up sucking up all her money and time in renovations and repairs.
LEARNING: Be careful when buying a patchwork house because it will cost you a lot more in the long run. Choose your tenants wisely to lower your risk and protect your return on investment.
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Ep378: Ian Moyse – Do Your Due Diligence When You Really Need That Job
BIO: Ian Moyse is the Chief Revenue Officer at OneUp Sales. He is a decorated and numerously awarded sales director.
STORY: A few years ago, Ian was between jobs, so when the first opportunity came knocking, he accepted it without doing any due diligence. The company turned out to be toxic, and he had to leave after nine months only.
LEARNING: Do your due diligence to make sure that you accept the job that is right for you. Do not let your vulnerability blind you to accepting just any opportunity that comes along.
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Ep377: Gav Gillibrand – Don’t Underestimate the Value of Stretching and Staying Flexible
BIO: Gav Gillibrand is a fitness and nutrition expert specializing in helping busy executives lose 20-30lbs in 12 weeks. He is the author of The GHG Method – A No “Bullshit” Approach To Losing Body Fat, Upgrading Your Mind Set & Radically Changing Your Life.
STORY: In his 20s, Gav ignored his health and just concentrated on having a sexy body. Years later, he has had several injuries that he now has to deal with in his 40s.
LEARNING: Your health is more important than wealth or a sexy body. Invest in your health today to manage the risk of injuries in your old age.
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Ep376: Andrew Pek – Build Revenue in Your Startup Before You Build up Cost
BIO: Andrew Pek is an internationally recognized authority on innovation, design thinking, and entrepreneurship.
STORY: When Andrew started his first business, he hired the best of the best who also came with high salary expectations. The startup could not handle the payroll, and so Andrew had to let almost everyone go.
LEARNING: Starting a business from scratch requires you to be smart and strategic. Have the proper organizational structure to support your business model.
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Ep375: Leonard Lee – You Will Only Succeed If You Identify the Market Opportunity First
BIO: Leonard Lee is a tech industry analyst and strategy consultant. He is the managing director and founder of neXt Curve, a research advisory firm.
STORY: Leonard shares the most common mistakes he has seen in startups and his advice on dealing with those mistakes.
LEARNING: Understand the market opportunity before launching your startup idea. Invest in advisors to help you understand the structure of the market. Test the market with a minimum viable product.
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Ep374: Logan Nathan – Your Solutions Are with Your Advocates Talk to Them
BIO: Logan Nathan is the founder and CEO at i4T Global/i4Tradies. He’s a digital transformation specialist, a serial startup entrepreneur, a board director and advisor, and an angel investor.
STORY: Logan had an innovative idea that would be a big disruptor in the digital transformation industry. Just when the idea was getting traction, the pandemic hit the world. Logan had to pivot his business to survive. With the help of his employees, suppliers, advisors, and associates, he could pivot to a point where his business has now gone global.
LEARNING: Listen to your advocates and customers; they can teach you more than you think. Look at your problems from a different angle.
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Ep373: Ryan Estes – You Should Always Honor Your Relationships
BIO: Ryan Estes is an American Buddhist entrepreneur and the founder of Kitcaster, a podcast booking agency. He is an expert in leveraging podcasts for meaning and profitability.
STORY: Ryan and his wife co-run a marketing agency. Ryan’s wife came up with a fantastic product idea that she shared with Ryan. He agreed that it was a great idea; he took it over and executed it the same way he would implement a client’s vision. One problem, though; he never consulted his wife, whom the idea belonged to. Feeling sidelined, Ryan’s wife lost interest in the product causing a rift between the couple. In the end, they had to let go of the project for the sake of their marriage.
LEARNING: Honor your relationships even in business. Your business partner is your most valuable asset, cherish and protect them.
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Ep372: Almasa Alunni – Do Your Due Diligence When Someone Asks to Borrow Money
BIO: Almasa Alunni is a visionary global citizen, a mentor, and a seasoned consultant with a curious mind, acting as the pivotal trait d’union to align strategic alliances and cultures.
STORY: Almasa moved to Dubai, where she met a Filipino lady who became a very close friend. One day the lady borrowed a substantial amount of money which Almasa gave her without any questions. She trusted her as a friend. It turned out the lady was a con artist and never paid Almasa her money back.
LEARNING: Do your due diligence before lending anyone your money, including friends. It’s better to give than to lend, but do not give what you cannot afford to lose.
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DISCLAIMER: This content is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Readers should not consider statements made by the author(s) as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. While the information provided is believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. The author(s) cannot be held liable for any actions taken as a result of reading this article.