Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/CrusaderKings/comments/1crfhjs/so_i_played_the_box_art_dynasty_house_renart_here/
King Oldrik, King of Poland and Pomerania, had a long and successful reign. With his defeat of the northern pagans, House Renart believed it could conquer the world. However, it would be internal strife that would nearly lead the House to destruction...

King Wielslaw, King of Poland

To every dynasty, there is always a weak link. King Oldrik chose his heir poorly.
King Wielslaw (March 31st, 1139 - 25 of August, 1181) was King of Poland from 1177 until his death in 1181. He had barely any children, as his father’s inbreeding led him to having infertile loins, having very few children.
In life, he was a stubborn, arrogant man, but was oddly compassionate in his ways. He was known to be handsome in life and was fairly intelligent. He was skilled in theology and the matters of law and land, as well as history. However, he had a heavy drinking problem which would evidently lead to his demise, as well as disease.
As a prince Wielslaw, the youngest of his brothers, was granted the Duchy of Veletia in 1153 as his father was preparing him for rule. There he ruled for some time until his father Oldrick I died. He would ascend to the throne of Poland in 1177 while his brother Wielslaw became King of Pomerania, splitting the realms into two.
The same year, King Wielslaw went to war against Queen Darya of Volhynia, taking the southern provinces. The war lasted for two years, with the queen being defeated in March of 1179.
In 1180, King Wielslaw went around the country to enact justice and enforce taxes on his vassals. This proved to make him unpopular with the people. However, it did allow him to draft a
Wielslaw came to King Mieszko's defense against Stammesherzog Dethard's attempted de jure war of Duchy of Anhalt in 1181. This would lead to a swift victory. However, as he was fighting in Anhalt, a great disease of Bloody Flux spread throughout the land. King Wielslaw, while leading his troops in the camp, caught the disease and grew very ill. He began to drink during this time, and while drunk, he named his younger son, Oldrick, his new heir, while his eldest son, Sulistryj, was disinherited, due to murdering a man during a duel. He died on the 25th of August, 1181. A courier went out to Krakow to declare the young prince Oldrick as the new King of Poland, which shocked the court.

King Oldrick II, King of Poland

Tragedy befell this scaly yet innocent young king! From the drunken lips of his foolish father his fate was unfortunately sealed.
Oldrick II (May 6th, 1177 - January 3rd, 1186) was the King of Poland from 1181 to his death in 1186. A mere child who came upon the throne due to his father’s drunken final will, Oldrick saw a great civil war overtake his lands. His uncle, King Miezko of Pomerania, though having an alliance, schemed against him, and would ultimately take his life.
Throughout his reign he dealt with a civil war for his throne, led by his vassal Duke Uściech Lewiki in 1182. He had little power, though his most significant act was restoring his brother Sulistryj’s inheritance to become next in line for the crown of Poland. This hurt the plans of King Miezko, who was feigning his loyalty to the boy when fighting the civil war.
However, Oldrick II would be assassinated by King Miezko through poisoned candy, leading to his brother, Sulistryj, to take over the throne.

Sulistryj I ‘the Beautiful’, King of Poland and Pomerania

Vengeance to a brother's honor, and with a tongue as sweet as honey, his reign was unfortunately cut short by the thread of fate.
Sulistryj I (July 20th, 1156 - October 13th, 1214) was the King of Poland in 1186, and King of Pomerania in 1188, until his death in 1214. The eldest son of King Wielslaw, he saw support for his tenure on the throne of Poland after the death of his younger brother and proved to be a very capable diplomat.
Sulistryj would be the last member of the pure House of Renart. When he did, his uncle Dobromir Renart-Glogow would usurp power in the family. In life, he was rumored to be an atheist, and he had murdered a man in a duel. However, he was also known for being a very handsome man and intelligent, and well read and practiced in matters of diplomacy.
Sulistryj, before he was king, was notable for defeating Duke Usciech. During the civil war, he commanded a battle against the duke at the Battle of Gniezno on the 19th of April, 1183. The duke would surrender to King Oldrick II, and would then be beheaded and his lands stripped, delivered to Sulistryj who regained his right to inheritance.
Three years later, in 1186, his brother Oldrick II would die mysteriously. Sulistryj had suspected his uncle Miezko was vying for the throne of Poland and had him killed. And indeed, Miezko had sent a delegation to declare his rivalry with Sulistryj at the beginning of the summer, declaring his claim to Poland was truer. Sulistryj knew what was coming: an invasion.
To act quicker, Sulistryj quickly rallied his hosts and vassals outside the borders of Pomerania, and on the 5th of July, 1186, he declared himself the rightful King of Pomerania just as Miezko was on pilgrimage towards Rome. King Miezko quickly returned, not expecting such a bold decision from his nephew. A series of engagements would take place in the province of Nordmark, leading to a few staggering defeats for Sulistryj, including at the Battle of Ukkria. However, though the Pomeranians won the battle, King Miezko was severely injured. His son, Oldrick, would take over the front of battle.
And yet, from the south, King Otakar of Bohemia, seeing a moment of opportunity, invaded the next summer on the 4th of June, 1187, trying to take the lands of Lubben against King Sulistryj.
King Sulistryj grew nervous of the Bohemian invasion. However, come December, as his troops were making camp in the winter, he received news from a courier: King Miezko was dead. He had died from injuries sustained at the Battle of Ukkria.
The Battle of Strassburg (April 10th, 1188) would be the final engagement between the two kingdoms. King Sulistryj confronted King Oldrick II of Pomerania at the battle. By this point, Pomerania had grown exhausted and morale was terrible, and they were outnumbered. With Oldrick II’s rule being unfavored, the armies of Pomerania found themselves quickly overrun by the Poles. King Oldrick was defeated, and gave his crown over to Sulistryj.
The following year, in January, however, Oldrick II rebelled against, declaring his sister Princess Luitgard of Osterland was the proper queen of Pomerania. A quick skirmish took place in February of that year, leading to a white peace between the rebellious Oldrick and the king. He then began a claim war for the crown of Pomerania once again, the following year in 1190. He was once again defeated, and because of his constant rebellion, had his titles over Pomerania stripped and was beheaded.
In August of 1201, a Grand Tournament was held in Poland, the first of its kind in the land, under King Sulistryj. Here, the king himself won the Melee and Archery contests.
In 1209, Duke Krystyn of Veletia became a rival of King Sulistryj and declared him an illegitimate ruler. In December of that year, he began a rebellion of dethronement against the king. A year of small skirmishes and chasing took place, until the duke was defeated at the Battle of Gottingen on the 18th of December, 1210. The Duke would be imprisoned, his titles revoked, and executed. The king gave his second eldest son Sulistryj the title.
Then, in 1213, King Sulistryj decided to go on pilgrimage to the city of Cologne with his eldest son Oldrick. They began their journey in January of that year. However, a great plague overcame the city of Consumption. When Sulistryj arrived, he and his son grew ill. They finished their pilgrimage at the church of Cologne, and were quickly delivered home by their servants. However, when they arrived in October, the king, nor his son, was recovering from their sickness. King Sulistryj grew worse, and would pass away, leaving his eldest son Otger to inherit the throne of Poland, while his son Sulistryj became King of Pomerania.

King Otger II ‘the Sickly’

Alas, many tried to save his reign but it would be the woes of plague that did him in. And thus the House of Renart would die with him.
Otger II (October 25th, 1204 - June 2nd, 1217) was the King of Poland from 1214 until his death from consumption in 1217. His reign saw a great era of instability within the land. Historically, Otger II was the last king of the proper Renart dynasty.
When he became king, the sudden death of his father caused opportunistic vassals to favor his great-uncle and grandfather, Duke Drobomir of Silesia. Though Duke Drobomir swore loyalty to the line of Sulistryj (his nephew) he secretly schemed to take over the throne. Duke Drobomir conspired the vassals of Poland to turn against the young king.
In the second year of Otger’s reign, Count Janusz Halicki of Kalisz led the dukes and counts of Poland in rebellion against Otger, declaring that Duke Drobomir the true King of Poland. They marched out in April, heading toward the capitol. Count Janusz went ahead of the army. Meanwhile, King Otger’s brother, Sulistryj, rounded his armies in support of his brother, as well as the armies of England.
On the 21st of October, Count Janusz entered Krakow and went past the guards. He made an attempt on the life of King Otger, but the loyal and brave Duke Powel of Rzepin saved the life of the king. Janusz was captured from his attempt just as the Polish armies defeated his army outside of the city. Thus the count was captured, and the rebels defeated. The civil war ended there, but things were still growing unstable in the realm.
Alas, the king grew ill further through the winter, his Consumption worsening. His condition grew dire, and his physician was unable to cure him, only ease his woes. Duke Drobomir was expecting to be in line for the throne. Instead, as his last act, Otger declared his brother Sulistryj would become king in his place. Duke Drobomir was insulted by this act, and as the king was dying, he quickly made himself the head of House Renart with his own cadet branch, the House of Glogow.
King Otger died in June of 1217, at the age of 13. Meanwhile, Drobomir began a new faction to install himself as King of Poland…

Emperor Sulistryj ‘the Wend’ of West-Slavia

Though the fox dies, rising from the ashes will be a mighty dragon of the east.
Sulistryj II (June 5th, 1206 - September 10th, 1283), known as “the Young”, the “Confessor”, but most notably “the Wend”, was the King of Poland and Pomerania from 1217, and the eventual Emperor of the West Slavs in 1255, until his death in 1283. Inheriting the throne from his older brother at the age of 11, Sulistryj ruled from an astounding 66 years, in which he united the west slavic kingdoms of Pomerania and Bohemia and unified the West Slavs into a single Wendish empire.
He inherited the throne of Poland after the death of his brother Otger. He was beforehand ruling as Duke of Veletia and the King of Pomerania. When he became King of Poland, he had little power over his kingdom, for his uncle, Duke Dobromir ‘the Handsome’ of Silesia, became his regent. The Duke had expected to take over the throne from his nephews, but instead, Sulistryj was crowned king, leading to a damper in his schemes.
Duke Dobromir, as the grandfather of the king, became the head of the household and quickly began to take more powers from the king, ruling in his place and becoming head of the House of Renart. With Otger II dead, and Sulistryj’s mother being Dobromir’s daughter, and the remaining Renarts dead, Dobromir declared the house of Renart extinct.
The Renarts are dead. Long live the House of Glogow!
This went against the will of Sulistryj, who stripped Dobromir of much of his regnal powers. Dobromir threatened rebellion in 1221, seeking to claim the crown of Poland for himself. He schemed to kill his grandson, hoping to put his own direct son, also named Dobromir, onto the throne.
Dobromir proceeded to try and kill the young king when he was studying at the University of Krakow. The attempt was quickly discovered and thwarted by Duke Powel of Rzepin, once again loyal to the king as spymaster and bodyguard.
The following year, Sulistryj was finally coronated as he reached the age of 16. There, King Sulistryj II announced himself as the “first of the House of Glogow” in spite of his grandfather. He took over the Renart dynasty and disinherited his grandfather, destroying his son’s claims to the Kingdom of Poland. But still he schemed, as he knew it could be restored if he took the throne.
A house divided against itself shall not stand!
To ensure confidence in his rule, Sulistryj pressed his bassal Czcibor’s claim to the Duchy of Ostfalen in 1222, and then married Maria of Norway. He would win the duchy, taking it from the Emperor of Germany at the time.
However, not all were confident in the rule of King Sulistryj, as Duke Dobromir continued to plot against his grandson. Count Alexander Kujawski rebelled against the king in 1229, but he was swiftly defeated and executed for his crimes. King Sulistryj proved to his grandfather that he was not willing to mess around. Dobromir tried to flee as the remaining rebellious counts were imprisoned, but he was captured.
Dobromir was imprisoned, and by coercion was forced to give up his claims to Poland, and then was disinherited and dethroned from Silesia. Out of compassion, Sulistryj spared his grandfather, as the chronicler wrote in “The History of the Wends” the following:
“King Sulistryj declared, ‘The Renarts have died, but the blood of Glogow will not be severed. You shall have a place in my house, until the end of your days. As it is, I rule as a son under your blood.’”
Thus Dobromir would remain in Krakow as a servant of his grandson, until the end of his days in 1232, where he died from drinking. Thus his legacy, despite his reportedly loving nature (despite his treachery, he did care for his grandsons as they grew up fatherless) he was still viewed as a traitor and usurper. Thus he has become a figure of plays and songs in the West-Slavic culture. His most prominent appearance, and basis of much fiction, was in the “Song of Renart” in which he was portrayed as a scheming traitor.
During this time, legend spread that King Sulistryj had slain a dragon. He gave into the story, proclaiming himself a mighty dragon slayer and that he, too, would slay the enemies of the Poles. This brought him great praise throughout the land.
The following year, 1232, Queen Maria would die in childbirth as she gave birth to her daughter Jadwiga. She had three children with Sulistryj. King Sulistryj held a funeral for both her and his grandfather, mourning their loss. The same year, King Sulistryj would remarry Rognfrithr of Denmark. She would birth his eldest son Dalimir in 1234, and Dobrogost in 1237.
Now King Sulistryj was well read in the histories of Poland. Though he knew was of German descent, he began to read of the Wendish tribes of Germany many centuries prior. He remembered that once his family had held titles in Northern Germany. He began to see himself as a great unifier of his house’s ancestral claims, and the claims of the west slavs. He also believed the Holy Roman Emperor was a threat to his power over the region. Therefore, Sulistryj grew a vision of a Wendish Empire, of German and Pole, to secure his realm.
You were useful, Teutonic Knights. However, I have a mighty need to unite the West Slavs!
He declared war against the Teutonic Order in 1240 as he recaptured the Duchy of Pomerania. The Grandmaster was defeated at the Battle of Szczytno in 1241, and King Sulistryj II saw victory a few months later in January of 1242. The same year, King Sulistryj invaded Anhalt and captured it, fighting Kaiser George’s for the duchy and ultimately defeating him on November 6th of 1245.
Two years would pass, as Sulistryj began building castles and fortresses across Poland and in particular Krakow. Then in 1247 he invaded the duchy of Pomeralia, held by the Teutonic Knights. He would capture Grandmaster Ekbert’s son Warren at the Battle of Gydnia and lead the Teutons to once again losing land to the Poles. The Teutons were driven completely out of the Pomeranian lands.
King Sulistryj would claim himself as the proper Duke of Bohemia and Moravia, as they were once West Slavic holdings, as well as Duke of Meissen. He made an alliance with the King of Hungary, the Emperor of Francia, and the King of England, to take on the much larger and vast Holy Roman Emperor. Kaizer George had conducted diplomacy with King Sulistryj II prior, and so felt betrayed by the king as he invaded central Germany and Bohemia in 1250. King Venceslav of Croatia came to the assistance of the Kaizer. This began what chroniclers called the War of the Wend.
Hopefully the Pope doesn't bother to check the actual historical claims over this... He doesn't need to know what the King may or may not have made up. ;)
Sulistryj led the Polish armies by himself and first attacked northern Bohemia while the emperor tried to attack Francia. The English and Polish armies raided throughout Bohemia. They would be confronted by King Venceslav at Unicov on May 4th of 1252, who attacked the English armies, but the Poles came to the defense of the English and defeated the Croatians, who fled.
Prague was overtaken by the Poles and English as Kaiser George finished defeating a rebellion near his capitol. The German forces marched into central Bohemia, with their army being led by the Kaizer himself. On the 24th of July in 1254, the Germans and Croatians faced the French, Polish, and English forces at the First Battle of Prerov, leading to a very close battle. King Peter IV of England managed to change the fate of the battle with his longbowmen routing the Germany cavalry, allowing the Polish cavalry to break through the German ranks.
There would be a few losses. The Poles lost a battle to the Croatians at Brno, and the English and French lost engagements at Leipzig in the same year.
A second full engagement happened outside of Stribro on the 3rd of November. The Polish forces used the Mze River to fortify their position, routing the Germans once again. The Polish armies wintered there, while the French and English wintered southward of the city. During this time, the Livonian Knights came to the assistance of the German emperor. They moved through the winter towards Prerov to try and retake the city. The defenders fell, and the Livonians moved into the castle.
In February the Polish forces came to the defenses of city of Prerov. initiating the Second Battle of Prerov. They would find themselves suddenly ambushed by a hidden German force, led by the Kaizer, who attacked the outnumbered Poles. However, the French and English troops arrived a week later as the Polish forces held their ground in the castle. With their defense, King Sulistryj managed to push back the Livonians and Germans, forcing them to route, leading to a Polish victory on the 16th of February.
A final battle took place outside of Prague as the Polish forces began besieging the city. The allied forces of Germany, Croatia, and Livonia faced off against the Polish, the French, and the English. The Battle of Prague was close, with King Sulistryj II being injured in the battle. However, as he recovered, he learned that the Germans routed, and that the city of Prague surrendered to his forces. The Polish had won.
And so, a dragon rises from the ashes of the fox.
The Treaty of Prague (July 24th, 1255) led Kaizer George to concede the lands of Bohemia and Messien to King Sulistryj II, and that he would be recognized as the king of those lands. Pope Honorius II came to the city in August to crown King Sulistryj as the Emperor of the Wends.
Peace was not long, as the Emperor went to defeat the King of Galicia-Volhynia in the same year and made him swear fealty to his power as King.
For his act of uniting the Western Slavic kingdoms, Sulistryj began to be known as “The Wend”, and legends spread of his great victory. This followed him south toward Jerusalem during the 5th crusade as the Polish armies fought the Ayyubids, but ultimately saw defeat in the crusade.
In 1272, to consolidate his realm, Emperor Sulistryj subjugated Grandmaster Klukis ‘the Leper’ of the Teutonic Order and forced him to become a vassal.
The emperor in his old age.
The rest of Emperor Sulistryj’s reign was relatively peaceful. He was known for his pious works and had his chroniclers write “The History of the Wends” to solidify his dynasty’s power over the region. He also built many castles and hosted a grand tournament. The Duke of Frisia did try to kill the Emperor, as he once was the King of Bohemia before it was invaded. However, this was thwarted. His second eldest son, Dobrogost, would die of Smallpox in 1283. However, with the usage of primogeniture law (put into effect by decree of the emperor), succession remained safe.
Emperor Sulistryj would die in his sleep on the 10th of September, 1283. He had a long and successful reign, and would forever be immortalized as the Wendish King who reclaimed the ancestral lands of the Poles from the Germans.
And so, West-Slavia is born.
We end our chapter with a new house. The Renarts saw their last ruler in Otger II, leaving the dynasty in shambles. And though the new House of Glogow was born in the same treachery of the Fox of Renart, it would find itself becoming ferocious and noble through the reign of Emperor Sulistryj!
Emperor Sulistryj's rebranded CoA: \"As cunning as a fox, as fearsome as a dragon.\"
End of Part 2. The Renart dynasty currently holds many duchies within the HRE, but lost Zaphoriza. It remains it's most powerful in the West-Slavic Empire.

According to Psychologytoday.com:
"The application of this term is prejudice in practice. The vast canyon of meaning that people imagine exists between cults and religions is not there. It is a fabrication of sloppy thinking.
One should not have too much difficulty recognizing "cult" as an unsavory stealth word with an unjust mission. This is verbalized bullying that demeans less popular groups and distances them from more popular groups. Labeling a group a cult is a cowardly way of tolerating, condoning, appeasing, or promoting favored religions while simultaneously rejecting and disparaging a minority religion."
"People argue that some groups deserve the cult insult because of their potential danger to members and/or others. But how does this make "cults" special when the world's most widely respected religions have helped cause and inspire hate, violence, and destruction on a massive scale for centuries and still do today to a significant degree?" https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/about-thinking/201607/why-no-one-should-ever-use-the-word-cult
According to Rappler.com:
"Sociologist of religion Jayeel Cornelio, a professor at Ateneo de Manila University, is one of the many scholars who avoid using the term "cult."
"It's a morally loaded term defined for the rest of us by the majority," Cornelio told Rappler.
He outlined, in a mix of English and Filipino, the implications of the term: "You are a cult because you're a religious minority. You are a cult because you are practicing these strange worship practices. You have these strange, weird, funny beliefs.” He said this mindset is "not very helpful" because "the majority feels that their own beliefs are unassailable, are not strange."
He cites as an example the Catholic belief in "transubstantiation," which means that the bread and wine offered at Mass become the real body and blood of Christ - not symbols, but what Catholics call the "Real Presence." In the early days of Christianity, nonbelievers viewed this as a form of cannibalism, prompting them to persecute Christianity as a "cult."
Cornelio said transubstantiation is "very strange" in the eyes of nonbelievers. "But nobody will question transubstantiation as a cultic belief because everybody believes in it, believes that doctrine," he said in the context of the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country.
The sociologist also noted how people call the SBSI a cult due to sexual abuses within the organization. "But we're not willing to call the Catholic Church a cult whenever we encounter sexual abuses like this," he said.
Calling a group a cult, added the sociologist, "assumes that people are brainwashed" – which is a "dangerous" assumption."
"Another sociologist of religion, University of the Philippines professor Gerry Lanuza, also rejects the use of the term "cult."
"In an interview with Rappler, Lanuza said "cult" is one of the "very controversial and contested" terms in the social sciences. This label is "value-loaded or politically explosive,"..."
"You immediately assume that the connotation is negative," he said in a mix of English and Filipino, implying that "there is something dark, hideous" within the organization.
Lanuza said using the term "cult" is akin to using the word "terrorist." He asked, "Who is the terrorist from whose point of view?" https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/explainers/things-to-know-what-is-cult-decades-debate/
According to Religionlink.com:
"As Northeastern University professor Megan Goodwin pointed out, using "cult" to label religious or social groups that we don't like or that we consider "strange" often marks those communities as "legitimate targets of state surveillance and violence."
"Part of the reason some people use the label is because some of the groups that fall into this category are known for saying and doing things that are problematic, or abusive. So why is it inappropriate to use the word? For one thing, virtually no one who is part of a group labeled as a "cult" sees themselves as a cult member. Rather they are a believer, disciple, or part of a religious community."
"It is common for family members, ex-members, law enforcement and media to use the term "cult" to drum up interest about, discredit or accuse these groups. The label comes with certain stereotypes: a charismatic leader, dangerous rituals, " end times" prophecies or other seemingly strange and reclusive behaviors that don't fit our definition of what a "real religion" should be."
"Even so, most (though not all) religion journalists and scholars agree: The word "cult" should be shelved." https://religionlink.com/reporting-on/reporting-on-new-religious-movements-nrms/
Note: That is why it is WRONG to use the word CULT in minority religions like the Iglesia ni Cristo.

If you’re interested in growing your wealth, starting a business, or living a truly rich life, these six tips can help you do it the right way.
He didn’t buy a bed until he got married. And when his wife was pregnant, he wondered, “How much does a baby cost?” Today he owns ten gas stations and even a building that houses the Wells Fargo bank.
https://preview.redd.it/h815a0yvei1d1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4d65328ee20c0a2a76e2239c535b06006828c5c
The farther down this page you read, you’ll understand how you too can buy gas stations and banks.
More importantly, you’ll start to feel, think, and act like a wealthy entrepreneur.
A wise man once told me this:

“You need to think wealthy before you become wealthy”

I remember these words like it was yesterday…
And I like what it means. But I had one problem though.
I struggled to understand the specific principles that wealthy people used to think.
So tell me something…
How did you buy your first car?
Did you buy it cash down?
Or, did you borrow money? Took an auto loan, perhaps?
Let me tell you a little story.

Buying my first car.

Over twenty years ago, I bought my first car.
And everything happened so quickly…
A car salesman stopped me at my office lobby. He asked if I was interested in buying a car. And he handed me a pamphlet.
It basically said that based on my salary, I was eligible to take an auto loan.
The promise that I could drive a brand-new car in ten days was too tempting.
So I gave in. I signed up for an auto loan.
And in less than ten days, I had this shiny new gray-color car!
It had power windows, an electronic steering wheel, auto-dimming rearview mirrors, and all the bells and whistles. Smart move, right?

Hold on to your horses!

Smart move or not, I’ll let you decide after you’re done reading the rest of this post.
Recently, I’ve been binge-listening to some of the backdated episodes of a podcast I LOVE.
And I bumped into a very familiar name.
Syed Balkhi.

The millionaire teen.

I first heard of Syed long ago in 2006 when I started blogging. But little did I pay attention to what he did. All I knew was that he had a website called WPBeginner.
It was a blog about WordPress for people who built WordPress websites or plugins. I liked his content and spent a lot of time reading his blog posts as I was building WordPress websites too.
Syed is in his thirties today. Which means he must’ve been in his early teens in 2006!
In about eighteen months of starting WPBeginner, he made his first million dollars in annual revenue.
And ever since, he’s grown his business, Awesome Motive, big time by acquiring other WordPress companies.
If you aren’t familiar with WordPress, it’s a CMS software. Content Management System, in short.
It’s a software that supposedly powers 40% of the internet. But that’s not the best part. Here’s what is:
Syed’s company today owns ~60% of all WordPress businesses.
https://preview.redd.it/q94pw2dyei1d1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad09e2577179c030bdbba726b7dbaf7f368d44bc
I call this the Balkhi Domination Disc.
Put simply, Syed’s businesses power 24% of the internet.
This is HEWGE!
Okay, another story…

The gas station story.

At some point on the podcast, Syed goes…

“I bought a gas station, the first one, primarily because I wanted to offset expenses…”

Offset expenses?
I was on a run while listening to this, and almost tripped when he said that.
Okay. Take a deep breath. I did that too…
Coz from this point on, it’s PURE GOLD.
And here goes the first and biggest lesson in wealth creation…

Tip #1: Every time you need to buy a depreciating asset, invest in an appreciating asset.

Syed says he learned this lesson from his mentor when he was thirteen or fourteen.
The best way to understand this is to loop back to my opening story…
When I bought my first car, I paid the monthly installments using my salary.
But when Syed’s mentor bought his Mercedes, he didn’t spend money from his savings. Instead, he decided to invest money in real estate. And he used the returns from that real estate to finance his shiny new Mercedes.
When Syed’s wife was pregnant with their first son…
He followed the exact blueprint.
He knew the money one would need with a baby birth – hospital charges, medicines, diapers, toys, and everything else!
So instead of spending money from his savings, Syed used the lesson he learned from his mentor to cover the cost of raising a baby – he bought a gas station!
It didn’t just give him the money to pay for the baby shower and childbirth. The gas station would continue to generate a steady flow of cash every single year.
Darn! Why didn’t it ever strike me before?
Mentor, baby! I’m glad to have found one in a podcast!
Okay, let’s look at the next one…

Tip #2: Build a recurring revenue business

In a content business, you turn email subscribers into paying customers. But Syed calls them just re-occurring revenue. The revenue occurs every time someone on your list buys something from you.
A new customer pays once. And unless you sell them something else, you aren’t going to make bank. The only way your business is going to see revenue trickle in from that customer is when you sell to them again.
The solution?
Build a recurring revenue business.
Syed regularly invests and acquires other WordPress software and tools businesses. This allows him to cross-sell software and tools to existing info product customers.
Of course, you can build recurring revenue info products too, using memberships and subscriptions – but Syed didn’t get into that on this podcast.
So yes, using revenue to acquire new businesses is a great idea. But how much should you invest?
Syed has stuck to one principle:

Tip #3: Heads I win, tails I don’t lose much

Syed learned this principle from his friend Monish Pabrai.
In his book The Dhando Investor, Monish talks about the Patels of India. He describes how this relatively tiny subset of humanity from eastern India went on to own most of the motels in the United States.
According to Monish, one of the biggest reasons why the Patels have been successful in business is because they always have followed this principle – heads I win, tails I don’t lose much. So what does this mean?
Let’s look at it with an example.
Assume the intrinsic value of a certain business is $1,000,000, and you buy it for $700,000. What you just did in that transaction is what he describes as a “heads I win, tails I don’t lose much”.
Because let’s say you did a great job with the business and the intrinsic value went up – you win!
But just in case you didn’t do much with the business and the intrinsic value dropped by $400,000, you only lose $100,000.
Heads you win, tails you don’t lose much!
This is wild!
At this point, I was fully invested in listening to this conversation. And I was just getting restless thinking…
“How can I buy a business on the cheap?”
And it just felt like the hosts heard me!
Let’s look at the answer to my question.

Tip #4: Identify “mismanaged gems” to compound at high double-digit

Back in the 1990s, my uncle built an empire buying distressed real estate properties. And it wasn’t easy. Every time he bought one, there was a lot of work to be done.
From litigation and dispute issues to structural issues, he was usually handed a mess. That’s why they were called distressed assets – thankfully, my uncle had the wherewithal to turn them around.
Mismanaged gems are different.
Syed describes mismanaged gems as good (online) businesses with some limitations. These could be in the form of having limited revenue streams, limited target audience, or something else.
Let’s look at a couple of examples…

• Let’s take an online business where the creator isn’t aware of the different ways to monetize their business. You can acquire this business for $15,000. You use your Facebook Ads skills to sell $20,000 worth of info products and instantly increase the revenue.
• If an online business has been running only using word-of-mouth marketing, you can acquire it and use your email list to instantly grow the business by exposing them to a new audience.

Here’s how Syed puts it…

“A business might only be thinking about monetizing from one angle. They’re not thinking about it from a full perspective. So I can look at it and say well yes this is the current revenue today, and I’m getting a bargain on today’s revenue. But here are my contracts that I have with so many different partners and vendors and such that I’ll be able to unlock extra revenue here, here, and here. So I turned this business that has one revenue stream to having like multiple revenue streams. That’s how you take something that was doing like no revenue to or very low revenue to having five eight ten million dollars in revenue.” – Syed Balkhi

Tip #5: Leverage the Ecosystem effect

If you’re starting a business, look for an ecosystem. What does that mean?
Syed’s entire online business is built around the WordPress ecosystem.
But there are many other software platforms like WordPress that have an ecosystem. Look at software like QuickBooks, Google Chrome, or Xero. These software platforms are built like an ecosystem, allowing developers to build plugins and extensions.
Most of these plugins and extensions are sizeable businesses in and of themselves. So if you’re starting a business, you’re better off starting one inside an ecosystem.
Starting a business inside an ecosystem exposes you to massive opportunities. You can grow your business through acquisitions, and cross-selling, amongst many other ways. And this also helps you compound over time.
Related Post: Speaking of selling, I think you’ll find value in this episode on The Launch Plan podcast about the F-Word that stops clients from buying your products.

Tip #6: Go from creatooperator to capital allocator

This one is an advanced idea. If you’ve done well with your business and have some cash in the bank, this one’s for ya!
Essentially what Syed says here is that you have one of two choices:

1. You can choose to build a business from scratch, or
2. You can acquire an existing business and multiply it.

Obviously, this is an advanced tip. But great business owners don’t master capital allocation overnight. While there are some common traits between the two, it’s a skill you need to build.
I haven’t bought a business so far. But I’m very interested in this. You’ll likely see me writing more on this topic in future posts.

Bonus ‘Rick’ Tip: Don’t be in a hurry to get wealthy

Have you heard of Rick Guerin?
If you haven’t, no worries. Neither did I – until I listened to this podcast.
Rick Guerin was Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s third business partner at Berkshire Hathaway.
Huh? Really?
I couldn’t believe it either. A third partner?
So looked up the interwebs for proof.
It turns out to be TRUE!
Here’s how Monish Pabrai describes what happened to Rick:

“In the ’73, ’74 downturn, Rick was levered with margin loans. And the stock market went down almost 70% in those two years, and so he got margin calls out the yin-yang, and he sold his Berkshire (Hathaway) stock to Warren. Warren actually said, I bought Rick’s Berkshire stock at under $40 apiece, and so Rick was forced to sell shares at … $40 apiece because he was levered.”

Rick was just as smart as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. But he was in a hurry. And that’s the bonus tip!
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Here's a link to the full post: https://kartvee.com/entrepreneur-buys-gas-station/