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!
That’s a wrap! Enjoyed reading this?

1. Join the convo in the comments below.
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3. Watch the full episode by clicking the play button below (or watch it on YouTube).

Here's a link to the full post: https://kartvee.com/entrepreneur-buys-gas-station/

TLDR Before you get your hopes up, this is a failed experiment, a dead end. But I still think this is worth sharing. Here's my experience.
For a while I had a theory that there could be something hidden inside the QR codes. To hide something in a QR code you could flip some bits in it. Because of error correction of most QR scanners your secret message would be ignored and autocorrected.
Here's an example of what I mean.
I will use this website to create the QRs https://www.nayuki.io/page/qr-code-generator-library
https://preview.redd.it/fa8yfp5bbi1d1.png?width=290&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f8453e0f8c03f1d592fae5c63612fc6fb5805ca
Same scan result BUT now there IS a secret inside
If you scan these 2 QR codes you will get the same result, BUT the second one contains a secret message. To extract it, you can overlay the FAKE qr code on top of a REAL one and see the difference (xor the bits)
https://preview.redd.it/qmksk8kdbi1d1.png?width=290&format=png&auto=webp&s=fba59ad800ea600b3e323f07168e7f8cc656aca4
2 QR code overlapped with opacity
But this is not the only method. You can actually rewrite the ENTIRE right half of a QR code. Just straight up erase all black pixels and replace them with your black pixels and put any information that you want. The right side of the QR code contains the MESSAGE but the left side contains information on how to RECOVER the information on the right side in case it would be lost. (reminds me of a certain map in the game... hmmmm)
lol here's a second monolith code
If you don't know how QR codes work you should read about them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code or watch https://youtu.be/KA8hDldvfv0?si=4E1pbu9CCVM0N4Be very interesting stuff (if you're a nerd xd)
So what was that all about? How is this relevant to FEZ?
Well, how can we be sure that there's nothing hidden in the QR codes in the game? Your QR scanner is doing its job and correcting all the errors it can find.
Here is what I did:
https://preview.redd.it/16y86nwy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=167268548365ec641d0e119591575fbd39d50681
https://preview.redd.it/lbz0anwy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=d1010b6d228fb45b30ab7397f4c679856f1720d1
https://preview.redd.it/3lo3kqxy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=d72103cdf97c82e57fac59ed4b1480868ff9074e
https://preview.redd.it/71c2onwy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=12ba47b8a1f2232e6f521a05896e42bb5ff2b4bb
https://preview.redd.it/xtm9xnwy4i1d1.png?width=256&format=png&auto=webp&s=7c2d02d1f630f3159da4f41298984d1adbcd7a70
https://preview.redd.it/orqz7nwy4i1d1.png?width=384&format=png&auto=webp&s=8fe30ce347f4272eb7e8e9414029974c3ed16b2f
https://preview.redd.it/w7halayy4i1d1.png?width=384&format=png&auto=webp&s=df51256f6be817e5078dbe0c54a869467a4158ea
https://preview.redd.it/v1maymwy4i1d1.png?width=384&format=png&auto=webp&s=c91ec04d92a0b9d741592e6b3fb94e6fd78be8d0
https://preview.redd.it/k9hemmwy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=5f20ebebcb480d286835a25be9b191ecdcea1fd0
https://preview.redd.it/xb3z6owy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=9329241d2224790f6304af4cbc7549701fd004e2
https://preview.redd.it/jkl5sowy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=f4e88d63f50de2fa08b07e8b6d5f3d5750c75849
https://preview.redd.it/of350nwy4i1d1.png?width=128&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca1787d04f6b8f48ae2430f28cfa3863a5fa58e1
I extracted every single QR code from the game and attempted to find errors in them.

1. Get the QR codes message
2. Generate the QR code yourself with that message
3. Tweak the error correction, the version, and the mask pattern until the generated QR code will match the code in the game.
4. Compare the 2 QR codes to find errors

I did this for every QR code and found... nothing valuable... All of the codes in the game are perfect. No flipped bits, no shenanigans. However the 2 qr codes that are NOT in the game did contain some differences.
https://preview.redd.it/24kkkeg66i1d1.png?width=365&format=png&auto=webp&s=7422a1c25407b4cf22414ebb72e50fb0f150f9ea
https://preview.redd.it/2eya8rda6i1d1.png?width=384&format=png&auto=webp&s=b60ce69d9bd3063221c7bd012eae8318d4a2aa79
This is called a remainder sector (last sector). It comes after all the meaningful information in the QR code. Basically (as far as I'm aware) it's garbage data and it can contain anything.
Was this all a waste of time? Not really, now we all know that there's really nothing in there. And now I know how qr codes work (:
p.s. before I figured out the method I described earlier, I attempted to decode the QR codes by hand, with a python script. I went quite far. but then I realized that you can just generate another code with the same input parameters.

I want to take a moment to talk about what some people believe is "The Deep State", specifically The Illuminati and The Freemasons. The Illuminati (mentioned in screenshots #1 and #2 from the Wikipedia list of conspiracy theories at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories ) are not a real group of people. You will never meet an Illuminati because again, The Illuminati isn't a real group of people.
The Freemasons on the other hand are real. I have met a Freemason in the Washington D.C. area named "Joshua K. Farrar" (you can Google him, his GitHub is https://github.com/joshuakfarrar ). The Freemasons actually are overrepresented in the U.S. Government, like in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the IRS (see screenshot #3). Freemasons know each other and refer each other to jobs, sort of like an old, respected fraternity or sorority group.
I don't know much more about it, but when I met him Joshua K. Farrar seemed very against racism and White supremacy, so I assume that if a "Deep State" exists in the USA, it is not "pro racism". Other than that, I don't know anything. That honestly is the only Freemason I have ever known, or at least known knowingly.

The Detroit News recently offered an extensive look at the size of Michigan public school classrooms. A reader could be excused for coming away from the article with the mistaken impression that class sizes have an enormous effect on student achievement.
"Despite pleas from parents and local school officials who want the class sizes lowered to improve student academic achievement, Michigan still has no cap on the number of students in a classroom in K-12 schools,” the article explains. It continues, noting that there is also no plan to introduce “reduction programs to reduce crowded classrooms," despite the state's well-documented academic struggles.
Much further down in the story, Michigan Department of Education spokesman William DiSessa challenges the thesis: "The research supporting the use of funds for reduced class size as an effective strategy is minimal." He is correct, even if obliquely, about the state of the research. Only a handful of studies have suggested the effectiveness of the popular class-size reduction policy: fewer students in a class leads to improved student performance. But those benefits are mostly limited to certain situations, namely for elementary students of less advantaged backgrounds.
The research of large-scale initiatives aligns with DiSessa. Two states that set official statewide limits on class sizes saw practically no return from a huge taxpayer investment. Florida has spent more than $40 billion since 2003 to restrict class sizes, even though a rigorous 2010 study found "no detectable benefit" for student learning. In 2013 California gave up its program after 16 years and after spending over $25 billion, finding "no definitive research" to bolster the goal of improving student achievement through smaller class sizes.
The lackluster results can be explained in part by recognizing the tradeoffs that come with class-size reduction. Getting more certified teachers to watch over smaller classrooms entails dipping deeper into labor pools, producing only diminishing returns in terms of quality instructors. That difficulty applies even more here, as many Michigan school district officials say they have a hard time filling teacher vacancies, in part because a strong economy gives potential candidates more appealing job opportunities elsewhere.
But we should be asking if the perception that Michigan's classrooms are becoming more crowded is even realistic.
Cause for confusion in the News article springs from the presentation of the underlying data. Within one section of the story, the number of pupils for every Michigan teacher was separately identified as being 17.5 and then later 23. Both numbers come from the 2016-17 school year, but they rely on different definitions of whether a staff member is considered a teacher.
The narrower definition encompasses only teachers of basic programs in grades K-12. (Presumably, the broader definition also includes teachers in special education and career programs, as well as other licensed specialists assigned to work with students.) Michigan's ratio of 23 students for each teacher has trended down slightly the past five years, after three years of growing in the wake of the recession. The most recent student-teacher ratio is only about 2.5 percent higher than the pre-recession low of 2009.
For at least the last decade, classroom teachers have consistently made up only about one-third of the employees working in Michigan's public schools. In 2016-17 one public school employee represented each 7.7 students enrolled, a number only slightly higher than late last decade.
Consider what would happen if we accepted the article’s assertion and pushed to reach a student-teacher ratio of 20:1. That goal would require hiring more than 10,000 full-time teachers. Based on an average compensation rate, the cost in combined extra salary and benefits would top $900 million.
A more cost-effective approach would be to have schools reallocate dollars spent on other nonteaching staff or other expenses. This option would also benefit from the fact that local education officials don't need to wait for Lansing to do anything to make it happen.
But even if they achieve their goal, they can't count on it to move the needle on student achievement. For that, schools should be less concerned with how many students are sitting in a classroom and more concerned with who’s standing at the front of it. In other words, the research strongly suggests that teacher quality matters much more than class sizes.