The experience of building JoonBug from the ground up during my days as a nightlife impresario and before the days of EventBrite and social media provided valuable tools and lessons that have come in handy in all areas of my life.
It’s not that some of the best ideas don’t happen over a few drinks at 2am. Sometimes they do. But what’s unique is the experiences that happen in the places and with the people that associate with the 2am timeframe that produce the best ideas. Nightlife (a place shrouded in mystery) often propels some of the more interesting characters in entrepreneurship into not only stardom but great wealth. Though it’s not necessarily nightlife where that stardom and wealth happens; Sometimes nightlife is just the stepping stone. For me many of my greatest life and business lessons spawned from my experiences in nightlife.
Let’s go back to just around September 11, 2001; a time when many New Yorkers and Americans were not only recovering from a national tragedy, but where businesses and workers were also struggling. The tech bubble had burst and I was out of work after a failed tech startup I had founded went bust.
What I am reading:
Nicholas Pelham, the Middle East Correspondent for the Economist gives a rare glimpse into the conditions in modern day Iran. His account is particularly fascinating to me because my parents immigrated from Iran in 1977 and I have never been able to go back to visit given safety concerns. Warning this is a long read.
1843 Magazine - Trapped in Iran
Howard Marks is one of the most successful investors around and in my opinion his brilliance exceeds even Warren Buffet's. I look forward to reading his famous Memos that typically come out every quarter. His latest one speaks about the parallels between real life situations and investing with game theory. After reading it I have been actively looking for a poker coach for myself and my daughter.
Oak Tree Capital - You Bet!
I love watching nature and animal shows and am particularly fascinated with exotic animals like Giraffes (although I dont have any pets). If you are too, then have this quick read about some fascinating facts about Giraffes I bet you never knew.
Quartz - A tall drink of water
As sunny South Florida continues to develop into a world-class locale, and a legal tax haven, many New Yorkers are reconsidering whether the city that never sleeps is the right place in which to live and park their assets. But few know how challenging the process can be for those within a certain tax bracket… Lucky for you, I have the scoop.
I’m a New Yorker through and through – born in Brooklyn, an NYU grad, and job-creator for hundreds of locals through three different companies I founded in the city. More than 35 years later, however, I realized that perhaps the concrete jungle wasn’t the best place in which to take the next step in my career, and continue to grow my net worth. The tax burden, and exorbitant costs that come with living in one of the world’s greatest cities are steep. This is common knowledge. A lesser-known fact, however, is that it’s a massive headache to relocate from New York to a new state once you reach a certain rung on the financial food chain. The state of New York doesn’t let its prized residents flee so easily, a fact that is especially salient today as prominent figures and institutions – Icahn Enterprises, U.S. President and Queens native Donald J. Trump – are stealing headlines for relocating to Florida, just as I did in 2014.
My move was prompted by the same factor that promoted Carl Icahn and Trump’s – the math simply was no longer working out. The family I had always wanted had materialized, and as my wife and I began researching elite schools for our daughter, which were practically the same cost as a state University, the siren song of sunny South Florida began calling me. We knew we wanted a bigger family, and the financials were not making sense. While I’ve never looked back on the decision to relocate, I urge anyone considering following in my footsteps to educate themselves on what the process will entail and be both mentally and financially prepared.
