Today In...

A Fisherman and a Business Man

One of my girlfriends just sent this to me. Lets keep things in perspective.

An American businessman was standing at the pier of a

small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just

one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were seve-

ral large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the

Mexican on the quality of his fish.

“How long it took you to catch them?” The American

asked.

“Only a little while.” The Mexican replied.

“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”

The American then asked.

“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs.”

The Mexican said.

“But,” The American then asked, “What do you do with

the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little,

play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria,

stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and

play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life,

senor.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could

help you. You should spend more time fishing and with

the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the pro-

ceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats,

eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”

“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would

sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your

own can factory. You would control the product, proces-

sing and distribution. You would need to leave this small

coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA

and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding

enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will

this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then, senor?”

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part.

When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Ini-

tial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the

public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions, senor? Then what?”

The American said slowly, “Then you would retire. Move

to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep

late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with

your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you

could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”