Page 199 - Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

Finding Your Environment

Today, many business schools ask me to come and speak to their
entrepreneurship classes. A common question the students ask related to
financial intelligence #1: making more money, is, “How do I find

investors?” or “How do I raise capital?” I understand the question because
it was a question that haunted me when I left the security of Xerox and
became an entrepreneur. I had no money and no one wanted to invest with
me. The big venture capital firms were not knocking on my door.

My answer to the business school students is, “You just do it. You do it
because you have to do it. If you don’t do it you are out of business. Today,
even though I have enough money, all I do is raise capital. That is all my
friend Donald Trump does. His job is to raise capital. That is job number

one of an entrepreneur. As entrepreneurs we raise capital from three groups
of people. They are your customers, investors, and employees. Your job as
an entrepreneur is to get your customers to buy your products. If you can
get customers to give you money by buying your products, your investors

will give you lots of money. And if you have employees, your job is to get
them to produce and make at least ten times more money than you pay
them. If you cannot get your employees to produce at least ten times more
than you pay them, you are out of business, and if you are out of business,

you do not need to raise any more money.”
Obviously, this is not the answer most MBA students are looking for.
Most are looking for the magic formula, the secret recipe, the quick
business plan to riches. Many business school instructors squirm because

most of them teach entrepreneurship, but are not entrepreneurs. Most still
need a steady job, a paycheck, and are hoping for tenure. Again, it is the
effect of our brains’ mirror neurons not agreeing with opposing thoughts
that causes them to squirm. Many business schools would rather bring in

CEOs to lecture who are employees rather than entrepreneurs.

The Eyes Tell the Truth

While sharing my views on what it takes to raise capital, I watch the
students’ eyes. In 70 to 90 percent of them I see fear. Their eyes become