How will you spend your 3.5 million dollars?
My first question on linkedin was "how can i promote doing nothing?". My former collegue Sandeep Kundra said:
"Hi Ron:
I think I am with David Keim on the answer to your question. When there are no other obvious answers, show how large amounts of money can be made doing nothing. That should be a sufficient push for more creative answers on how to promote doing nothing.
Best regards
Sandeep"
This was such an inspiration, that i decided to create my first multi-million dollar deal this summer 2007. I read the story of YouTube, and decided 3.5 million dollars is a wonderful amount of money.
So now i am looking for an outlet. I have all the contacts. Now it is up to you.
What will you do with 3.5 million dollars? Remember, money must flow.
First there is an outlet. Next there is a need for the money. Third is where the money flows in.
How will you spend 3.5 your million dollars?
Good Answers (1)
Terry D
Manager-Liaison Engineering at Global Aeronautica
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If I had $3.5 million available for business development, I'd want to start with something very simple. In my case, I want to create an employee-owned and employee-managed aircraft sheet-metal repair organization.
The business part: The MRO at which I currently work does little to support the development and empowerment of workers in general (traditional US corporatocracy), and the sheet-metal workers are at the bottom of the heap for reasons that are not clear to me. The management does not handle sheet-metal repairs well. Scheduling is a problem. Prioritization is a problem. Resource allocation is a problem. People management is a problem.
I would start by hiring a group of local sheet-metal mechanics, and re-sell their packaged services to this (and other) aircraft repair facilities. We would handle the repair scheduling, the material acquisition, inspection, and all related paperwork. We would be a turn-key solution to sheet-metal repairs on heavy jet transports here in the Indianapolis area.
Internally, we would allow people to create their own worker-directed teams, manage their own work-packages, and basically allow them the freedom to own their work in a way that has not been available to them. Moreover, we would establish high workmanship standards, require weekly practice and classes, and track actual work performance data so that each mechanic can see where he stands with his peers and with himself over time. And, of course, we would recognize people every week who have done something outstanding in order to develop a particular kind of organizational culture.
The intent is to allow each mechanic to develop as far as he can, to become the artisan that he would like to be, but the current corporate environment will not allow. To do this, the worker must be supported organizationally and socially. It is fairly easy to do once you understand what needs to be done.
One of the fun parts about it is that this idea can be duplicated at many different locations across the country and around the world. Sheet-metal repairs for some reason don't seem to excite much managerial activity. It is, I think, ripe for outsourcing to organizations that can do excellent work.
More Answers (47)
Around the globe.
I'll have to give some thought to your constraints, but I've been playing this little game in my head for the last few years related to this question. It's called the 750 million dollar game. You get 750 million dollars post-taxes. What do you do with it and why?
I started playing this game in 1999 after I attended a pop!tech when one of the speakers said "the more options you have, the more your values matter". So, this game is purely an exploration of values given (nearly) limitless options.
Initially, I bought and island and a slew of other comforts, but if one lives in that reality, it is pretty boring. None of your friends really want to visit you, you live a rarefied existence with little authentic interaction or challenge. It is just plain dull to spend your money that way.
So then I went the full on philanthropist route- I set about trying to figure out how to organise a method of philanthropy and educational/environmental/medical research that was based on quantifiable, measurable, and repeatable processes and results. While this sounds like a good way to jump start broken civic and worldwide aid programs, it is pretty damn political and stressful and at the end of the day, I don't want to be the one solely responsible for figuring it out.
At this point, I do want to run such a business. I also want to have a small steampunk museum. I've picked out a modest castle in some disrepair in my old hometown. I want to have an orchid-focused botanical garden. And mostly, I just want to help other people have more options, so that they can really exercise their values.
Perhaps not the exact answer you were looking for, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.
"show how large amounts of money can be made doing nothing"
I couldn't resist to quote George Costanza the Seinfeld character:
"Yeah, interest. It's an amazing thing. You make money without doing anything."
So there's your answer... promote doing nothing by promoting interest!
Helping and supporting others to find their passion and strength, as well as educating them in the field of consciousness, so they can fulfill their dreams.
Links:
Marcin P
IT Telecom Billing Analyst [6400+ LION] marcin.plazewski@gmail.com - TopLinked.com
I'd focus on investing rather than spending :)
“Capital is that part of wealth which is devoted to obtaining further wealth”
Alfred Marshall
If Money = Time, then I would spend more time with my family.
Michael S
Information security survivor
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For me, the hard part of your question is "What will you do." After that money just one more resource to make that happen.
My humble answer is that I want to change the world. No seriously, I wake up every day with this craving to change the world and I go about my business doing this in my small way. I want the world to be a better place to live so I make the effort for it to be that way. When I see someone drop something I take the time to pick it up and give it back to them - yes even cash. I hold doors open for anyone following me; not just women. If someone wants to talk, even vent, I take the time to listen. Not try and fix their problem; listen and by doing so allow them to fix it themselves.
So the "with 3.5 million dollars" part is easy. I would continue doing what I do every day - just more. The less time I spend putting food on the table the more time I have to act on my ideas and change the world. If just one person was better off today is small way because of me I can sleep well - I changed the world just enough to matter.
3,5 Million?,
First of all its not enough money to say I could do nothing. I would invest wisely until the point of no financial worries arrive, I reckon somewhere around $10 billion and then I would call up Donald Trump and say how much are you worth? and laugh at him while calling him a joke... and possible asking him if he wanted to be my apprentice and then telling him he was fired.
GT
Sandeep K
Senior Marketing Manager
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Since this seems to be another interesting question, and living in Silicon Valley has obviously influenced me in some odd ways, I would have to respond the answers must remain true to the spirit of the original question.
So, to me the answers must reflect that the intent is to make money. Using some basic expectations on the financial side and playing the role of a Virtual VC, if you/I/we give RW $3.5 million, then we should expect to earn back 10x the investment in about 3-5 years.
Therefore, I would like refine Ron's question to ask how could the funds be applied in a manner to generate a net value of $35M in 3-5 years. The answer may vary from a technology investment, to Bangalore or Shanghai real estate, or Biotech, etc.
Regards
Sandeep
I'd spend it avoiding WORRY and chasing BLISS.
My rationale is this:
If indeed we live in the "Attention economy", then losing our attention (our piece of mind) is the greatest threat. WORRY is the biggest culprit, and avoiding it is of tremendous value.
On the flip side, my mind most desires a state of BLISS. It's what makes me feel the most fulfilled for the thoughts I have. The pursuit of this is what will give me and I suspect everyone else the most pleasure, and thus warrants a value for which spending $3.5M is entirely justifiable.
Dino D
Senior Lecturer in Video Game Programming at NHTV University, Holland
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I would probably start a foundation to help people overcome their fears and reach their full creative potential.
Rich P
Talented CG Artist & Animator with lots of Project & Team Management Experience.
I've thought this question through a lot. 3.5 Million is a nice sum of money, but really not all that much. If I were to do something intelligent with it I would bank it and use the funds to start my own Animation Studio.
If I decided to do something unintelligent with it I would probably buy a nice home get rid of any debt myself and my family has and then just buy all of the "comfort" items, fancy car, big tv, etc. Although by choosing this way I would still have to ultimately work again becuase I don't know if 3.5 million would last all that long.
So the first option is the best because yes I would be working, but I would be working for myself in my own company, doing what I want to do.
I would build a business that rewards people for paying attention to the opportunities that arise daily. Many of us engage in conversations where someone expresses a specific need that has to be filled. I believe most of us, if we had the knowledge would offer to assist on fulfilling said need.
The company I would build, would have that knowledge. Pick a topic, we would either have or locate the resources to address it. Linkedin offers plenty of value in this. Have you noticed how easy it is to find somoene to discuss just about anything with??? Of course you have.
So when a need is expressed, the person who contacts my company would be rewarded when sharing the opportunity leads to a "finders fee". . Interestingly, just the belief that someone is rewarded often leads to the fact that they will be. Of course, we would be giving them some cash too;-)
It's permission based MLM at its finest. What a ground swell of good business this would generate.
0-3 months
1. Start a business plan competition for college students. 20k
2. Create a yearly conference, invite only, where 20 smart kids, web geeks and idea guys spend 2 weeks each year identifying ways to use technology to improve local communities. 100k
3. Create an essay competition for middle schoolers, 500 words in length, to write about the product or service that makes lives better in 2030. Award the winner a $1,000 scholarship. (1k)
4. Hire two interns to study social trends in China, Japan and Western Europe and present an idea to you each month they find compelling for the United States market. (2k)
5. Read your old essays and re-explore ideas that you were once passionate about. Which among them are you most passionate about still? On which would you like to spend the most time? ($0)
4-6 months
6. Hire me to compile the information to you in a compelling format to take actionable steps on creative and profitable ideas that the research produces ($35).
6-7 months
7. Create business plan for the idea (hire MBA or personal contacts)
7-9 months
8. Recruit executive team
10 months
9. Launch
Paul L
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGIST, MARKETING MAVEN, RAINMAKER ▲ 9000+ ▲ plange.verify@gmail.com
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G'day Ron,
My wife, Pauline, and I would set up the "Food Chain Foundation" which is pretty much as it sounds. In nature there is a food chain, without man's intervention the it works pretty damn nicely, thank you very much :-), feeding off and giving back to itself, and regenerating continuously; each link contributing ultimately to the sustained existence of life on the planet. Pretty much all charities and NGO's miss the point or are too narrowly focused. Charity and commerce must mix to the point that they are intrinsically entwined and individually unidentifiable. Our vision is for a foundation that achieves the resultant good that will come of such an organisation.
Cheers,
Paul
If you are thinking like a VC, it's good to hire a very good Chinese team with 50 people with enough budget to prompt a software product to the local and international market for a year, which should make the team profitable to sustain itself in the next 3,5 years and either be bought out or go to stock market... :)
Daniel T
Digital Marketing Manager at Absolute Radio
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Aside from buying some property as an investment, and to rent, due to the ridiculous property market in the UK...
I'd most likely to invest in new media opportunities. There are a couple of gaps in the industry at the moment which I've identified which could reap a reasonable reward, and also help to set a template for the future of publishing online. They wouldn't need much in the way of staff or set up costs, so the main cost would be marketing. As a result, I'd also invest in a friend's marketing busines.
Dear Ronald,
The first 10% I would give to charity, that is $ 350,000.
Half of it would go to The Hunger Project, www.thp.org, and the other half would go to St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital, www.stjude.org.
Since I am a stand for the enhancement of the financial well being of all, I would invest 1 million in a curriculum/program for kids in primary schools to build their financial skills, starting in the Netherlands. My inspiration for this comes from Robert T. Kiyosaki who has set up a foundation to do this in the US. It is called the Financial Literacy Foundation. recently I did a similar thing in The Netherlands and created the Creating Abundance Foundation.
1 million I would invest in real estate with a positive cash flow of 15K per annum.
1 million I would invest to build a company to earn 10 times the amount or more in 3-5 years, supporting people to live their higher self, realising their full potential.
The last 150,000 I would invest in stocks to generate an annual ROI of 40% or more.
Robert Oosthout.
Yvette D
" clear creative mind PLUS" for social responsibility and sustainability
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Lovely question to kick off the day!
Well, since our Cultural Fusion project has emerged from the intention to address the MDGs that'd be the place to start. I'd use my first 3.5 million dollars to create a Community Interest Corporation to sponsor the first few Cultural Fusion projects and hire the folks on our team to continue contributing their Attention and provide their services...and hire the support staff needed carry on with the projects in the Cultural Fusion series using the revenue generated from the others.
Links:
Lonnie A
Senior SAP Project Manager and BW/SEM/MM Consultant and Founder SAP Certified Professional Group here on LinkedIN
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I have an idea to change Capitalism as we know it. I have been working on the conceptual design for several years now. I don't think 3.5 million would get it going, but I still need conceptual help on some of the mathematical models, (think the Dupont Model), so what would really be helpful would help in gathering the right minds from the right knowledge domains into a working group.
I believe the level of internet penetration around the globe, the sophistication of the SCM/ERP/CRM tools out there, and the availability of mobile networks are the key.
Thanks
Lonnie
Dear, It seems all feedbacks are focused on "How to spend money" but I understood you want "make" money in the reality. Is it a correct statements ? Ok, you said yes ! So, more than "charity" suggestions you need a detailed business plan, a sponsor and some venture capital to start.
My best suggestions are::
a. believe in your idea and apply a professional approach; search intenet for Outlet+business+plan on google.com to get some ideas. Of sure to start a new business is a risk and you will work an incredible amount of time, absolutely the opposite of "doing nothing", but of sure you will enjoy your business.
b. identify a minimum three additional partners to build a startup company. Of sure you cannot afford the Outlet management alone. In addition I prefer 0.7M$/year than 3.5M one time.
All my best and good luck.. gennaro
Anders A
Sustainopreneurship Facilitator, Global Knowledge Nomad and Qualitative Intentional Networker
Spending corresponds to consumption.
Investing corresponds to production.
Is there a conceputal fusion luring in the Spending vs Investing?
Invending?
Sevesting?
Without falling deeper into the trap of neologisms, it's better to go from esoteric to exoteric:
Downright Practical!
Channeling in eight spots (there might be five or three as top X, but definitely not top ten since that is outmoded as a brand and also is not a Fibonacci Number :). And the dendrites in our nervous cells gives inputs, but there is only one output to the Axon, so you should limit yourself for every roadblock to maximum eight, otherwise you get a information traffic jam :).
You communicate to my intuition, Ron, so now I just call attention from it all the way and make a further Top Of Mind flow.
Focus: Institutional Transformation and Creating Arenas for Dialogue - especially offline. Online is a bliss, but offline really makes it go Deep in change!
So:
Investing in the World Citizen Investors that focus Creating Global Prosperity would be best use!
1. Scholarship foundation to get start capital for those who want to start a local Muhammad Yunus Support Association/Ashoka chapter to spread further inter-action for micro-entrepreneurship wherever applicable!
2. Campaigning !!Google+Skype+Fon+FirstMileSolutions+Ebay!! to make every hundredth of the Google share of the daily commercial sponsor clicks move towards a new joint investment fund where the investment in Local Communities - 2 million villages/parts of towns comes of maybe 3 000+ people each in average - goes towards micro-entrepreneur/education/health hot-spots empowered with Wireless Internet!
3. Innovating a system add-on to make a good leverage of Wikipedia as the global free textbook for teacher's everywhere, by have a new Wikipedia platform for teacher's guides and pupil's exercises given away for free!
4. Investing in E+Co to have their fund recruiting managers increasing capacity to generate more financial capital for their Solar Home System's/Micro-Hydro/whatever small-scale distributed renewable energy everywhere mission and self-committed assignment!
5. Campaigning Virgin new franchise on new climate investment fund to invest in susainable biodiesel flight fuel!
6. Campaigning RED team to not only invest in Global Fund for AIDS, tubercolosis and Malaria, but also to increase capacity with fund recruitment managers with the International Aids Vaccine Institute to get a Long-term, sustaining, solution to the HIV/AIDS catastrophic and devastating range of implosion of the whole African Continent!
7. Investing in innovative solutions for manufacturing, distribution and marketing of the agricultural modernization tool step One - the Pickaxe - going together with small-scale water innovation cleaning, desinfection and distribution - micro watershed and UV radiation through Soda Pop Pet Bottles lying on the ground water-filled in eight hours!
8. Increase the purchasing power of the Bottom of the Pyramid of 4 billion poeple living below $4 a day, to create and spread the word of Sustainable Trade Everywhere to cut all the agricultural subsidies in OECD and all the trade barriers in these countries for agri- and forestry products, value-added in the long run by reinvesting in the supply chains to impose local job creation, through the national organizations associated to IFAT and FLO!
With a general demand that the secondary increase of money flows should be at least hundred times the original capital in three-to-five years! And the primary demand that the financial capital should be returning to the original fund 7 to 10 years from the original investment - i. e. patient capital, a little more enduring capital than the Venture Capital demand - i. e. Sustainability Venture Capital. Along the road you can increase the speed of the exit also for SVC to move towards "VC-as-usual".
Why this?
See blog below...
Links:
- http://www.muhammadyunus.org
- http://www.google.org
- http://andersabrahamsson.typepad.com/blog/2007/01/what_should_you.html
Anders A also suggests these experts on this topic:
I would purchase more farm land in the small rural town I live now, and construct a viable farming enterprise that supports the local community, and makes it realistic for farming families to keep these track of lands intact.
In truth, I would do what I am doing now, only with 3.5 million in seed money.
I already have a business plan for almost similar amount of money and am presently working on the same.
I will invest it on my venture.
Links:
Erno H
Erno Hannink; ik help zelfstandige professionals internet slim toe te passen zodat ze meer klanten krijgen.
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He Ronald,
Remember our talk last week? Things have progressed since then. Therefor I would work very hard on a office revolution that would make traveling to a physical office every day or renting a very expensive office ridiculous. With two partners I am working now on the concept. Resulting in enormous savings for example for the environment, traffic....
Tim Warneka (
Author, THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE: UNLOCKING YOUR INTEGRAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS WITH THE TAO TE CHING
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Pay off my mortgage and car loans. Set aside some to put my two children through college.
That's less than 1/2 a million.
Use the rest to change the world.
I have an answer for your question !!!!
Which investment can guaranty a ROI of 1000-1500% on 10 years ?
Which investment has such low risk due to your direct control on operations and management ?
Real Estate Development
gustavo@addvalue-consulting.com
Links:
Sarah G
IT Recruiter, Consulting Solutions & Graphic Designer, Gray Matter Grafix
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (1)
That is the amount of money I will need to have saved to retire comfortably at the age of 60 (I'm only 24)...With the interest on that I wouldnt have to worry about finding some healthy low-risk investment. I could live off the interest or watch it grow. I would like to pretend that life never changed, help those in need, then continue to do what I do best...be ME!
Jessica M
Persuasive Technology Labs at Stanford University
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Yes, I have also been working on this one myself, albeit in a different guise.
As it turns out, it's all gelled over the last couple of months, and this week I'm getting the ball rolling. The ball is a combination of non-profit research and community building and for-profit tool creation that enable a transition I foresee as not only inevitable (and happening, particularly in Europe, but also in the US and elsewhere) but required for survival. Not to be melodramatic, but this is what I see.
It's based on work I've been doing for a local think tank that isn't in the public domain yet, though if you go to my website you can see the kinds of questions I've been thinking about on my "Under Construction" page.
I'm also looking for technology people right now.
